We stayed at the Holiday Inn Continental, where we had a large, quiet room. We were in a university and residential neighborhood, near the Gulbenkian Museum, which we visited on Sunday after our arrival back in Lisbon. The museum houses a fantastic collection, displayed beautifully. While free on Sundays and having some of the best (only the best) ancient and more modern works from around the globe, the museum was very lightly visited. 

    We were fortunate to have personal contacts in Lisbon. Karina and her son Tomás met us at the hotel and we took a taxi to their home, where her husband, Miguel, and son João awaited us. After cheese, bread, wine, and pastries, we drove to the Alfama for dinner of traditional grilled sardines, sausages, pork, soup, and sangria. June 12 is a special saint's holiday and huge celebrations continue all night in the Alfama. Smaller, though still impressive, celebrations occur throughout June. We were in the thick of it, though eating early in the evening, before the major singing and festivities. The boys, 7 and 10, we're restless, but walked about in the crowd, watching people and listening to music. Also cluttering the streets was debris left from the previous night, when Portugal played Germany in soccer at the 2012 Euro competitions. Portugal lost 0 to 1, but later we heard about some fouling problem on the German side and there was a question about whether the goal would stand.

    Not quite so magical as the first time I saw it 15 years ago, Sintra is still a special place, with a microclimate that allows plants from around the world to thrive. The Pena Palace is more intimate than expected, though interesting for its unusual architecture and siting upon a high hill above the city center. In 1997 we climbed a path through the extensive gardens during a wind and rain storm only to find that the palace had been closed that day due to falling scaffolding and gargoyles. This time, with much better weather, but in consideration of Dan’s injury, we took a bus from the train station to a shorter path up to the palace; after the visit, we walked down the road part way, eating lunch at a small restaurant, and finally taking the bus to the station. The Lisbon train traverses suburbs filled with high rise apartment buildings.