Viva la Republica (surtout les bureaucrates)

So I went to the French consulate and got my visa. The officers there speak amazingly good English and run around like hell: my visa was ready after 17 minutes after I stepped in! On the downside, they charged me 60 euros instead of 35, which is the reduced rate for the citizens of the "special agreement" countries, simply because their computer could not process the discount.

On a slightly more personal note, observing the ladies at the consulate, I convinced myself one more time that French women are either stunningly beautiful or horribly ugly (but still have some kind of charm though), whilst most of the Portuguese ones are medium-looking as a standard.

Sintra

Sintra is a small town some 30 kilometers west of Lisboa, a traditional summer residence for Portuguese aristocracy and an almost authentic medieval town for the tourists:

(the entrance to the garden of some successful doctor from the XIX century)

( And the house surrounded by the garden... )