Cascais – TRAVEL WORDS

Postcards from Around the World

Whilst wandering around Cascais we found a short cut to the coastal road north past the interesting bold pyramid shaped towers of the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego which led into an extensive park (Marechal Carmona Park also known as Gandarinha Park) with gardens, architectural and sculptural interests and where we came across a peacock with the largest / longest tail I have ever seen.

We also came across the Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães – a charming fairy-tale example of the revivalist architectural style built in 1897.

The museum’s exhibits include an impressive art collection, rare pieces of Indo-Portuguese furniture, a few prehistoric archaeological remains and a library and if you climb up to the tower there are impressive views over the Santa Marta bay and the Santa Marta Lighthouse.

Views from the tower to the Santa Marta Lighthouse

After visiting the museum and the pretty Chapel of Saint Sebastian, which is close by, we walked down to the lighthouse to have a closer look before going for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the bay.

There is a lot more to this seaside resort than you might first think, plus it is an easy train ride into Lisbon and also a cheap bus ride to the historic town of Sintra. A perfect base in my opinion.

Postcards from Around the World

After spending several days in Lisbon we headed out of the city to Cascais for a few days, to a charming guest villa/hotel set amidst lush gardens (with a pool) and within 10 mins walk to the old town along a tree-lined street.

We happily wandered around exploring the maze of cobbled streets, finding authentic restaurants (including a marvellous steak restaurant Armazém 22 which is a little off the beaten track), secluded courtyards, benches with views.

As well as the usual Portuguese tiled façades the street signs are rather beautiful too.

Marina where fishermen still mend their nets

There is more to Cascais than meets the eye. We enjoyed the few days we were there, mostly walking, and we discovered a lovely park with the most beautiful peacocks I have ever seen. More of that next time.

Life in Colour

To find out more about this year’s photo challenge here on Travel Words, please read this post.

This is the last day of October which means it is the last week of the colour Orange. If you have any orange photos left that you want to share then please do so as we will move to the penultimate colour of the year next Sunday.

Red Pyramid Building The Paula Rego Art Gallery Museum in Cascais Portugal / Casa das Historias Paula Rego

do You Have any orange Architecture?

Monday Washing

Andrew of ‘Have Bag, Will Travel’ is running a weekly challenge all about photographs of washing lines. I knew I had a couple of rather lovely washing lines, but a look through my archives resulted in a few more. A change of country this week – this colourful scene is from Cascais in Portugal. Must take a long time to get a full load dried and I never hang garments up in the middle like this. I always hang them from the bottom.

Day Twenty-One

The theme for Becky’s April Squares challenge is ‘top’

1. On Top of the World – summit, crown, peak or uppermost part of something
2. Under the Big Top – topping or covering (or if you’re really lucky circus)
3. Room at the Top – first or highest in position
4. Cherry on Top – something made even more wonderful by becoming square
5. Top and Tail – or maybe you’d prefer to play around with word combinations such as top dog, top stitch, top full, top line, top fruit, top hat, top secret, top knot, top drawer and top dollar!

“top of the morning to you”

“And the rest of the day to you“

“The Capela de Sao Sebastião (Chapel of Saint Sebastian) is a delightful chapel in the Marechal Carmona Park opposite the elegant Condes de Castro Guimaraes museum. The chapel dates from the 17th and predates the intriguing museum by almost 200 years.” – Cascais, Portugal

April Squares | Day Twenty-One