# Pasteis de Nata: 2, Distance Walked: 12km, # Floors Climbed: 82
The number of floors climbed is not a typo. Sintra is hilly!
I had a leisurely start to my day as they don't start serving breakfast here at my hotel until 9am. There was a fairly big buffet with a mix of savory and sweet things, however the only pastries were slices of slightly stale apple cake. This hotel calls itself a boutique guest house and only has 5 rooms. I'm guessing the cake will make an appearance for a few days before getting replaced with a freshly baked one.
My first outing for today was to visit the Quinta de Regaleira. It is a former mansion with extensive gardens and a famous Masonic initiation well. Tickets to the estate are timed and I'd pre-bought one for the first time slot - 10am. When I got there just before opening there was already a long queue. I ignored it, smug in the knowledge I already had a ticket and marched up to the gate. Only to get sent to the back of the queue as everyone else there also already had a ticket. Still, it only took about 15 minutes to get inside the gates which wasn't too bad.
Once inside the gates I rushed through the gardens to the Initiation Well. There wasn't a queue (yet) for this, although there were two French girls ahead of me who kept stopping to take photos of each other. I didn't mind as it meant I could eavesdrop on a guide giving a tour.
The "well" was amazing. A long spiral staircase down to a floor with masonic symbols on it. It never held water or was designed to. Instead, there were tunnels through the rock from the base of the well. Apparently, initiates had to make their way through them blindfolded. Us modern tourists made do with light from our mobile phones. There were no lights provided or signs even though there are several dead ends and in places the tunnel roof is so low you have to crouch down. OH&S laws in Australia would never let something like this be open to the public.
I then spent a pleasant hour or so rambling around the gardens. The climate here is temperate rainforest and they were very lush. There was also another set of tunnels/labyrinth again without lights or signposts. I think I explored most of it but it was easy to get lost. I managed to make it out and didn't come across any bones of less fortunate tourists. Perhaps the staff does a pass through the tunnels at closing time to rescue anyone left behind.
I also visited the house but this was forgettable.
Next stop lunch. I went to Fatto da Claudio Ceolho. Italian again but the choice of restaurants, rather than quick and nasty food for day trippers, is rather limited. I had a very Good rigatoni carbonara. The sauce was Absolutely Delicious and made with the true ingredients - just pecorino, black pepper, egg and guanciale. My only quibble is I don't think rigatoni is the correct pasta shape for this sauce.
After lunch I visited the National Palace of Sintra. This originally dates from the 12th century (I think) but has been updated, extended and modified heavily over the years. Because of this it wasn't really possible to have the rooms be furnished as they would have been, because their purpose varied over time. You did get to visit the kitchens which I liked. Too often in grand houses/palaces you only get to see the formal rooms when the kitchens and servant quarters are often far more interesting.
I then stopped at the Piriquita bakery where I got to eat my first Absolutely Delicious pastel de nata. I also had one of their pastel de sintra pastries which was Good too but a touch too sweet for my taste.
I was then going to visit the News Museum which is a speciality museum on news & media & communication but a school group entered just before I got there. Children en masse are surprisingly loud. I settled instead for ambling around Sintra and browsing in all the gift shops. As 80% of what they sell are ceramics (hard to safely transport) and a good proportion of the remaining 20% is made from cork (which surely counts as a plant product) I didn't buy anything.
For dinner I went to a restaurant recommended by my hotel - Romaria de Baco. As a solo dinner I was tucked away in a corner and given a stool to sit on rather than a chair. I was hastily fed a 3 course meal and hustled out the door in just under an hour. They actually brought my main course out to me before I finished my entree. Given it was a slow cooked pork dish with mashed potato, this was more than a little rude. It wasn't as if it was cooked to order. They could easily have waited to plate it up until after I finished my entree. The food was all Good (croquettes of some tasty sausage, the pork with mash and a pleasant ice cream with an Absolutely Delicious rich, bitter chocolate sauce) but I won't be going back. The restaurant where I had lunch was also efficient about turning over the tables but much more polite and less obvious about it. They were brisk without making you feel rushed.
The search for a good Portuguese restaurant continues.
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