Friday, the 13th - our lucky day!

Today we did a lot of driving, through narrow roads which meander round the Sintra mountains as the monks on their donkeys travelled centuries ago. You drive through lush woods where you could imagine meeting snowwhite and her seven dwarfs, you see the castle where the king and the prince on a white stallion were living. We even found the old gnarled house where the witch had her home.

When you look at drawings from two hundred years ago you see barren mountains with white rocks showing. All the trees had been cut down through the centuries gone, for ships for the seafaring portugese, for houses and fireplaces. The wood only has been restored some hundred years ago, by the king who had his sumer residence in this erea, by an english baron who collected plants all over the world and brought them together in a huge park.

My moter and me windowshopped along a street of antiques in Sintra, one was full of ancient ticking clocks, elsewhere we found knight armours, silver inkstands and bnoculars as the pirats used in the old days. Unfortunatly things were far too big for our handbags.

You can googel further picures of Sintra, Cascais and Estoril.

tuesday

This new day found me in the sun, making my gymnastic. I try to do some everyday. In the afternoon we drove to look at two restaurants to go to on saturday for the birthday of my mother. That is a difficult problem to solve: one is in an old winecellar and possibly the better food, the other one is with a spectacular view of the sea. I suppose we will go to the later one.

Then we went shopping in the small village shop round the corner, beans for this evening and bread for tomorrow. This shop is tiny nad has everything you can whish for, is cheaper than the supermercado and is open nearly around the clock. Here you see my husban carrying some water bottles.

Beneath is the old market place where the old men will sit on the wall and discuss politics in the late afternoon.