32 - Portugal's Algarve Coast

So, we left Sines and headed south to the Algarve region of Portugal - the southern region and home to the beautiful beach towns.  We had a mostly great sail (started out with little wind and we had to motor but the wind picked up nicely as we approached our anchorage just outside of the town of Sagres).  The coastline was amazing.  Lots of rock formations and caves.  This is the Lighthouse of Cabo de Sao Vincente welcoming us to the Algarve.

We stayed a couple of days at anchorage just enjoying the sunshine and warmth and then proceeded onto the boat's ultimate destination of the town of Lagos.  Lagos is probably the most popular boating sitting for sailors and is also very popular with many Europeans as it's an adorable little town with fabulous beaches and because its protected from the strong north winds, the weather was just perfect.  Not too hot but not too cold!  Just right!  We spent a little over a week exploring the town, the beaches, the grottos (the caves and rocky areas nearby) and even rented a scooter to travel the area between us and the next town of Portimao.

The boat will stay in Lagos for the winter.  She's being pulled and put on the hard (on land) for both winter storage and list of needed boat repairs and general maintenance.  On one of our morning walks, we discovered a cat colony called the Ferry Cats of Lagos.  It's maintained by volunteers who care for and feed the cats until they can find "furever" homes.  We contacted them and volunteered to feed the cats a couple of times a day while we were in town and quickly fell in love.  Most of the cats are very sweet and love attention.  Some of the more rotten ones convinced Pedro that they were used to being spoon fed (we had to get some wet food for a couple of them who were very old).  Can you say sucker?  Regardless, they were great for us to get our cat fix and I think we took some of the pressure off of the regular volunteers.  We know we'll be back and forth so we plan to volunteer again 

 

 With the cats being cared for by the regular volunteers and the boat under control of the boatyard, we boarded a train to Faro to catch our flight out the next morning to Edinburgh.  We only had one night but found a great Airbnb with a wonderful balcony right in the heart of town and minutes from the train station.  The owner gave us great information about the town and we explored most of it in our short time.  We found Igreja do Carmo, another church with a bone chapel.  It's fascinating!  They jokingly talked about needing volunteers for the missing bones in the chapel and Pedro sent my mom a picture asking her if she wanted to volunteer.  Yes, he's a brat!  We also found a great rooftop bar that had an amazing sunset view and yes, a fabulous Indian restaurant for dinner.  We loved Faro too! 

Another thing we loved about Faro was that on one of the cobblestone streets, the inlay was the numerical representation of PI.  This took up an entire city block (we forgot to count how many numbers they had but it was cool).  We took a picture of the beginning and the end.  Very neat!














The next morning, we caught a flight to Edinburgh for a long weekend.  As I type this, we are on a train from Edinburgh to London where we'll spend a few days with Dan and Alison of Equus before flying back the US for a few weeks to catch up on work and family.  We'll fill you in on our UK adventures next time.

Until next post!

31 - Europe, here we are!

Well, we did it!  We made it to Portugal (mainland that is - as the Azores are Portuguese owned).  Our 700-mile sail from Sao Miguel which we thought would take us 7 days was covered in only 5 1/2.   This last leg of our over 3000-mile Atlantic crossing journey was our smoothest yet.  We had great weather and wind the entire trip and made it in without any hitches.   

Our first stop in Portugal was the adorable town of Cascais.  This town was once the summer vacation spot for the Portuguese royalty so we thought it apropos for us to visit.  Everything about the town was wonderful!  We spent a week there exploring the town and renting bikes so we could ride the designated path along the coastline.  It was great to have a path to ride on and the scenery was perfect.  We took so many pictures that we thought adding links to show more would work.  Click the links if you want to see the rest of the pictures.

Cascais   https://photos.app.goo.gl/9ypANEyK9rAubqt97

Next, we bought train tickets to nearby Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.  It was so much fun to be in a big city that was so alive.  While there were people everywhere, it never felt overcrowded.  We walked - I’m sure- several miles trying to get as much in as possible.  The city has some interesting streets and wonderful green spaces so we explored most of them.  It’s also full of monuments and gorgeous old buildings.  We found some great food and drink and MaryAnn even got to try out riding on an electric scooter (Pedro was a sissy and got an electric bike).  Lisbon is a great town that we only scratched the surface of so I think we’ll have to go back.  Again, here is the link for more pictures.

Lisbon     https://photos.app.goo.gl/7XGubXhGuhPSvJT18

 The next day we took a train back to Lisbon and then caught another onto Sintra.  Sintra was the official home of the Portuguese royalty.  While there is no longer Portuguese royalty, the town seems to still have that feel.  The descriptions we’d read about Sintra described it as fairytale like and we agree.  We again walked several miles -it was almost 5K each way just up to the Moorish castle – so we rewarded ourselves with a great meal at the only Indian restaurant in town. As with most places, it’s practically impossible to accurately capture with pictures but we did get some fun pictures.  Again, a link for more pictures.

Sintra        https://photos.app.goo.gl/hv6VYsBHs8fqVLPD6

We then decided that it was time to continue south.  We left Cascais and had a perfect day sail down to the town of Sines –birthplace of Vasco de Gama.  Sines used to be the largest fishing village in Portugal and continues to have a great fishing community but also a large industrial shipping area just outside of town.  We liked both because it was fun to watch the boats and the huge ships come and go.  The town itself is small but sweet and had really good restaurants, a fabulous brewery and several grocery stores within an easy(ish) walk.  Since we were able to get a slip in the marina at a really reasonable rate, we decided to stay a little longer, rent a car and see more of Portugal.  While we were in Sao Miguel, we met a young man named Nelson at the pineapple plantation who took the time to make us a list of some of his favorite Portuguese cities.  So, we took out the list and started planning

Sines     https://photos.app.goo.gl/XQ13xQpp221MJY1s9

First, we drove down to the little town of Porto Covo.  This is the beach town closest to Sines and while Sines has a small beach, Porto Covo has what seems to be miles of beaches all full of people.  The little town itself was also very quaint and we enjoyed a picnic in the town’s center.

From Porto Covo, we chose the closest town on Nelson’s list which was Beja – the Portuguese word for kiss.  Beja was another adorable town with beautiful old buildings and a wonderful castle that we were allowed to tour.  The drive was interesting with the cork and olive farms all along the way.  More  pictures in this link.

Beja    

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/2g947PYfNPKCj12Z8

 Next, we decided to head to take a big trip north.  Starred on Nelson’s list for northern Portugal was Porto so we decided to start there.  While I am sure I’ve said this about every other city we’ve seen and will most likely say it again, Porto has to be my favorite city.  It has everything!  The town is situated on the Douro River just in from the Ocean and they use the waterfront to its fullest.  The town has 6 bridges – at least 2 with great pedestrian walkways so you can imagine how much the river is part of the town.  It’s also, as the name would imply, the town where port (wine that is) got its start.  As such, there are tons of port wine cellars where the port is aged.  It’s fascinating!   We found amazing restaurants -The Wine Box was our absolute favorite – and relished in the beauty and history of this wonderful town.  A definite must see for anyone visiting Portugal.  We’ll go back, I’m sure.

                            Porto   https://photos.app.goo.gl/RJjjCJtfeTNPrNH48

 We left Porto and decided to head towards the area wineries.  We just pulled up a listing for a few that were relatively close by and drove.  Well, while the one we chose said it was open, the fine print that we forgot to read said to call ahead to schedule.  We pulled up and the gate was closed.  We called then and the wonderful owners who were there because it was their home, welcomed us in and gave us the most wonderful wine and tapas tasting we’ve ever had a winery - still not sure how she pulled off the tapas with no notice but they were amazing).  The winery is called Sapateiro – which means shoemaker.  The winemaker’s father who owns shoe stores and made wine on the side got him started in the business.  The wines he makes are Vinho Verde.  We got a tour of the vineyards and the surrounding gardens (only 3.5 hectares) and then were shown to the terrace which overlooks the vineyard and treated to the tapas and tasting of all three of his wines.  Honestly, they were all amazing and we bought a case (would have bought more but we already had a boat full of wine and we know we’re going back).  He even gave us a bottle of his father wine which they make for local consumption only.  Anyone anywhere near this area, must go experience this.  Everything is first class but in a wonderfully homey atmosphere.  They even have the sweetest dog that MaryAnn wanted to take home.   More pictures here:

          Sapateiro Winery           https://photos.app.goo.gl/SNcebdm7P3toP6t86

We left the winery and headed to Coimbra - the next city on the list.  Coimbra is the home to Nelson’s Alma matter University de Coimbra the oldest university in Portugal and one of the oldest in the world dating back to 1290.  Another absolutely adorable city full of gorgeous building, rivers, and great food.  We even found a chocolate factory next door to a place selling Port by the glass!  Again, here’s the link with more pictures.

Coimbra   https://photos.app.goo.gl/St97x6vPEXcduMXW8

Next and not far from Coimbra lies the town of Coinbriga. This is home to one the most intact Roman ruins in Portugal. The mosaic tile floors, the aqueduct system and pillars were all fascinating. It’s known that there is much more of this old city yet to be unearthed but they are waiting to make sure that they can preserve it correctly before they excavate. Again, a link with more pictures.

Conimbriga - Roman Ruins  https://photos.app.goo.gl/FxFNQnau8oLdKdYt6

 Next, we went to Santo Andre.  This town is close to Sines and houses a wonderful nature reserve area with beautiful beaches.  We spent a few hours hiking around and walking the beaches. We also stopped at nearby Santiago do Cacem where they still have a working windmill – unfortunately we were there on a Sunday so it wasn’t operational.  Another quaint little town.

We decided to hit another winery on our way to the next town on the list.  Herdade da Comporta Winery is located in the town of Comporta – meaning floodgate.  Comporta was founded when floodgates were built to allow them to control the flow of water from the nearby river in order to grow rice.  The corporation that owns the winery also still grows a significant amount of rice along with other crops incorporating over 125,000 hectares of land.

We then drove to the nearby city of Carrasqueira.  This is a picturesque little fishing village full of traditional little boats.  Unfortunately, we got there at low tide but it was still cute to see. 

We caught the ferry over to the city Setubal.  Setubal is again – I know I sound like a broken record but the cities are all so – adorable.  We walked around town, found a great pizza parlor.  After seeing this adorable statue we decided next time to find some fried cuttlefish which we discovered is the local dish.  We also toured the local castle with a great view of the ocean.  More pictures:

Setubal        https://photos.app.goo.gl/XtvSV4CGFfCNAGas6

Next, we went onto Evora.  Evora is also a very old city with beautiful architecture.  They are perhaps best known for the Chapel of Bones.  This is an amazing chapel whose walls are covered in cadaverous bones.  Its eerily beautiful.  They also have an amazing cathedral, roman ruins and an aqueduct.  Fascinating city.  Here is another link to more pictures.

Evora         
https://photos.app.goo.gl/SERMCq4n44ZpsbGF9

Finally, back on the boat, we decided that we needed to continue on southward so we left our little town of Sines.  As I type this, we are anchored out just off the beach in the town of Sagres.  We plan to just hang out for a couple of days – yes, relaxing and getting caught up on a few work things – then continue onto Lagos.  In Lagos, we plan to get the boat hauled for some much-needed work and then leave her on the hard for a few months while we head back to the US for a while and then back to tour inland Europe.

Until next post!