The next morning， my alarm clock at the Sintra Bliss House was a horse-drawn carriage clip-clopping past the window. But my ride that day would be a bus. I figured， given Sintra’s layout， a good starting point is the eighth-century Moorish castle， a holdover from Arab rule and the oldest structure in the area. Once inside， a quarter-mile loop formed by walkways atop the castle’s inner walls was none too taxing. “No matter where you start，” a park ranger said of the simple path around the 15）perimeter， “you can’t get lost.”
The knights of old earned their stripes by remaining watchful of enemies. But these days the only enemies are rain clouds. As I stood at strategic vantage points I could imagine the pride of guarding the kingdom. The most memorable panoramas were of Pena National Palace， my next stop， which loomed above on a nearby 16）promontory.
At the palace， gone was the no-nonsense nature of the armed forces， replaced by an unmistakable 17）whimsy. Pena National Palace， a former summer residence of the Portuguese royal family， is a 18）hodgepodge of cheerful colors and towers， generating an understated “Alice in Wonderland”19）vibe that architecture 20）aficionados would attribute to 19th-century Romanticism. If the Moorish castle invited purposeful forward marches， Pena Palace encouraged aimless wandering.
Back in the center of town， I edged my way into Sintra National Palace just before the last entry at 6：30 p.m. Its faded white exterior belied rooms furnished with period pieces and ceilings covered in festive tiles， the most striking of which featured wall-to-wall 21）azulejos， classic glazed white tiles with blue paint that are aligned to depict historical scenes.
But the best was yet to come. The final stop on my 22）regal tour was one that every Sintra resident and visitor I had spoken to said could not be missed： Quinta da Regaleira， a walled park and estate established by 19th-century trading 23）barons. Although smaller than the Moorish castle and Pena Palace， the structures here were luxurious. The real showstopper： the initiatic well， a massive， 24）cylindrical upside-down tower that 25）plummeted deep into the ground， with a spiral staircase embedded in its walls.
Regardless of the direction I wandered， the natural features of the park yielded surprises： stunning waterfalls， serene 26）grottoes， a maze of tunnels. Stumbling onto a cluster of ducks in a pond， my eyes traveled to a lone land-bound bird that quacked uncontrollably. Following its sightline， I spotted the cause for hysterics： In the pond was a tiny duckling that couldn’t paddle in a straight line no matter how hard it tried. Its mother’s loud quacks sounded more like concerned 27）reprimands than coaching.