Portugal | Ray and Shelley's Retirement Adventures

We spent the day exploring the main tourist city of Sintra in Portugal. This quaint and beautiful city is on the outskirts of Lisbon and is famous for its picturesque beauty. It is located with historic palaces and castles in the city.

View of the region from the hillside of Sintra.

We went into the city and walked around the old section of the city. There were colourful buildings and houses accenting the beauty of the city.

The views were spectacular and there were several unique castles. To finish our day in Sintra, we went to explore one of the castles in Sintra called “Capela da Quinta da Regaleira.”

The castle was located on some beautiful grounds and gardens. We explored the gardens, walking through different areas admiring the views and gardens.

Gardens in Capela da Quinta da Regaleira

Ray and Shelley in gardens of Capela da Quinta da Regaleira

There were some spectacular structures in the Capela da Quinta da Regaleira. There were even caves, water features and ponds throughout the property. We explored some of the caves which were quite unique.

Cave system at Capela da Quinta da Regaleira

The caves surfaces were artificially made in areas to look like frightful looking faces.

Shelley leaving the caves across the pond

After exploring the caves we walked to the castle and explored part of it. It was a beautiful castle with stunning architectural features.

Ray in front of the castle of Capela da Quinta da Regaleira

Sintra is tourism destination within the Portuguese Riviera, and one of the wealthiest municipalities in the country. We truly enjoyed our day in Sintra.

“Até agora e tenha um ótimo dia.”

We went to Lisbon which is the capital and the largest city of Portugal. It has an estimated population of around 500,000. We thought what would be the best way to experience the local culture? So we decided to take a gastronomic walking tour. It was a unique way to discover parts of Lisbon, through its food, flavours and small restaurants and cafes.

We began our tour at 8:30 in the morning at the Praca de Comercio. Which is a main plaza with lots of bars and cafe shops along the plaza.

The Placa de Comercio in Lisbon, Portugal.

We walked through the many unique streets in the old quarter of Lisbon. There was some beautiful architecture with many buildings finished in decorative tiles.

Buildings decorated and finished with ceramic tiles.

Typical street in the old quarter of Lisbon

We explored different historic sites including several plazas

Our first stop for a taste of Lisbon was at a small local business called “Manteigaria Silva” that sold selected local foods.

Food samples from Manteigaria Silva food tour

After enjoying some local port and food we continued our walk. We explored many narrow streets and different barrios. The views and architecture were amazing.

We stopped at a great restaurant for some traditional plates.

We the continued our food walking tour and end at a very quaint and unique restaurant called “A Muralha Tapas and Vinhos.” This tapas bar was a great spot. The bartender served flaming meats cooked in a small pottery style tray.

Bar tender cooking Portuguese Chourico sausages

The special trays used to heat the chourico using alcohol

We enjoyed a few glasses of port and tasted several types of sardines which were very tasty.

One of the types of flavoured sardines we enjoyed at the food tasting

We finished off our tasting with a nice glass of Portuguese sour cherry liqueur.

Serving us a sample of sour cherry Liqueur.

The food tour was a fantastic way to explore part of Lisbon and experience some of the unique foods of the country. We took a group photo at the end of the tour as a small memento of our food adventure.