A little Portugal revisit - I couldn't resist uploading these pics. I recently watched a snippit of Return to Oz for the first time in my adult life (when I saw it as a kid, it traumatised me just a little bit). The film took me back to a recent trip to Sintra. What a creepy and beautiful place.
The town sits at the foot of the Sintra Mountains - the Palace's and the Moor's Castle were basically free from people, no lines or tourists, just the creepy silence, space and smell of old.
The Quinta da Regaleira is the closest you will get to being in a fairytale from hell, scenes reminiscent of the labryinth, Return to Oz or Lord of the Rings. The estate is so magical, gothic, huge and exquisitely creepy. I got lost in the forrest, trying to find my way out I thankfully found the coolest thing I have ever seen and explored, EVER! The Labyrinthic Grotto. There are underground caves, lakes, secret doors and a myriad of hidden pathways and entryways. There are hidden symbols and so much strangeness. It was such a shame to be on my own - there was no one to share my excitement and console me when I lost my wit, I was with my brother, but we lost eatchother.
I got scared. I panicked when I couldn't get out of the underground pathways and later in the day I literally ran out of the palace into the day light. I had a cat in the forrest appear and approach me, with a dead mouse in mouth, it dropped it at my feet. Very weird.
The Moor's Castle and Pena Palace are also delights!
Farewell Sintra! I must get back to my Sunday. Gah I love Sundays - coffee, more coffee, soon hopefully a beer, a very very cold one. x
