38 - Portugese roadtripping in the Algarve

We are still very safe, comfortable and "stuck" in Lagos Portugal.  If you've got to be "stuck" someplace, then I highly recommend here.  There are so many places to walk for exercise where we're able to avoid direct physical contact with humans (thankfully the Lagos Ferry Cats still welcome our company).  As I mentioned before, we're in a condo, as the boat's still out of the water after the boatyard was also shut down for the state of emergency.  We're just waiting to see what happens and hoping that borders will open back up so we can start heading into the Mediterranean for more sailing adventures.  But, for the time being, we'll settle for land adventures.

Prior to Portugal announcing the state of emergency and requesting that we stay at home, Dan and Alison (www.sailmates.org) left Equus in Bangor, Northern Ireland and flew down to spend a week with us.  This was close to the week where we'd all planned to be on a houseboat cruise in Venice, Italy but that, obviously, was cancelled.  So, we took advantage of the free week -yes, we thought it would be one our last weeks on land before we both headed out for more sailing adventures.  Since we were already in Lagos - which is the southern part of Portugal in a region called the Algarve, we decided to stay and tour the Algarve.  Our dear friends Courtney and Andy Bisset had taken a trip to area just a year ago so they gave us the highlights of their trip and we made our itinerary out that.

 


The first couple of days we used Lagos as home base.  We showed Dan and Alison our "home town" as we walked around town and to the Ponta de Piedade - referred to locally as the grottos.  These amazing limestone formations form many areas of the coast here. One of the things we love about Lagos is that on one side of the inlet you have an amazing several mile-long beach and on the other side these natural sculptures.  We've loved it and it was fun to share with our buddies.

The next day, we rented a car and proceeded west.  Our first stop was the city of Sagres so we could visit Fortaleza de Sagres (Sagres Fort).  We'd anchored out in a quiet cove below the fort as we sailed into Lagos but didn't stop.  There is no marina and, while we could have pulled the dinghy onto the beach, after being in marinas, we usually enjoy just relaxing at anchor for a couple of days.  The fort, set atop the 60-meter cliffs, is an impressive 55 acres and took us a couple of hours to walk the perimeter and explore the buildings.  In 1755, an earthquake and subsequent tsunami breached the 60-meter cliffs destroying most of the fort.  Looking down from the cliffs, it's impossible to imagine that waves could have risen that high.  The fort was never rebuilt completely but it's still definitely worth a visit.

We continued our journey westward in search of a bar that Courtney had recommended for french fries and beer where we could watch the surfers that frequent this area.  We found a great rocky beach area to walk around and huge waves but no surfers out and couldn't find the bar.  So, on we went.

We continued westward as far as we could go and we found the Lighthouse of Cabo de Sao Vincente.  The current lighthouse, originally constructed on the site of a convent was started in 1865 and sits on the southwestern most tip of Europe (often referred to as Europe's land end).  We were fascinated by it when we sailed past the on our way into Lagos so it was great to see it by land too.  Per Courtney's advice, we timed our visit to get there for the sunset.  Despite the fact that it was windy and somewhat cold, we loved walking the cliffs and the view as you can imagine was amazing.

Having gone as far as we could by land and not having either of our boats, our only option was to turn around.  So, the next day we left Lagos and headed east.  The first town on our list to visit was Loule.  We went specifically looking for their famous Saturday Gypsy Market.  Unfortunately, that market wasn't open but we were in no way disappointed.  We did find an adorable Portuguese town with an amazing Arabic inspired Mercado Municipal with various vendors also selling all around it. Loule is filled with gorgeous historical Moorish themed buildings but unfortunately - we now assume due to the worries about the virus - most were not open.  Nevertheless, we walked all around the town and found it delightful!

Next, we headed to Faro.  As it was March 14 - or PI day, we had to show Dan and Alison the PI cobblestone section of Faro.  The cobblestone section takes up an entire city block, so I've attached a video in a link below.  As it was also their son Derek's birthday, we all got to wish him happy birthday.  We spent a couple of hours walking around just enjoying the town.

To see the entire city block of PI, I made this video:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LSQqSscvV6cfU45G7

 From Faro, we headed to the completely adorable town of Olhao for the night. We found an Airbnb with an amazing rooftop pool balcony.  While it was way too cold to swim, the view we had of the sunset was directly over the salt fields and bay.  It was absolutely stunning!!   

The next morning, we walked around the old fishing village and fell in love with the quaint town.  They have a great marina so we're hoping to stop again whenever we get the boat back in the water.

We continued eastward to the town of Tavira - touted to be the Venice of the Algarve.  Since we were supposed to be going to Venice, Italy, this was a must see.  The effects of the virus shutdown were starting to be more prevalent.  The farmers market, the gorgeous churches as well as the castle were all closed.  Still, it was great to walk around. Come ancient ruins were being uncovered and we got a peek at them.  Luckily, the ferry was still running and we were able to take a ride out to the beach.   To get the funny ferry story (and more on our trip), watch the Dan and Alison's video on You Tube:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqNnanfJz8Y.

We left Tavira and headed to the town of Sao Bartolomeu where our next Airbnb was located.  This too turned out to be a great spot.  We had a huge house all to ourselves in a somewhat rural area.  The house had a large yard/garden and we were treated to fresh papaya, citrus and any herbs we wanted from the garden.  The roof top also had a perfect vantage for a gorgeous sunrise. 

The next morning, we walked a couple of miles to Praia Verde to see the "green beach".   The seaweed growing in this area makes the water appear to be a very pretty shade of green.  We saw a tint of the green but apparently missed the really spectacular colors that we'd seen on other people's pictures. Still, it was worth the walk and we could actually see Spain and the inlet at Guadiana River - the river that forms the easternmost border between Portugal from Spain.

 By this time, we'd heard that the Spanish borders were being closed and Portugal was also talking about a shutdown.  So, we decided that we'd better start heading back towards Lagos - just not straight back. Courtney had also given us the name of a great winery called Quinta da Tor that they'd visited.   Luckily our reply from the winery when we inquired if they were open was "Yes, we are open and you will be welcome"!  How could we refuse?  We had wine, cheese, sausage, olives and homemade olive oil.  All were absolutely wonderful and, of course, we bought several bottles to take back home with us. 

So, we continued heading back west but we left the mountains and vineyards to return back to the coast.   When we rented a car in Sines, the lady there wrote down her favorite city in the Algarve - we told her we were headed there next.  When the first place on Courtney's list was also Albufeira, we knew that was a must see on our list. We immediately understood why it was on everyone's list!  The town was the most lively we'd seen so far - despite the fact that about half of it seemed to be closed at the time.  One of the funniest things we saw (at least we thought it was funny) was an escalator down to the beach!  Now don't get me wrong, we'd complained about the fact that to get anywhere in Portugal from anywhere in Portugal seemed to require either a hill or a set of monstrous steps, but an escalator to the beach?  Anyway, yes, we used it and thoroughly enjoyed everything about Albuferia.

Lastly, we stopped in yet another adorable little beach town - I know I sound like a broken record but each of these cities has its own charm - called Carvoeiro which was the favorite town of our Uber driver the last time we were in Faro and also on Courtney's list.   The cliffs and the beach were beautiful.  We walked the beach as much of the town was closed.   Finally, we decided that we had better head back to Lagos and figure out what was happening around us. 

We have honestly loved every part of Portugal that we've seen.  Everywhere we go offers something a little different yet we still find that these amazing people all seem to go out of their way to make you feel at home. 

As I said, we got a great Airbnb condo right in town.  We've spent out time, exploring Lagos, visiting with the Ferry cats and playing with a lot of new recipes!  We'll fill you in on what's next as soon as we know!

Until next post!