Europe – Page 40 – Alive and Trekking

Ominous

The sky over Sintra looked very moody and ominous, as if at any second a storm could break loose. While we had a few drops here and there, luckily the major rain stayed away. The threatening sky sure made for a cool photo though!

The narrow streets of Sintra

After visiting the Pena Palace, we had some time to explore the small town of Sintra. The narrow streets were filled with people, merchandise, decoration and colour. Such a mish-mash of pretty much everything, which all added to the charm of things. Not that much else to say about this place: we walked some, weContinueContinue reading “The narrow streets of Sintra”

Views from the Afsluitdijk

Last Saturday, we went to Assen to go to the Maya Exhibit at the Drents Museum. This is one of my absolute favourite musea in the country, due to its amazing archaeology collection including the Pesse canoe (oldest boat in the world) and the Yde Girl (Iron Age bog body of a 16-year-old girl). I highly recommendContinueContinue reading “Views from the Afsluitdijk”

Zig zag

The composition of this photo is all about the zig zags! I love the layers, the shapes, the colours, the contrast of the yellow with the blue yet cloudy sky. Such a gorgeous and inspirational place!

Verde

Portugal’s nature is much greener than I’d expected. Beautiful, lush greens and trees make for very pretty sights. The big boulders in between give me the feeling of a really old landscape and it simply drew my attention.

Palácio da Pena part 3: beautiful gardens

The gardens and greens around the palace are just as stunning as the palace itself. We were quite early in the season (late April) so most of the flowers were not yet in bloom. We also didn’t have a lot of time. I suppose that is the downside of organised travel: you have a timeContinueContinue reading “Palácio da Pena part 3: beautiful gardens”

Palácio da Pena part 2: a glimpse of the past

There is heaps to explore at the Pena Palace. As if the outside wasn’t fascinating enough, the inside was pretty amazing as well. Beautiful tiles, ornate arched ceilings, lusciously decorated rooms…this palace has it all. I do wonder what it must have been like all those centuries ago, when this palace was a lot moreContinueContinue reading “Palácio da Pena part 2: a glimpse of the past”

Palácio da Pena part 1: a fascinating place

We had about a week in Portugal, so we figured we’d have plenty of time to explore a bit of the area outside the big city as well. We’d both heard great things about the Pena Palace in Sintra and it was soon decided that this was a ‘must visit’ for the both of us. Initially, we thought about taking publicContinueContinue reading “Palácio da Pena part 1: a fascinating place”