Walking To Estoril

Walking the malecon

One of the things I like to do when I travel is look for a good book that was written about the place I am visiting. I do not mean a tourist guide book; I look for a novel that is set in the location. Here is Cascais, we walked into the Tourist information centre and discovered a book in a display on one wall. It was called “Estoril”, which is the name of the town two stops down the train line we took coming here. I bought the book and started reading it. Actually written by a Croatian who lives in Lisbon it is well written and very interesting.

After a couple of days exploring Cascais, we looked at the map and realized that Estoril was easily within walking distance from Cascais. Like Cascais, Estoril is a coastal town, so walking there would be a nice walk along the coast. Friends who had visited here earlier also suggested this walk, so we knew it was a good one.

Actually getting out of Cascais was the only problem, as the waterfront areas are busy and crowded, but a few twists and turns put us on a beautiful waterfront Malecon (A Spanish word for waterfront stone sidewalk) that ran all the way from Cascais to Estoril.

This section of the coast features the lovely beaches that our previous walk lacked, and so this area

Lots of beaches

was busy and packed with sunbathers and swimmers enjoying the sunshine and beautiful warm weather here. There would be a beach packed with umbrellas and people then a short section of rocky coastline followed by another lovely beach. Of course each beach area was also well serviced by little cafes and tourist shops. The other advantage of this walk was that the train line ran alongside the beach so if the route was too long or Regis felt she was stretching her walking limit she could hop on the train. Unfortunately this did not work so well. Half way to Estoril she decided to let me go on walking and she would hop on the train and we would meet up in Estoril. Turns out you need exact change at the little in-between stops and although a kind local offered to give her the extra pennies she required, she also pointed down the line to the Estoril train stop, already in sight and said “You do not need the train, it is a short walk.” Meanwhile I had arrived in Estoril and was waiting by the exit from the train stop when Regis came walking around the corner.

Seriously . . . . 

In Estoril we walked up to visit the casino. We were told that it was the BIGGEST in Europe and I had read about it in my “Estoril” book so I knew it was built in the 30's. We were expecting an elegant old building, but if this casino was built in the 30's, they have obviously renovated it extensively since, because what greeted us at the top of the road was a huge ugly square chrome building. And it was not very big, but I guess visiting Las Vegas sort of gives you a slanted view of casinos.

Walking up to the Casino however I was surprised to find the large Hotel Palacio Estoril proudly standing beside the park we were walking through. This is the Hotel featured prominently in the book I was reading. I assumed it was a fictional location but here it was. Later back at our apartment while reading a guide book to Cascais, I found a reference to a famous spy with the codename Tricycle, who was also featured in the book. So my disappointment in the casino was overshadowed by finding all these references to the book

The Hotel Palacio

“Estoril”.

And now armed with correct sufficient change in her purse, Regis was able to catch the train back to Cascais . . . . . but still over 10 km wear on her sneakers . . . .

A Tree decorated with electronics - Art?