May 2014

 

Canterbury has been a tourist attraction since the 12th century.  In fact, The Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th century, were exchanged among a group of tourists on their way to Canterbury.

The story goes that King Henry II grew angry with his old friend, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, over Becket’s refusal to defer to the king’s wishes in matters Becket saw as the province on the Church.  In his anger, Henry was heard to remark, “Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest.”  Four of his knights overheard the remark, traveled to Canterbury, and murdered Becket inside the cathedral.

According to the story, Henry was aghast, traveled to Canterbury in sackcloth and walked down the main aisle of the cathedral on his knees in penance.

Becket was quickly canonized and miracles were reported through his intercession.  Soon Canterbury began attracting pilgrims from all over England.

The main attraction in Canterbury is, of course, the cathedral.  Like most medieval cathedrals it is awe inspiring.  A plaque commemorates the site of Becket’s murder.

We took the train(under 20 pounds r/t) from Dover to Canterbury, which took only about 30 minutes. From the train station to the cathedral and the center of town is an easy 15-20 walk.

The center of town had a well-developed shopping and dining scene. We had a lunch at a pub in one of the alleys and used Wifi.

Official tourist information: click

May 2014

Dover(population: around 30,000) was a cruise stop for us. The ever famous White Cliffs of Dover was a sight to behold as the ship pulled into the port. We took the shuttle(5 pounds) to the city center from the cruise port, and the central area seemed small enough and walkable.

We spent most of our time visiting Canterbury, but, after returning from there, we walked around the city. There really was not all that much to see or do, though. We could have visited the Castle, but we were happy just taking pictures from afar.

more info: click

May 2014 and May 2017

We love the trans-Atlantic cruises, and we’ve done more than a few. Almost all of them stop in Lisbon. On the second or the third time we were in Lisbon, we decided to go to Sintra. From the cruise terminal, we took the local train/metro to Rossio Station & then got on the train to Sintra. 40 minutes(4.50 Euros R/T) later, we arrived at Sintra Station from where we got on the 434-tourist bus that makes a one-directional loop from the train station and to the historic center and then into the hills for €6.90.

We got out of the Sintra station main gate and turned right and found the bus stop. We first got off at the Moorish Castle stop and looked around the area. Rather than waiting for the next bus, we walked up a bit to the Pena Palace, the main attraction in town.

A storybook castle! There are other “storybook” castles around the world, but this one was one of the more impressive ones. I especially liked the fact that it was a manageable size. When we first went there in May of 2014, there was no line at the ticket window. Three years later, the line was very very long. We sent our friends in and waited outside because we did not think we’d enjoy being in that kind of crowd.

From there, we hopped back on 434 bus and got off in Sintra Village. This is where we found lots of shops, restaurants, and cafes. We visited Sintra National Palace, a 1,000-year-old place that had the Moorish beginning and then transformed into a more Portuguese style complex later on. Below is the picture of the kitchen in this Palace.

Again, Sintra Village was almost empty in 2014 but fully packed 3 years later. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch in 2014 in town, but we did not feel like staying there long. We ended up eating at a Chinese restaurant right across from the train station, and the food was surprisingly good! With lots of Chiese tourists visiting the area, there had to be a decent Chinese restaurant or two, we guessed.

If we had more time, we could have visited other palaces and parks on the hills, but a cruise stop is always just one day. Then, again, the charming town that we were eager to come back to back in 2014 is not there any longer. Maybe Sintra has gotten just too popular for its own good.

For more castles and palaces in Sintra area: click