Castles are not built on plains or in valleys. They are situated on mountaintops and hillsides. But what happens when the castle becomes a major tourist destination? In short, gridlock.

To avoid the crush we skipped the bus to Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle today and hiked up instead. The guidebook said it was a trail only to be undertaken by “serious hikers,” but that didn’t deter us. 

Hike it we did, both up and down, and though the knees are sore, the mind is full of the sights we saw along the way.