Palace de Pena continued

 I suppose fittingly we ended up in the kitchens, which along with reflecting our proper social standing also made us remember how hungry we were....

Wandering back out to the balconies we took a last look at the bright yellow castle turrets beautifully complimenting the blue winter sky. We briefly considered having lunch on the cafe terrace below one of the said towers but decided that we had had enough of people for a time and we would explore the extensive gardens and find a secluded spot to eat.

The gardens or more properly grounds are very extensive and would easily take a day or more to walk thoroughly. We had decided for no real reason at all to aim for the highest point. This involved a walk of a few kilometres through lovely pine woods, we soon found a spot for lunch.

Apparently a favoured spot for the queen to enjoy. A further climb found us at our goal of the High cross. Yet another replica of a previous incarnation destroyed by an act of God. In this case lightening.

The views back towards the palace were truly breathtaking.

Beyond was to be seen the coast we had sailed past last year.

The style of the cross was Manueline . A style we have become quite familiar with. hint (the intertwined effect)

As I mentioned earlier the grounds / gardens are quite extensive. It would be quite eay to get lost.

There are various points of reference. Above is a small temple, this one is dedicated to St Anthony.

This is a statue of a warrior, purely imaginary, in Britain it would be refered to as a "folly".

The gardens are a magical place to explore, there are ponds and glades of a tranquil beauty its almost impossible not to stop and rest awhile to just soak in the atmosphere.

We discovered small chapels.

A lovely glade descending to the Garden of the Camellias.

And there they are!

This is a Pavilion of obvious Moorish influence hosting the Fountain of the small birds.

The birds in question are delicate carvings hidden in the eves, around about the Arabic inscription on  the dome but on the inside.

we descended via the Valley of the Lakes.

A series of Lakes drops down to another entrance to the gardens, It is obviously the home of several species of wildfowl, unlike the normal social strata the grandest reside at the bottom of the descending series of lakes.

Above is a plaque to the founder of the gardens Fernando II
And below is the last and grandest duck house of the five lakes....