The Sao Beto Train Station in Porto carries out the beautiful blue and white tile them with its impressive azulejo mural. Sept. 19, 2013

I didn’t sleep a lick on the 7- hour plane ride from Philadelphia to Lisbon with an early morning arrival, the best thing to do is to get busy, which is exactly what Debra and I did. A car service picked us up from the Lisbon Airport and took us to the Tivoli Hotel in Sintra. After checking in, we took advantage of our early morning start and headed to the Sintra tourism office, around the corner from the hotel, bought our Moorish Castle and Pena Palace tickets and jumped on bus #434. The bus took us up to the castle first and from there, it was a stoney climb on uneven stairs with no guard rails to the thousand year old ruins of the Moorish Castle with its stunning towers and views. Plus, we spent an extra hour trying to get back to where we start. Walking and climbing up and down these ancient rocks made for sore feet, but we finally made it out and on to our next adventure. Sept. 8, 2013

The medieval Moorish Castle, perched on the top of Sintra Mountain, was constructed by the Moors during the 8th and 9th centuries. It was an important strategic point during the Reconquista, and was taken by Christian forces after the fall of Lisbon in 1147. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sept. 8, 2013

Me at the Pena Place in Sentra. In the 19th century, Portugal had a very romantic prince, German-born Prince Ferdinand. A contemporary and cousin of Bavaria’s “Mad” King Ludwig, Flamboyant King Ferdinand hired a German architect to build a fantasy castle which took from 1840 until 1885 when he died. Mixing elements of German and Portuguese style, the architect ended up with a Neo-fortified casserole of Gothic towers, Renaissance domes, Moorish minarets and Manueline carvings. Sept. 8, 2013

For centuries, Portugal’s aristocracy considered Sintra the perfect place to escape from Lisbon. We continued our Sintra adventure by hoping on the same bus to the hilltop of the Pena Place, then take the green shuttle trolley bus up another hill to the palace entrance. Pena is a Disney-esque magical hilltop palace that sits high above Sintra and the Moorish Castle ruins. Thankfully there was a restaurant so Debra and I were able to grab a late lunch while enjoying the magical views of the palace. Sept. 8, 2013