Pena Palace
This week we are headed to Sintra, Portugal to an eclectic castle high up on a hill. Pena Palace is surrounded by a forested park with lush gardens and hiking trails, making it a perfect daytrip.
Construction of the palace began in 1843, spearheaded by King Ferdinand and Queen Maria II. It served as a royal residence until 1911 when it was turned into a museum and park for the public. The structure’s architecture is inspired by German romanticism and borrows styles from several different German castles. Some parts have Islamic influence and others a more medieval European feel. This mishmash of styles is especially obvious on the exterior, which is different colors, materials, and types of columns, towers, and domes. Watch the video below for gorgeous aerial shots of the castle, as well as more information about Pena Palace’s fantastical architectural style.
Recommended Reading
Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier, Translated by Barbara Harshav
Raimund Gregorius is a Latin teacher at a Swiss college who one day—after a chance encounter with a mysterious Portuguese woman—abandons his old life to start a new one. He takes the night train to Lisbon and carries with him a book by Amadeu de Prado, a (fictional) Portuguese doctor and essayist whose writings explore the ideas of loneliness, mortality, death, friendship, love, and loyalty. Gregorius becomes obsessed by what he reads and restlessly struggles to comprehend the life of the author. His investigations lead him all over the city of Lisbon, as he speaks to those who were entangled in Prado’s life. Gradually, the picture of an extraordinary man emerges—a doctor and poet who rebelled against Salazar’s dictatorship.
Lisbon: Recipes from the Heart of Portugal by Rebecca Seal
In Lisbon, Rebecca Seal shares her favorite recipes, inspired by her travels. Featuring over 80 accessible recipes based on traditional Portuguese cuisine, including Caldo Verde (kale soup), Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato clams in white wine and garlic), and pesticos (Portuguese tapas). From the bars of Bairro Alto to the cafes in Chiado, there’s something for everyone. All set to the stunning backdrop of eighteenth-century buildings, ornate churches, nostalgic trams, and pastel-colored houses, Lisbon is a stunning cookbook.
A Concise History of Portugal by David Birmingham
Portugal is one of history’s most successful survivors. It is but a small country whose population rose slowly from one million to nine million over eight hundred years. In that time it acquired a political and cultural autonomy within Europe. It also made its mark on every corner of the globe through colonization, emigration and commerce. Unlike the more prosperous Catalonia it succeeded in escaping from Spanish captivity in the seventeenth century.
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine
While not set in Portugal, this is a must-read fairytale retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. Jo, the firstborn, “The General” to her eleven sisters, is the only thing the Hamilton girls have in place of a mother. She is the one who taught them how to dance, the one who gives the signal each night, as they slip out of the confines of their father’s townhouse to await the cabs that will take them to the speakeasy. Together they elude their distant and controlling father, until the day he decides to marry them all off.
The girls, meanwhile, continue to dance, from Salon Renaud to the Swan and, finally, the Kingfisher, the club they come to call home. They dance until one night when they are caught in a raid, separated, and Jo is thrust face-to-face with someone from her past: a bootlegger named Tom whom she hasn’t seen in almost ten years. Suddenly Jo must weigh in the balance not only the demands of her father and eleven sisters, but those she must make of herself.
That’s all for our tour of Pena Palace! Check back next week to see which castle we explore next.
This program supported by
