The Awkwardness of Pena Palace
Like many people who enjoy browsing through travel sites, I’d seen photos of Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal. It’s a place that seems almost too good to be true; the shapes, colors, artwork and the location on top of a hill all look picture perfect. Can something that is picture perfect live up to expectations? I’m still torn about it. Yes, Pena Palace is an incredible place, bound to make you gasp for breath a few times. But I also struggled with the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
Pena Palace is the 19th century fantasy of its wealthy owners. The turrets weren’t built as lookout posts for guards, they were a decorative addition in peaceful times. To save space and costs the additions to Pena Palace were scaled down, creating a lovely illusion. From a distance, the Palace looks impressive and unique. Closer up, the sight of watchtowers that are barely taller than the people that climbed on top of them is confusing. An invasion of giants?
And then there’s the main structure of the building; tall, beautiful and of perfectly normal proportions, but decorated like a building in a fairy tale.
To my own surprise Pena Palace reminded me of those stories about people building a castle in their back yard out of seashells or scrap metal. And yet, it’s vibrant, lovely, awe inspiring and amazing.
People travel from all over the world to see Pena Palace. Sintra is so overrun with tourists that attractions don’t open until 9:30, so the locals can get to school and work before tourism gridlocks the town for the rest of day. The first bus up the hill doesn’t leave until 9:15, but long before, people start lining up to secure a spot on that bus. Arriving early is key.
I’ve tried to figure out if I should recommend Pena Palace as a destination, and I honestly don’t know. I will never regret my visit to the weird and wonderful summer palace. But I was already in Lisbon, half an hour away by train. I’d have been disappointed if I had traveled half way around the world especially for this one experience.
Sintra has much more to offer than Pena Palace. The town itself is very lovely and the rich Portuguese of the 19th and early 20th century left a couple more summer palaces to marvel over. The oldest intact structure is the large Moorish castle from the 11th century. Not as colorful or artful, but interesting and impressive in its own right, with idyllic footpaths on the shaded grounds and bold walkways and watchtowers, overlooking the area all the way Lisbon.
Comments, questions or suggestions are more than welcome. You can contact Mickey Welsh at mewelsh@gannett.com. You can follow "Wish I Was There" on Facebook for a daily dose of Europe at https://www.facebook.com/travelmickey1.