Blue, green, yellow - Spring in Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais

Parque Natural Natural de Sintra Cascais is on my doorstep. I can see the Peninha chapel at the top of the hill from the viewpoint and also from my house. I seldom visited the Park until a Bristish explorer entered my life. Since then we have climbed in Penedo d'Amizade several times, we have explored the Sintra Palace gardens, we have hiked many of its trails, we got lost in its thick vegetation and came out of it just before dark, we have visited many caves, we have climbed in the cliffs, we have tasted the pastries. There is an intense and beautiful smell of flowers in the spring and of the sea in the winter. We found a good spot for a beer after our walks or climbings (suitable for British taste): Moinho D. Quixote. The Natural Park was established in 1994 and apart from its natural beauty, there are many cultural points of interest, such as Palacio de Sintra, Palacio da Vila, Quinta da Regaleira, Palacio de Seteais, Castelo dos Mouros, Convento dos Capuchos...The most famous pastry shop in the village of Sintra is Casa Piriquita, which bakes on site many delicious pastries including "travesseiro de Sintra". Sintra has always been a touristic, burgeoise, cultural and literary village. It is a central point of convergence in several books by Eça de Queirós, one of the most important portuguese realist authors. In the past 10 years tourism has exploded beyond limits and there are noise and people everyhere in the village and in many parts of the hill as well as in the most western point of Europe, Cape da Roca, an hotspot for foreign visitors. When we climb in Penedo d'Amizade, there is a continuous noise from tuc tucs up the hill, which is disturbing and saturating. If cycling in the twisty roads of the hill, the cars misbehave. It is also almost impossible to eat a travesseiro without waiting in a long queue. The best time to go to Sintra is the winter in a week day. In the summer, only after 5pm. The park is protected for its biodiversity and habitats but it feels like an island under high pressure, more and more squeezed by cars, people, pollution, noise. It is disappointing.