After SteemFest Adventures: Exploring A Mystic Castle In Sintra, Portugal! 🏰 🇵🇹

After SteemFest ended, we still spent a couple of days in Portugal before heading back home.

Countless people had told us that we absolutely have to visit SINTRA - a small town located about 40min outside of Lisbon.
Everyone, including @steemrollin, told us how beautiful it was and how much we'd enjoy it.
So of course, we couldn't miss something as amazing as this!

So I rented a large taxi van with @mrs.steemit @soldier @agent @vanylou and we picked up @originate @transisto @bluabaleno along the way to join us on the road trip.

---

Sintra is a beautiful town full of historic buildings that makes a perfect day trip from Lisbon.

There are two main attractions - the colorful Palácio Nacional da Pena, and the mystic Quinta da Regaleira.

Since we didn't have a lot of time, we could only decide to visit one of the two castles - and we chose the Quinta da Regaleira.
It is a 20th century gothic residence constructed in 1904, with large gardens that include ancient secret orders, hidden tunnels and concealed symbolism.

The location was just too beautiful for words.

Around every corner was a stunning backdrop for an amazing photo, and we were overwhelmed.
Now we knew why everyone insisted we had to come to Sintra!

@vanylou brought her camera with her and took some amazing shots - let the pictures speak for themselves...

@transisto and me

---

---

---

One of the main attractions within the garden is the Initiation Well.

This 'subterranean tower' was absolutely incredible. It goes 27 meters deep into the earth and is accessible through a mystic stairway decorated with masonic, esoteric and alchemical symbols.
This was for sure the highlight of Sintra - this place was so magical, so unique, and I'm glad we got to visit it.
When you walk all the way down the well, you actually follow in an underground walkway, and end up in the middle of a lake.
You can only pass the lake via some stepping stones in the water, and then continue the journey over a bridge hanging above the water.

Absolutely amazing!

@soldier shot by @vanylou

---

After the initiation well, this is the walkway + bridge across the lake!

Left to right: @agent @mrs.steemit @originate @soldier @vanylou @sirwinchester

... And I've saved the best for last:

At the end of the day, I took out my Phantom 4 to get some epic drone shots from above!

And it was sunset as well, so the lighting and sky looked absolutely beautiful!

We even managed to fly the drone all the way up to the other castle which we didn't get to visit.

The Palácio Nacional da Pena is a beautiful colorful building in red and yellow, and it looks even more stunning with the lights surrounding it in the evening!

---

---

After we spent the whole day out and about exploring the castle, we were naturally quite hungry.
So we went for dinner with fellow Steemians @roadscape @wolfcat @lovejoy @quinneaker @everlove @saramiller and more!
We had some great Indian food, good laughter and interesting chats before returning to our apartment in Lisbon.

All in all it was an amazing day and I'm glad we managed to visit Sintra!

The Quinta da Regaleira is so mesmerizing and an absolute must for anyone who travels to Lisbon!

---

Want to get featured on my blog? Register for Steemit Promo

- Instagram -

- Steemit FB Group - 

© Sirwinchester