September 26, 2017
Another beautiful day, on the menu for today is a day trip to Cascais via train:
…after an in-house breakfast, we are off ……down what we have christened the “wicked hill”…..and yes, the locals huff and puff as well…
….to the Appollonia Metro Station then connect with the train departing from the Cais do Sodre train station (green metro line)…..check out the crazy mural….
…… btw the metro here is A-1 > they know where to put their budgetary priorities, the train journey takes 30-40 minutes, with a return ticket costing €4.30 each…..uneventful ride. We have missed a day of reporting as we generally did housekeeping and wandered around the ‘hood a bit.
Historically Cascais was a favourite with the Portuguese nobility, and today the town is an elegant blend of grand 19th century architecture, traditional Portuguese charm and outstanding tourist facilities. The two extremes of people who lived in the town gave rise to Cascais’ popular nickname of “The Town of Kings and Fishers”. This trend of the high-society has continued through to the present day, with many of Lisbon’s rich and famous living within the vicinity of Cascais, providing the region with a prosperous and sophisticated atmosphere.
After exiting the train station we passed through what we call “the tourist zone”: stores, tatty stores and some even more so, plus the normal complement of restos…
and landed in what is known as the fishermen’s port…
…..we then followed a lovely promenade along the coast giving rise to some nice views of the ocean and ocean side homes…..
…..including a squadron of feeding and frolicking dolphins …
…we then reached the The Boca de Inferno about 1.5km west of the town. It is an interesting cliff formation, which has been given the overly dramatic name of Hell’s Mouth…a cave creates a huge WHOOSH when a powerful wave hits it…particularly during winter storms…but today the seas were peaceful…..
then back the same way we came ……the Castro Guimaraes Museum, another example of the impressive 19th-century architecture found throughout Cascais…..
…you have to love traffic cops…these guys blocked the road in both directions for over 20 minutes to tow the bad guy….yet no one tooted their horn or otherwise made their displeasure felt…
…the British influence is certainly here …..counted 5 pubs which could have challenged some of those we saw in the UK…..the Irish are here as well, but not as well represented…
….the path makers have this tendency to make wave patterns in black & white stone….just wonderful when you are dehydrated…try to stare at that for a while!!
It was quite hot, 30C, and lunch was in order …..salty sardines for me and a rather modest “Portuguese” fish and chips for Annie…..another rather crappy tourist meal but when you are hot and hungry and rapidly becoming “hangry” you pays your money and take your chances!! ….the band however was a nice touch …
After lunch a stroll along the beach front promenade except in the other direction towards Estoril…….lots of beachside restos where you can also rent towels/loungers/umbrellas and obviously purchase wine/beer/booze….it all looked quite nice sort of 2nd world Riviera…
….and a bit of Brit humour…
….last look at the oceanfront ….
…..then back to the train station and Lisbon……..tired, but a very nice day….Cascais could make for a nice destination for a week or more, of course 8 zillion Brits have declared it so, already…..