My Euro Trip Adventure-Portugal Part III

 

20^th June 2010, Sunday

Hmmm bangun pagi hari ni rasa fresh sikit…maklum lah semalam rasa macam penat betul, tambahan pulak panas terik. Sekali mandi pagi terkejut tengok diri sendiri…arghhhhhhhhhh sunburn!!!! Body sudah berbelang belang. Bawak sunblock tapi ndak pakai. So hari ni, kami beriya iya pakai sunblock SPF 65 lagi, walaupun kulit sudah hangus terbakar. Baju pun nipis nipis cos Portugal ni panas. Agenda hari ni mau ke SINTRA. Breakfast lah dulu di hostel sepuas-puasnya.

It is very easy to get to Sintra. From Rossio station, we took the sub urban train; here we bought the Lisboa Viva card, electronic pass valid for metro and carris and can be loaded. The train is very nice, clean but maybe tidak seberapa comfy cos the seat tiada cushion haha. The journey takes about 40 minutes, but offer us a very magnificent view. We managed to see the aqueduct. Kalau ingat dulu dulu subjek sejarah ada mention about this remarkable Portugese engineering, a 58km water supply made from stones. Other than that, I came across plenty of eye-catching graffiti. Most of it is a work of an artist, bukan budak budak jalanan ya, dengan tujuan to bring some joy and life to sad and dead walls. Very nice, kadang kadang badan train pun siap kena conteng hehe.

 Rossio Station

 our train

And so, we arrived Sintra. PROBLEM…..kenapalah tempat ni sejuk sangat!!!! Tadi bukan main beriya-iya pakai sunblock and baju nipis...but then idea muncul. Why not kita makan dulu, at least boleh panaskan badan. Dasar memerut, jalan sikit makan, jalan sikit makan, backpackers la sangat!!! We had our lunch at Pizza Hut, located in the train station.

 Shrimp Pizza

 untuk panaskan badan kunuk

After lunch, badan tidak la rasa panas pun, so teruskanlah aktiviti discovery kami. We bought a hop on hop off bus ticket at the train station to reach the hill of Sintra. Yes, sudah lupa pulak, Sintra ni berbukit bukit, patutlah sejuk, macam Cameron Highland la konon kalau di Malaysia ni. Kami turun di first stop, from here memang sudah rasa betul betul macam dalam storybook. Sintra is an extraordinary place with a surreal mixture of history and fantasy, protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, filled with castles, gardens, parks and villas.

 Sintra

The 1^st castle that we want to conquer is the National Palace. An old palace with 2 gigantic cone shape chimneys. Hari ni the entrance is free sampai 2pm, so kelam kabut lah mau masuk ni. Tengah sibuk mau masuk ni, ada pulak 2 boy scouts approach kami, cakap portugis sambil tarik muka comel. Aku tanya dia boleh cakap English ka? Dia tarik muka hampa la pulak. Mmm ndak pa, aku tarik jak diorang ni masuk gambarku. Diorang ni kira mintak derma la, bagi jak berapa2 nanti dapatlah pen lah, badge ka apalah….nasib baik muka kau comel, lagipun, diorang ni supporting siap masuk gambar aku, so terbanglah €1 aku semata mata dan bertukar kepada pen biru. Teringat pulak aku si Russel dalam cerita UP. Hmmmm...marilah masuk palace ni dulu....

main facade of the National Palace

the 2 cuties

the cone shape chimneys

one of the garden

The former banquet hall, Sala dos Cisnes (The Swan’s Room), has a magnificent ceiling, divided into octagonal panels decorated with swans painting.

The Sala dos Brasões ("Coat-of-Arms Room") 

the domed ceiling decorated with stags holding the coats of arms of 74 Portuguese noble families and the walls lined with 18th-century tiled panels.

 The Magpie Room

Herat Carpet, shown in the magpie room

Gold Chamber - Bedchamber of King Sebastian

The Palatine Chapel

The base of the chimneys turns out to be the kitchen.

me and the chimney

Sementara menunggu bus to the next destination, sempat lagi singgah di kedai kedai souvenirs, dapat lah T shirt si papito, legaaaa…Ada selingan sedikit. Masa aku beli t shirt papito ni, aku tanya lah pendapat si penjual tu, samada t shirt tu nice for a fathers day gift kah? That guy is an old man, lebih kurang macam papito ku jugak. Katanya “yes” and bila masa aku membayar tu dia cakap lagi “your father must be a good artist” aku pun pelik. Sejak bila papito ku ni jadi artis??? Band zaman 60-an nya tu gempaq sangat kah, sampai org portugis kenal sama bapak ku. Aku buat muka blur sambil cakap “huh?” then the old portugese man cakap lagi sekali “your father must be a good artist to create such a beautiful art” sambil tunjuk aku. Hahahahahah aku pun ketawa sambil jawab “oh yes…I must tell my father bout your compliments” hahahah bila aku update dalam facebook, si amoi pun ketawa, katanya, si portugis tu belum nampak hasil seni papito ku sebelum ni….banyak yang reject, after several trial and error baru lah dapat aku hahahah.

Ok, sambung cerita. Sambil menunggu hop on hop off bus tu, si beeps and leleng masih tidak puas hati. They decided to go down to one of the park just to get a nice photo of the 2 chimneys. The conical chimneys of the kitchen really dominates the skyline of the city, in fact, the National Palace has become the landmark of Sintra. Even the guard berkeras jugak suruh kami visit the kitchen cos that was the base for the chimneys. Sekarang baru kamu tau betapa pentingnya kon itu :P

inilah hasil tangkapan si beeps

Next destination is the Pena Palace, which was located on top of the hill above the town of Sintra. Dengan menaiki bas hop on hop off tadi, eeeeeeeee memang menggerunkan.  You will go up on a very steep and winding road, nyilu kepala lutut aku ni. Kena pula time bus tu naik bukit, belok tidak lepas, kena reverse lagi…ishhhhhh part tu aku sudah terbayangkan kalau bus ni terundur terus, memang tertanam di bukit terus aku ni. Jangan sesekali tengok keadaan di luar tu, jalannya sempit betul, macam boleh terbabas jak huhhuu Alhamdulillah selamat sampai.

Keadaan sesak sedikit at the ticket counter, because the entrance fee is a bit confusing, I think that’s why makan masa bila time purchase ticket. The castle located on top of the hill, so sebelum naik tu, singgah dulu lah ke toilet. Sejuk betuuuullll……

Insiden dalam toilet: menjadi habit untuk kami membekal botol air kosong, al maklumlah…diorang ni ndak pandai bercibuk kan…so Apy mengisi botol kosong tadi dengan air di sinki luar, tempat basuh tangan. Perlakuannya ni di observe oleh seorang minah Salleh. After few seconds, minah ni pun mengisi botol Eviannya yang masih ada separuh dalam botol tu. Pecah toilet tu kami kerjakan dengan ketawa kami, hahahahah mesti dia ingatkan si Apy isi air botol tu untuk minum…lantak kau lah minah hahahaha

And so to continue our journey to conquer the palace yang terletak di puncak bukit itu, kami pun berjalan kaki. 1 lady approach us, katanya kalau mau naik atas tu boleh naik tram, and the cost is €2, pergi balik. Kita orang ni kedekut, MAHAL lah €2 tu. Tapi after few steps, rasa macam tidak larat jak mau mendaki ni..hahahah so naik lah tram tadi, memang berbaloi lah €2 tu, kalau tidak…huh mesti tercungap cungap plus pancit.

So kami pun sampai lah di Pena Palace. Mula mula memang speechless, and followed by WOW effect. The palace is so colorful, weird, just beautiful, fantastic and incredible. It’s like entering a storybook. It’s so original, not like what you see in Disneyland…this place is better, it’s like fantasy.

Coat of Arms

entering the castle

ada gaya puteri kah???

The Queen's Terrace

Triton: Half men half fish figure

the chapel

outside the Great Hall

Geometric Moorish pattern tiles

Sintra view from Pena

the cafe

Garden of Queen Dona Amelia

After that, we also got the chance to see the garden located down the hill. These magnificent gardens that surround the Pena Palace display a wide variety of exotic plants. Ambik lah gambar setakat 2-3 biji..perasaanku macam banyak unggas jak di sini ni. Then off we go, turun bukit dengan menaiki bus hop on hop off tadi, macam mau tercabut jantungku. Setibanya di train station, ingatkan masa untuk balik…rupanya si beeps and leleng masih tidak puas dengan gambar National Palace tadi. Sementara menunggu diorang jalan kaki untuk mengambik gambar kon palace yang lebih jelas, Apy and me menikmati ice cream di train station. Sejuk…..

The journey took about 45 minutes to Rossio. Sambil sambil tu kami bergossip lah dalam train, tidak lupa jugak perbincangan pasal menu makan malam hari ni. Hmmm…malam ni mau makan besar, balas dendam pasal semalam terpaksa skip dinner. Plan seterusnya adalah ke Columbus Commercial Centre..misi untuk mencari Cristiano Ronaldo Sculpture. From Rossio station, kami ambik train metro to Colegio Militar Station. Setibanya di sini, weiiii sejuk lah...Colombo Shopping Mall ni merupakan the largest shopping mall in Europe. Tapi, tidak lah kami ni berkari mau bershopping sakan di sini, tapi ampit jugaklah berangkutan H&M dan MNG. Semuanya disebabkan sculpture si CR7 tu tidak di temui. Dengar cerita macam sudah dikembalikan ke Madrid...hmmm ntah lah..

the train

the metro station

Colombo Shopping Mall

kejadian dalam train, biar kami sajalah yg tau..yg penting diorang semua ni berbau busuk, dan kami dapat nyanyi ramai ramai dalam train..

after that, kami bergegas untuk balik ke rossio since ada byk attraction lagi yg belum di snap. Lagi pun, today will be our last day in Lisbon.

sang bulan yg menemani kami

Rossio Square paved with cobblestones in wave patterns

Dona Maria II National Theatre

 Bronze Fountain

 Statue of Dom Pedro IV

Equestrian statue of King John I in the Praca da Figuiera

Santa Justa Elevator – an Eiffel Tower like landmark overlooking the city

Sesudah hari menjadi gelap, perut pun bergendang, maka kami pun execute plan kami masa dalam train from Sintra to Rossio tadi. Yakni, MAKAN MALAM!! Untuk save budget, kami singgah ke kedai cina untuk membeli air minuman. Sepanjang trip Europe ni aku gemar betul minum peach tea which cost me €2. And guess what?? Di kedai cina ni harganya cuma €0.70!! and so we had our dinner at pakistani Reastaurant yg terletak di area Praca de Figuiera which beeps googled. The outcome? MARVELOUSO!

the restaurant

memang berbaloi and super delicious

see you guys in Paris tomolo...gudnite