Planet Ruby Starrs

There was another change of plan due to having to avoid the storm across the Bay of Biscay.   Instead of going to Porto we stopped overnight in Lisbon.  We have been to Lisbon many times and while it is a beautiful city we have wandered around it several times and don't feel the need to explore further. In fact last time we came we didn't even get off the boat...  but this time we had enough time and an overnight stop so we went on the train to Sintra.  We met up with some people we had made friends with and the four of us set off for an adventure in Portugaul.  Sintra is a small town about 30 minutes away by train.  It is the home to the National Palace of Pena plus a couple of other really interesting buildings.  We didn't pick the right day - not that we had any choice..  as we sat off uptown to the station ( its a beautiful art deco station) it absolutely chucked it down and we got wet, very wet!  ...

Our second visit to Lisbon this year.  Having wandered around the city last time we were here in January we had plans to take this opportunity to escape on a local train and visit the small town of Sintra.  Best laid plans hey.... Dr Fred woke up with an 'injury' ... his hip and knee were not cooperating and while had been stiff yesterday they were now quite painful. We decided to walk into town and see how the leg felt.  Fortunately some friends in Amble (hello and thank you friends in Amble)  had given us some very clear and detailed instruction on how to make this journey ss they had done it quite recently.  Because of this very little effort was spent getting 'lost' finding the right station... train... etc so we decided to go - we limped across town to the railway station and boarded an incredibly crowded train... Fun trip to absolutley packed out place...  Sintra is a 40 minute train ride from Lisbon and is UNESCO world heritage site with ...