UADarthMaul #4 Sick and Sintra

Last night, I asked the hotel front desk for suggestions for restaurants with vegetable dishes.  I was told to go to a place called Momentos.  It was a very unique experience.  Like most places in this small town, the place was tiny.  There was only one other couple dining.  We were informed that the menu changes every few days and were brought over a chalkboard by the owner, who described the dishes.  Like every restaurant in this area, it consisted of fish, pork, and veal, none of which I was interested in.  Miles opted for pork.  I explained that I was looking for a vegetable dish and he suggested eggplant and then he would make me a custom vegetable dish.  While waiting, we were brought out tiny glasses with a soup, which was a mix of beans and wild spinach.  Miles was surprisingly willing, after some coaxing, to try it.  Our dishes came out, and after eating a little, Miles said, "This pork is outstanding."  I don't think I've ever heard him use that word before.



After getting back to the hotel, I was having some medical issues, so I decided that it would be best to cancel the tour of the local megaliths.  We drove to Sintra late morning and lucked out at finding a parking spot in its narrow winding streets after going up a steep one way street erroneously in the wrong the direction.  This is the bed and breakfast, and the owners are very nice.  We have a family room, so Miles has his own room with 2 beds, in case he gets bored with one.  I paid the meter for the max of 4 hours of parking.  I was advised that I'd be able to move it to free parking at night, as most people came just for the day.  I paid for 4 hours parking and we went to lunch.  Then, we left for Quinta da Regaleira, which was a ten minute walk up winding mountain roads.

SPOILERS FOR STEPHANIE. DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT!

Stephanie will be joining us on Saturday morning, and we will be headed back to Sintra for one more night, so we will be coming back to these spots.  Quinta was apparently a summer residence of an insanely wealthy family.  After spending more than an hour exploring the various caves, wells, fountains, and staircases, I realized that I needed to get back to the car so that I would not be ticketed. We did not get to the inside of the actual mansion.  Luckily, we will be back soon with Stephanie.



The place was massive and had an endless supply of amazingly cool places to explore.  It was like an oversized playground for adults.  I cannot begin to explain just how beautiful it all was.

Tonight, we will explore around town.  Tomorrow, we will be hiking up the mountain to see a Moorish castle and a national palace.  It is about an hour hike up and back.  We will also check outthe Sintra National Palace, which is right around the corner from where we are staying.

As usual, I will be uploading all other pictures to flickr- https://www.flickr.com/gp/13109399@N07/UX5U8R