Cascais. March 29th, 2023

 Woke up and it was sunny and warm so we decided to take a 40 minute train ride to the beach resort town 14 miles west of Lisbon called Cascais (kahsh-KAYSH).  This was where we were supposed to stay after Lagos but cancelled due to the inclement weather.  Before the rise of the Algarve, Cascais was the place for the rich and beautiful.  Starting in 1900, the Portuguese Queen, Maria Pia, made Cascais her summer vacation getaway and Portugal's' high society followed.  A train line was built from Lisbon and between the two world wars, the area was developed as a kind of Portuguese French Riviera.  Today, it is still where the money is and you can see it with your own eyes as you look at the  beautiful mansion's, high end apartments and 5-star plus hotels that occupy a lot of the real estate here. So it still has that elegant vibe but the main attractions are its lovely beaches.  Cascais has a seawall promenade that passes several beaches and goes to its sister beach town.  It was a lovely day and so we took the 30 minute stroll and picked up the train in Estoril to get back to Lisbon.



The beach in the center of Cascais.  Their were a lot of people playing in the water so I am assuming the water was warm due to the small bay trapping the sun's heat.

A little west of the beaches is the Santa Marta Lighthouse, built in 1867, on the estuary of the River Tagus, is now a museum.  Also a museum is the Santa Maria House built in 1902 for Jorge O'Neill, direct descendant of the Irish royal family as a summer retreat. 
 
 
We continued heading west out of Cascais and after about 2km came upon an area called Boca do Inferno (Hells Mouth) due to the high eroded cliffs being constantly battered by the full force of the Atlantic ocean.  It was quite calm when we were there so not much wave action to be seen.  As we were heading back to Cascais I spotted this strange painted rock and went to check it out.  It was quite eerie as the eyes seemed to follow me as I made my way down to the painting.  Quite a masterful piece of artwork that most people walking by would not spot.

 The Palace of the Count of Castro Guimartaes was built in 1900.  In 1924 he bequeathed its art objects and books to the people of Cascais and in 1931 his home became a museum and library that is still a public treasure today.     

We headed back to Cascais and onto the promenade heading towards Estoril.  It was a lovely walk along the ocean and we passed several beaches until we arrived at Estoril, with its own sandy beach, before climbing up the steps to the train station and catching the train back to Lisbon. 












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