葡萄牙小鎮辛特拉：伊甸園般的童話世界
夢幻之旅
作者：by Elosa Mala
活在童話中，是不少人童年時的夢想。如果在這個世界上還真有一處地方如同童話般夢幻優美，你又會不會錯過呢？
在葡萄牙首都裏斯本近郊就有這麼一個小鎮，一直被世人以童話世界來讚美。英國詩人拜倫稱它為“燦爛的伊甸園”，英國作家羅伯特·騷塞則讚美它是“地球上最受庇佑的一處人居環境”。聯合國教科文組織將它列為世界遺產，同時還為它特意創立了一個特別的類別：“風景文化類”，因為它的自然景觀和它的曆史建築一樣重要。
這個優雅迷人的小鎮名叫辛特拉。
No matter how well it begins or ends， every fairy tale has a villain. In my storybook adventure in Sintra， a Portuguese town about 20 miles west of Lisbon， it was the hands of the clock. Roaming the 1）pristine grounds of castles high in the hills， I wished that time would stand still.
Fifty-three minutes was all it took to travel back several centuries. The train that pulled out of Rossio station， a major transportation hub in Lisbon， was filled with the 2）distractions of the modern age. It wasn’t until we had passed the 3）penultimate stop， where the only other passenger in my car stepped onto the platform， that the scenery started to feel 4）otherworldly. Staring out the window in 5）reverie， I marveled at the swirls of color whooshing past.
By the time I stepped off the train， all traces of Lisbon had disappeared. What greeted me were 6）hallmarks of 7）quaintness： a 8）smattering of restaurants and 9）mom-and-pop shops， pleasantly sleepy streets and a street clock as old-fashioned as they come. But despite the pleasant scene， I couldn’t help but stare into the distance， recognizing the steep slopes and explosion of greenery depicted in local postcards.
For centuries， the municipality served as the preferred hideaway for the Portuguese royal family. A heartbeat away from the political and economic center of Lisbon， the lush slopes provided the 10）aristocracy with a quiet， breezy escape from the city air. But it wasn’t until Ferdinand II， king of Portugal， arrived in the mid-1800s that the entire region became worthy of its current Unesco World Heritage status， with sprawling estates that showcase a millennium’s worth of architectural influences.
Sintra remains a crown jewel among the Portuguese regions， but two major developments have broadened its appeal for foreign travelers. Several new hotels， most notably the 18-room Sintra Boutique Hotel， which opened in the heart of town last year， and the return of a summertime 11）tram service from Sintra to Praia das Macas， a budding resort town with steep cliffs that overlook the white sand beaches along Portugal’s western coast.
Shortly after my arrival on a warm June evening last year， after I deposited my bags at the Sintra Bliss House， a well-kept， design-oriented inn， my native New Yorker’s instincts kicked in， and I set out to explore the area on foot. A serene sunset walk took me past a half-dozen 12）ornate statues and sculptures， all part of a public art project 13）reminiscent of a vast private garden.
Walking back to the inn around midnight on empty sidewalks 14）flanked by empty parks —a situation I would avoid in Manhattan — I felt safe， as if the town were my own.