En las fotos de más abajo, van a ver que hay una niebla bien densa (aparentemente siempre la hay sobre Sintra, y mi guía dice que la gente la llama "el pedo de la reina"), lo que hizo que no pudieramos apreciar del todo el exterior.
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Our next stop: The Palácio da Pena (Palace of the Feather), also in the hills around Sintra. It was built in the mid 19th century on the ruins of a medieval monastery which had been destroyed in the 1755 earthquake, and describing it as eccentric is an understatement. The mix of styles (a little bit of everything, really), has drawn comparisons to Ludwig of Bavaria's faux-medieval palaces.In the photos below, you'll see that there's a really dense fog (apparently there's always fog around Sintra, and my guidebook says the locals call it "the queen's fart"), which kept us from properly appreciating the outside.
Desde la entrada, donde dejamos el auto, hay que caminar (trepando la colina, bastante empinado!) unos 15 minutos. Acá se ve el camino. Noten la pendiente de la bajada.
From the entrance, where we left the car, you have to walk (uphill!) some 15 minutes. Here you can see the path. Note the slope of the hill.
El palacio desde afuera. Como mencioné, con la niebla no se ve demasiado.
The palace from outside. As I mentioned, you can't see much through the fog.
Así que como no se ve nada, hice trampa y busqué esta foto en internet. Acá si se entiende lo que quise decir cuando lo llamé excéntrico, no?
So since you can't see anything I cheated and got this photo online. You can see here what I meant when I called it eccentric, eh?
Explorando el palacio, adentro, pero las partes al aire libre.
Exploring the palace, inside, but the open air parts.
Después de dar unas cuantas vueltas, anduvimos por el interior, donde quedan un montón de habitaciones con la decoración ya sea intacta o restaurada. Fascinante, realmente. No permitían fotos en el interior, así que acá también voy a hacer trampa y poner fotos robadas de wikipedia.
After exploring the open-air areas, we visited the inside, where there are quite a few rooms with their decorations either intact or perfectly restored. Just fascinating. Photos weren't allowed there, so I'm going to cheat again and put up photos stolen from wikipedia.
La capilla.
The chapel
El Comedor Real, decorado para Navidad (recuerden que estábamos a 20 de diciembre).
The Royal Dining Room, decorated for Christmas (remember this was December 20th)
El Salón de los Nobles, cuya decoración más llamativa son esas estatuas negras de moros. Acá no se ve, pero están sosteniendo cada uno un candelero... o sea, son lámparas! No muy políticamente correcto :-D
The Noble Room, which has as its most remarkable decorative feature these black statues of moors. You can't see it here, but each is holding a chandelier... that is, they're lamps! Not very politically correct :-D
La cocina.
The kitchen.
