The Path to Castelo Dos Mouros

It was a hot July day. I was in Sintra.
I read wonderful stories and legends about this town. But one in particular has drawn attention to me…
The path to Castelo Dos Mouros.

It was 7.30am and Elias’s alarm clock went off! He got up and started knocking on everyone’s door to wake us up.
Elias: “Get up! Get up! We’re going to Sintra!!”
We all had breakfast and headed off to Rossio Train Station.
While me, Viola, Alida e Mattia checked the timetable, Elias went to the ticket office to buy the train tickets.
The journey to Sintra is less than 40 minutes.
When we got off the train, it was like stepping out of the wardrobe of Narnia.

We were greeted by a view as described by the stories I had read.
We were truly in a fairytale town!
From far way we could see the Palacio da Pena. Its yellow and red walls were hypnotizing.
It looked like a jewel shone by the sun.

But our mission was to get to Castelo Dos Mouros.

I had the city map. Therefore, I was the team leader.
We started the famous path uphill towards Castelo Dos Mouros.
- “Oh, but this is going to be easy!” – said Alida, without realizing that the only flat pathwas at the begining of this journey.
I approached an old man, who had lived in there his whole life, to ask for directions.
He spoke very slowly. I showed him the map and I asked him if there was a quicker way to get to the top.
He looked at me and said:
-“There is a shorter way… but there are many mysteries along the way. I recommend you to follow the secure path…”
“Ok…But what are the mysteries?”- I asked.
The Old Man: “From the moment you pass the Great Eucalyptus Tree, “the path” knows what are your weaknesses and will tempt you along the way to try and lead you to Manlĭus Land. A no-return place.
You have to be strong and ignore it!!
Also, If you are courageous and fearless enough and decide to take the short path, – close your eyes if you ever see any birds with fluorescent wings!
Bon Voyage…” –added the Old Man at the end with a big laughter.

Let’s start this adventure, team!- I said.
Mattia: “Why don’t we take the short path? The normal path is too long and tiring…”
Alida: “I agree with him….”
Viola: “Me too. The normal path has very tall, stone steps…”
-“Haven’t you heard what the Old Man said??”- I exclaimed. “That path is very dangerous and I don’t want to risk...”
Elias: “C’mon Vale! It will be an adventure! And we will arrive at the Castle just before lunch!”
-“Ok.. “ – I huffed.

Once we passed the “Great Eucalyptus Tree” Elias noticed something…
Elias: “Wow…Look! There’s the characters I’ve created on The Sims!!”
Viola: “Ignore it Elias! Ignore it!!”
I placed a bandage on Elias’s eyes and suddenly he stopped having those “visions”.

Moments after, it was my turn! Myself and Alida.
Suddenly there was a little path, off the one we were walking on, with endless tables on both sides with infinite jars of Nutella on it…
It only took one second for us to be tempted to take that small path towards Manlĭus Land…
Mattia: “Elias, Viola… Hold them! Pull them back!!”
And so, with all the strength, Mattia, Elias and Viola managed to pull me and Alida back to the main path. We all ran so fast for the next three minutes until we arrived at the Great Tunnel!

It didn’t take too long when Viola said she could hear something.
Viola: “Guys, can you hear that? It’s a whisper…”
Io: What are you talking about??”
Viola: “It’s the soundtrack of ‘Violetta’… can you hear it?”
And when I looked back I noticed that Viola was following those whispers into a smaller tunnel…
I decided to place my headphones on Viola’s ears si I knew she could stop listening to that whisper. And it worked!!
Shortly after we saw a bright light. We thought it was the end of the tunnel. But the light kept on coming towards us. It was the birds with the fluorescent wings!!
I screamed: “Close your eyes!!! Close your eyes!!”
Once we felt the wind created by the wings pass over us, slowly slowly we started to open our eyes…
We all couldn’t wait to get out of the tunnel!

It didn’t take too long for the next victim to be tempted. Mattia.
Mattia had taken his football with him, and whilst playing while walking, the ball fell on a ditch.
When he looked further down he could see El Shaarawy and Balotelli calling him, and inviting him to play a match with them and his favourite football team- Milan.
Obviously it only took seconds for Mattia to start following the voices…
Alida: “Vale, the only way we can wake him up is by singing the Milan Anthem. He will then follow us instead”
Io: “Ok! Let’s do it. Quickly and as loud as you can!!”
We all started singing and Mattia turned around and started following us instead and singing along. Viola decided to throw chilled water over his head, just to make sure he was awake and really ‘with us’!

Finally we got to the top! Castelo Dos Mouros offers a panoramic view of the fairytale city of Sintra. We had lunch, visited the Castle and took loads of photos.

When it was time to come back, neither of us wanted to go through the same path… so we all decided to take the cable car instead.

We couldn’t wait to come home and tell all our friends and family about our unforgettable adventure!!

Ciaoo!! Ho scritto questa storia in inglese!! Fatemi sapere cosa ne pensate con una recensione!! PLease leave your comment! A presto!! lunachiara29 :D