This week, I’m continuing my posts about my recent trip to Portugal. (If you haven’t read my post about my first day in Portugal, you can check it out here.)

I woke up early on my second day in Portugal so that I could grab some breakfast and head to the train station for a day full of adventure. 😊

I enjoyed breakfast at A Padaria Portuguesa—Parque das Nações. It was my first time having a malasada (a Portuguese donut filled with chocolate), and it was SO DECLIOUS! 🤤

After breakfast, I headed to the train station filled with A LOT of energy and traveled to Sintra.

When I arrived in Sintra, I was blown away by all the BEAUTIFUL azulejos (tiles) on the inside and outside of buildings.

For example, this beautiful art was on one of the walls of a building I walked through immediately after scanning my Lisboa Card after getting off the train to Sintra.

I got to see SO MUCH beautiful tile art just by walking around Sintra! 💙

For lunch, I ate at Rui’s Bakery. The staff were EXTREMELY kind! (Everyone in Portugal was so kind, but the people at this bakery were especially kind. 💚) I had a Pastel de Nata (Portuguese custard tart) for the first time. My tastebuds went crazy! 🤣I had never tasted anything like it before. I can assure you that I had more Pastéis de Nata during my time in Portugal! 😁 (I actually loved the food in Portugal so much that after I returned to the United States, I ordered My Lisbon: A Cookbook from Portugal’s City of Light by Nuno Mendes. I didn’t know what recipes were inside the cookbook, and yesterday, when the book arrived, I was BEYOND ECSTATIC when I found a recipe for Pastéis de Nata in there.😃)

After lunch, I headed to Parque da Pena to see Palácio da Pena (the National Palace of Pena). I bought my tickets in advance online because I had learned that this attraction is extremely popular and has only a limited number of tickets available at each time slot each day. When I saw ALL the people waiting to get tickets that day, I was VERY GLAD I bought my ticket in advance. 😉

After showing my ticket at the entrance to Parque da Pena, there was a sign saying there was a 30-minute walk to the palace. Although I had allowed enough time to account for this 30-minute walk, I wanted to be sure I made it to the palace by the time listed on my ticket. (Your ticket is ONLY valid at the time posted on your ticket, so you CANNOT be late. 🙀)

I walked quickly up to the palace just to be safe and got there in TEN minutes. 🤣

You can see why the National Palace of Pena is so popular; it is absolutely STUNNING! 💜

I LOVED the architecture and colors of the palace! It was very exciting to walk along the outside of the palace—except when I was walking along the narrow wall walk, and people were coming from both sides, which made for an interesting experience. 😂

The inside of the palace was also stunning! I loved the palace’s décor—especially the gorgeous ceilings!

Not only was the outside and inside of the palace AMAZING to experience, but the palace grounds were also INCREDIBLE! 💙

There were so many beautiful tall trees and HUGE rocks!

There were various small bodies of water on the grounds, and I got to see beautiful swans, geese, and ducks clearly living their best lives. 😊

I loved how green everything was and the variety of plants that lived on the grounds.

This was one of my favorite spots I came across as I explored the palace grounds. 💜

It was just BREATHTAKING to be on the palace grounds! 💚

Once I reached the end of the palace grounds, I realized I had worked up quite an appetite. 😄

I explored Sintra for a while until I came across a lovely restaurant—Restaurante Regional de Sintra. I had crepes de mariscos (seafood crepes) and profiteroles com morangos (strawberry cream puffs) for the first time. The food was SO DELICIOUS!

I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to visit Parque da Pena and see Palácio da Pena and the beautiful palace grounds! ❤️

Stay tuned for another post about Portugal next week. 🤓

Wishing you well! 💛