Monaloca

our portugal trip is drawing to a close. today is our last, and we’re spending it wandering the streets of lisbon, sipping cafe com leites with pasteis de natas (little custard pies), followed by a glass or two of alentejo wine and later some cataplana (seafood stew with potatos).

yesterday we had our last day of full-on tourism, with a day trip to sintra, a magical town just 40 minutes away by train. sintra is nestled in the coastal hills and is home to at least a half-dozen palaces, dozens of port shops and little cafes, a bunch of large estates, and an ever-changing cast of local and international tourists. the whole village is lorded over by a moorish castle (castelo dos mouros) that dates to the 10th century, and above it the palacio nacional da pena, residence of the last of the portuguese monarchy at the beginning of the 20th century.

we started our visit with a 10 minute bus-ride up the steep winding hills to the castle gates, then trekked, meli in her carrier, through the forest and up to the castle ruins. the setting felt all the more appropriate with strong winds and the shift of light and shadow from the swift moving clouds overhead.

the palacio da pena was another short bus-ride further up the hill, then a 1 km walk straight up a cobblestone path to where a fairytale scene opened before our eyes. colorful turrets, coral- and gargoyle-adorned archways, azuelo-tiled walls, and a tower with a painted clock sprouted from every direction. we spent a good hour wandering around and through the fabulous palace, and enjoyed the splendid views that reached over down to sintra village and out to the coast. because it was such a long day, we also had meli’s stroller. (luckily they had let us store it at the gates to the moorish castle for our earlier forest trek.) to handle some of the steps at the palace we sometimes had to carry her in her stroller, lifting the entire chair princess-style, up and down short stretches. she grinned ear to ear each time we did. our little princess!

speaking of the well-fed princess melina, she has a new nickname: tremoços. tremoço are large white beans soaked in brine that joey grew up on in hawaii. according to a portuguese guy we met at our coimbra hotel, tremoços (what joey’s mom called the beans growing up) means “little snacks.” meli loves to snack, and she’s 3/8 portuguese. our little tremoços.

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