As a little girl, I read countless fairytales. Cinderella going to a ball in a carriage made from a pumpkin requires imagination. The carriages in the Museu dos Coches are beyond imagination. I walk around the fantastical creations in disbelief. Kings and queens used these rolling masterpieces to make a grand entrance. I don’t know if they were ever used to arrive at a ball, but I know that anyone going anywhere in these rolling works of art would have been noticed.

Also in the collection are the coaches used for the so called “princess exchange”. In 1729 a princess of Spain married the heir to the Portuguese throne and a princess of Portugal married the Spanish prince. The couples were transported in elaborate carriages to the border and exchanged in exquisite ceremony. If the carriages are any indication of the grandeur, it was quite the occasion.

While I try to control my inner Cinderella, I feel a little like Alice in Wonderland as I take in the whimsical scenes from Camoes’ “The Lusiadas”. Chess pieces, statues and paintings, all works of artful fantasy greet me in the special gallery. Oversized and cartoonish images of the Kings of Portugal and of course Vasco de Gama…always de Gama, vie for attention. A marble slab tells me that the dance is only for the sexy people. So I dance a few steps in defiance.

Everyone knows that if you go to a ball, you eventually end up walking in a garden. We stroll through the Jardim Botanico Tropical, even though we did not arrive in a coach. We are greeted by peacocks who escort us through a variety of garden settings. Beautiful blooms hang from trees. Palms and a variety of other species imported from the colonies create majestic borders.

We stand on the steps of a building still standing from a world’s fair and take in a hedge maze. I would have liked to explore but the sprinkler system had other plans.

Calla lilies remind me of the day I felt the most like a princess. They made up my wedding bouquet once upon a time. Standing here near a secret waterfall, I remember the feel of them in my hand. My nervous anticipation on that day has lead to decades of happiness.

Even princesses need to rest, so we sit by a lake. The peacocks shake and spread their feathers for us. A pair or tropical birds land in the trees not far away and remind us that love birds are beautiful and not just in fairy tales.

After our rest and some hand holding we walk past the real life pink palace of the President of Portugal. It is hidden between high walls. We walk on and climb the many stairs to take the elevated path across the highways and trains to the river.

The magic of twilight makes the ordinary extraordinary. We watch a boy play with his dog. We watch couples walk hand in hand. We watch sailboats floating in a colorful line.

And we are reminded that happily ever after comes in many forms. As we walk we decide we will try some roasted chestnuts. There are many vendors roasting nuts in little carts. We pay for a paper cone full and I am excited to try them. They smell delicious. They taste like mud. Some things are better left to verse. And all good things must come to an end. We decide to head for the house, because sleeping beauty needs her rest.