With so much of Portugal still unexplored, it might seem odd that I come back to explore Lisbon some more--which I already explored pretty thoroughly 5 years ago. But I'm really into Superhikes now, and if cities like Sevilla and Malaga have their own Superhike, Lisbon definitely should. I did call it my "favorite European capital", didn't I?

I arrive at dusk, and compare a couple of hostels before settling on one . The I head down to experince Lisbon's main plaza and pedestrian street district. It still has that same grand feel that I remember--except now every block or so, someone comes up to me offering to sell me drugs--and these are well dressed respectable looking guys...

I guess it's no big deal, as long as they take no for an answer. Just feels a little odd.

1436. A Magical Clifftop Moment (Por 030)
Sintra, January 4, 2013, Day 178
8 hrs, 8.0 kms

There are scores of suburbs all around Lisbon and I'm not planning on doing a thorough hike through everyone like I'm doing around Paris. So I'm doing research to make sure I hit the most interesting ones. At the top of the list is Sintra, near the Atlantic coast which boasts of having one of the most beautiful castles in Europe. I figure I should start that way and work my way back, that way I won't risk arriving there late in the day and not having time to really enjoy/photograph .

Getting there is very simple: There's a commuter train right from downtown Lisbon. It's not long and I arrive and eagerly set out to find this famous castle. To get there, you have to take a winding road that plunges into the forest... Through the trees down in the valley you can catch a glimpse of the famed castle.

But I get distracted by a garden park along the steep hillside which I wander through, and once I reach the top, I find a trail that leads to another castle way up at the top of the mountain--so I go ahead to check that one out first.

This begins one of the coolest, most surreal forest hikes I've experienced in a long time. It's like something straight out of a Lord of the Rings movie... giant boulders covered with moss and squeezed between them and sometimes on top of them are ruins of towers, walls, stairs... you feel like you're wandering through the ruins of a mysterious magical city that was eaten up by the forest and now all you have is your imagination to try to figue how this city must've looked like--all on the steep sides of a mountain .

It's all very Moorish in style. This must've been a mighty fortress city back in its day, gazing out to the Atlantic to the west and all across the hill penninsula of what is now greater Lisbon. Finally I reach the gate to the main castle at the top which has been restored... but the entrance fee is a bit pricey... so I decide to skip it. I actually prefer the ontouched, mysterious ruins of the forest.

On another ridge not far away is another castle of a very different sort: a very elaborate 19th century palace with all the architectural extravangance of that era it seems crammed into a single building--a stark contrast with the austere Moorish stone fortress.

Maybe another time I'll come back and cough up the entrance fee for that... it does look pretty cool...

Next I follow a trail around to the back of the Moorish castle hoping to get a better panoramic view . On this side the boulders are 10 times larger, rising high above the trees. No real trail--but you can hop from boulder to boulder and squeeze your way up the crevasses in places. Above: the Moorish castle. Behind: the grand Pena Nacional Palace. Below: the town and castle of Sintra: to the left: scattered mansions in the forested hills and finally the Atlantic ocean.

It is one of those magical moments of wandering when you can just disconnect from everything and immerse yourself in that moment, that place... an moment you will treasure for the rest of your life. And luckily I had the foresight to have a guitar on hand that I can whip out and dedicate a concert to the magnificent place and time.

Finally it's time for me to come back down from my mountaintop experience, and back to the real world. I find a trail that takes me down to the old town of Sintra.

I don't know that I'd classify it as the "most beautiful village in Europe" but it definitely is unique and definitely has its charm . Rather than your typical castle features, it's dominated by these cone shaped pillars looking kind of like odd giant smokestacks. In front you have an elegant plaza and facade--but in the alleys and the back it's more of a waterstained gray giving it sort of a shabby chic feel.

Still wanting to discover more, I follow an alley going west that thats winds down the mountainside with walled in estates on both sides. No side streets anywhere, and when I finally reach the bottom and the main road, I figure I must be halfway to the ocean, so I figure I might as well keep going...

Hiking from Sintra all the way to Lisbon? definitely not happening today.