We aren’t obsessed with the “slow food” movement, but I think many of our eating habits align with the slow food idea. I’ve never heard of a “slow tourism” movement, but if one starts, we will be the first to join.

This is our second week-long trip to Lisbon, and we have yet to visit Sintra. Everyone says it’s a must-see, and every guide book has it in Lisbon’s top ten list. And yet … we’ve been busy, taking it slow. Today we finally decided it was time.

Unfortunately Sintra isn’t just one thing that you can “visit” and check off your list. There are nearly a dozen interesting buildings and gardens all set in a stunning mountain landscape connected by very narrow winding roads. But when we set out this morning, we didn’t know any of that. We just wanted to spend the day getting a feel for Sintra. I joked that our goal was to figure out what we really should see … in other words, determine what we should do the next time we visit.

We started with Peña Palace, but only after an “exciting” half-hour bus ride from the Sintra train station. If we had wanted to tour the inside of the palace, it would have meant a two-hour wait, massive crowds and waiting in the hot sun. Fortunately we weren’t interested. The outside of the palace was impressive in its own right, and more than enough to satisfy our curiosity. We wanted to see the gardens instead, which were lush, cool, and mostly empty.

This also provided lots of side quests for Jim to explore and then “explain” to Jan. Such fun.

Interesting trees along the path. Not exactly straight…

And of course, flowers. These are morning glory flowers, beautiful but frequently also invasive.

Jan spotted a derelict spider web. The only things it was catching these days were dead leaves and the afternoon sun.

We were feeling refreshed after enjoying the cool and quiet paths, so we decided it was time for more of a challenge. A hike to the high cross, at the highest point in the Sintra Hills (529m) seemed like a good idea (at the time). The path was well marked, but steep, and more than once we asked “are we almost there”?

And then, we were there. The cross was … a cross … but the views of the Atlantic to the west and Lisbon to the east were well worth the trek.

The thing that interested me more than the cross, was the butterflies.

This next one is an excellent example of camouflage. Look closely, or you might miss it.

Then Jan spotted a sweet chestnut shell.

The gardens also had a number of fountains and water reservoirs to collect water for the gardens. This picture gives you a sense of what you can see.

We definitely enjoyed our quota of forest bathing for the day. But when we went to see the high cross we had more sun, and more exertion. When Jan spotted a cool rock face she couldn’t resist using it to cool down.