Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra

 We visited the Quinta da Regaleira which is actually a relatively new castle with gardens having only been finished in the 1800s. It has some ties to Freemasons and potentially Knights Templar rites and symbols. We found it to be very picturesque and nice to walk through. The gardens were really beautiful, and romantic buildings and grottoes only added to the gardens. We really enjoyed strolling up to the estate and walking up some of the towers and footpaths. MV also enjoyed being a photographer for some people who wanted photos together.

Heading to Sintra

 We hired a car for a few days and drove to Sintra. We ended up getting pleasantly lost and driving on some very quaint little roads which led us to a fantastic lookout. On the way down we ran into an electric Porsche club which were driving up the road. We then ended up having lunch in the car park after going to a supermarket. The food was really tasty, one of the best gazpacho soups and Jamon Serrano we have ever had.

Lisbon date night

 TV and KT took a bit of a walk around Lisbon at night to see what it was like as SV was baby sitting. It was so nice to see the city at night since it was so active. There were so many people in the streets going to galleries, restaurants and bars. The old city was very vibrant and fun with all sorts of people out.

More from the Oceanário

 We continued exploring the Oceanário and found a fun tropical garden surrounding pools of tropical fish. Also penguins and of course the main tank full of sharks, rays and a sun fish. Unfortunately MV started to feel poorly wiuth a headache, be she did a good job rallying to enjoy her time. After we finished with the Ocenarium we went outside to take a ride on the gondola since it was part of our ticket price. We also explored the outside garden and water features. Quite a successful day fnished off with a nice sushi dinner.

Oceanário de Lisboa

 We went to the Lisbon Oceanarium which we heard was quite nice. It was really nicely set up and we enjoyed walking through it. The first room had a very large fresh water aquarium with distinct forested parts. It was really interesting, epecially since we had some of the same fish in our aquarium. The rest of the place was divided into distinct areas surrounding a big giant tank. The mascot turned out to be quite popular although not as popular as the sea otters who were absolutely adorable. They put on quite a show as they swam around.

Inside Torre de Belém

 We enjoyed our visit to the tower which had an interesting history as it was built to protect Lisbon. It was part of a coastal defense in the city but was used for several purposes during its history. The girls had fun climbing the narrow stairs and into some of the even more narrow window spaces.