From Lisbon airport, we transfer to the Sintra hills and Lord Byron's Glorious Eden. Sintra, with its privileged setting, was a seat of power under the Romans, the Moors, and the Portuguese Kings. Wander a network of roads and alleyways, from the 14^th century Palacio da Vila in the town center, a summer retreat used by royalty, to Palacio da Pena, high on a rocky outcrop overlooking town, its turrets a whimsy of Germanic, Hispanic, and Oriental Romanticism. Look around Sintra, and you'll see Pena's folie replicated in various private palaces.

The lovely Alentejo beach town of Vilanova de Milfontes stretches above the River Mira estuary where it empties into the Atlantican intricate puzzle of single story white-washed dwellings marked with blue borders. In full view of the Atlantic breakers, enjoy fresh grilled sardines and full-bodied local wines, then take a leisurely stroll to the lighthouse. Swim or siesta under the watchful gaze of the tiny castle once besieged by Sir Francis Drake, and inhale the restorative sea air.

We continue south, to Cabo de São Vicente, where legend claims the martyred Saint Vincent, Patron of Lisbon, washed ashore in the 4^th century. In the Age of Discovery, caravels set sail from many of these Algarve towns, and the spoils of those voyages first entered Portugal here.

At nearby Sagres, the Rosa dos Ventos wind compass and the ruined fortress lend weight to the claim that Prince Henry the Navigator established his 15^th century School of Navigation here. In Lagos, a plaque marks the site of Europe's first slave market. The modern economy is fueled on tourism and beaches, and we'll do our part with an overnight at lovely Alvor. We leave the coast when we turn north for Évora—important since Roman times and today a major market town and provincial center for the eastern Alentejo. A stroll past its architectural treasures highlights the wealth that poured into Portuguese towns and cities from the 16^th to 18^th centuries.

Traveling northeast of Évora, we step back in time, into the small town of Castelo de Vide, with its old synagogue and medieval streets, and to the geranium-filled, walled village of Marvão, from where you can gaze into Spain. On our last day in Lisbon, we take the Story of the Discoveries full circle—to the Tower of Belém, from where the first caravels set sail. And we say farewell over dinner in a district of the city built on the riches they carried home.