What a wonderful way to start off the day! My sister Jean and I took a walk on the seaside boardwalk from the town of Estoril to Cascais. It is about a 3 km. walk and pleasant exercise with a light Atlantic breeze. Along the walk you can stop at one of the little caffès for a cool drink. As we walked along the boardwalk we could see that several places were setting up their little tables for lunch, but we kept walking.
Our hotel was in Estoril, with a gorgeous view of the sea, a distant view of Cascais and a magnificant view of the hotel’s pool and park below as well as the Estoril Casino. Hotel Estoril Palacio, a luxury 5 star hotel, was built in the 1930′s and completely renovated in 2006 and it is full of intriguing history. During World War II, with Portugal’s neutrality, Hotel Palacio Estoril was home to various royalty, and was also frequented by spies. Later, these stories of intrigue and espionage inspired various famous books and films. Ian Flemming, for example, spent much time here getting ideas for his books. The hotel, in fact, provided a stage for the James Bond movie, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. You can even get the “James Bond Martini – stirred not shaken” at the hotel bar.
At the end of the boardwalk, you arrive at the beach in Cascais. It must have been a school outing day, because we saw two groups of happy young pre-school children jaunting along. One group of children were dressed in white and had light grey feathers on their arms! The other group, all with green sun-hats, were making their way back to school after a run on the beach.
Cascais, formerly a quaint fishing village, became a popular resort favored by European nobility and kings in the early 20th century. Today it is a colorful cosmopolitan town with elegant cobblestone pedestrian streets, fashionable shops, and fantastic little restaurants and bars. Cascais, just a 20 min. drive from Lisbon is also an elegant suburb with luxurious villas and seaside residences.
