After yet another very full day of making memories, we are finishing up our evening at the Storybook Palace Hotel in Nazare. Somehow, quite fittingly after our St. Patrick’s Day celebrating, we are in the James Joyce suite.

Our day started in Sintra where we explored the stunning house and grounds of the Quinta da Regaleira. Historically speaking, it is really just a baby at barely a century old and it is filled with Free Masonry symbolism. The show stopper here, though, is the Initiation Well. Ideally blindfolded, you walk down the steps of a very deep symbolic well to represent the journey to the ‘womb of Mother Earth’ and the death of ego. At the bottom there is a long passage, representing a quest for hidden knowledge as you try to exit. There are various tunnels you could end up in, but eventually you are to find the exit, walk on water (stepping stones through a waterfall) and be reborn. It was a very cool experience although I’m not sure either of us felt particularly different. We must have done it wrong.

The real question is how on earth the owner managed to convince his family and the contractor that this is what he was going to build. Honestly – think about how that conversation would go at your house. “Honey, I have this great idea. I’m going to dig a hole about 20 meters deep. Then I’m going to tunnel a few passages underground, and one of them will lead to a waterfall and pond. It’ll be great. We can have rituals and stuff. Oh, and I’m sure it won’t cost very much at all.” Maybe that’s why there aren’t too many of these around.

Next on our agenda was the Pena Palace, a vibrant and colourful castle high up on the hillside. Luckily there was a bus to take us there.

We called it a day and found this amazing hotel with the most fantastic host, Francisco. We found out we were the only people staying here tonight – gotta love low season!! We got treated like family. Our room got upgraded, we were given treats and snacks and a dinner, we were given the gold star treatment to go along with our top tier dinner. This will be a memorable stay for sure.

I don’t know how we’re going to be able to leave…