A ROMANTIC ENSEMBLE - THE SECOND AND FINAL SLIDE-SHOW

After the stroll in the Park and a bit of rest at the tea-house I stepped into the Palace. This was built in 1790 over the ruins of an old chapel and a few years later the English writer William Beckford rented the whole park and palace. Beckford did not live in it for a long time. He left Portugal and the property was abandoned. Many years passed since then until 1856, when Sir Francis Cook ordered the reconstruction of the Palace, in a romantic style, with gothic, Indian and Arab motifs.

The whole Palace is not yet open to the public but I could visit all the areas, whose restoration work has been recently concluded. The entrance hall with its Gothic arches and pink marble columns, the corridor, a succession of arches and columns, providing a sensation of depth, the octagonal-shaped main hall with Indian alabaster panels (Mogul style) used as screens and with a fountain in alabaster, as well, the Music Room with its dome in decorative plaster work, the stairwell - a marble structure decorated with an ivy leaved pattern - and its huge dragonfly, the library with the walls entirely covered by walnut bookshelves - the door, also in walnut and decorated in bas-relief representing Diana, the Roman goddess, all were beautiful! 

The sun was about to set when I left Monserrate, not feeling like walking back to the railway station. Fortunately, there was a shuttle bus that drove me to the center of Sintra. I was thirsty and was wandering around the historic center, looking for a non-tourist trap bar (easier said than found) when I stumbled upon the hidden gem A Raposa (The Fox), a tea-house/restaurant. I went in for tea and immediately fell in love with the decor... it was different and cozy. My outing had had a happy end!