I am sitting on a bus just leaving Faro in the Portuguese Algarve and heading to Seville, Spain. Melody and I had no idea we would be in Portugal as long as we’ve been, but we couldn’t find a reason to leave, and had so many reasons to stay…so we did.
(Me, Saar and Mel, enjoying Sagres a tasty Portuguese beer)
Our first two nights were spent in Lisboa at the Old Town Hostel. This hostel was the best yet, very nice and so hospitable and friendly, you must stay there if you come to Lisboa and do tell Jaoa I say hello…sigh. Our first day was spent drinking Sangria, wandering the narrow stoned streets and ascending great heights to see some amazing views of the city. I didn’t really know much about Lisboa before coming here, but it is a city very much like San Francisco with a huge red bridge, very steep streets and lots of stairs….not very biker friendly. The first night we went to the party district of Bairro Alto. We tried some authentic Portugese drinks called Caipirinha, then later Ginjinha and Amendoa Amarga (almond flavour with LOTS of lemon). The next day the hostel chef, Tiago, offered to show Melody, David (the kiwi) and Saar (the Irish) and I around and take us to the Thieves Market, he also cooked us an authentic Portugese dinner of Bacalao that night, which was super tasty. The flea market was huge and it was full of people selling old, new and used stuff/junk, we spent hours there and I was able to add to my button collection!
After talking to Jaoa and learning that a trip to Lisboa wasn’t complete without a trip north to Sintra, Melody and I decided to part from the boys and do some hiking and see some castles, before heading down to the Algarve. Hiking is all well and good, but we both had all of our bags and the train station in Sintra had no lockers. Not only are we super attractive, but we are also super buff so we decided to tough out the 50lbs of baggage and do the hike with all our gear. We considered it conditioning, and plus we liked it when we passed a group of people on the trail huffing and puffing and we were strolling merrily along with the equivalent of a small child strapped to our backs. We felt very accomplished after our hike and treated ourselves to a Sagres and Pasteis de Nata before catching our bus to Guincho, where we would camp for the night.
(Much needed break and photo op)
(One of the Mountain Castles)
(Sintra)
The bus was the wildest I have ever been on, not only were we driving on narrow roads in a huge city bus, but we were also on the side of mountains going about 80 km….but the ocean view was beautiful, and I trusted that the bus driver would get us to where we were going safely. When we got to Malveira, he pointed us in the right direction of Guincho beach camping and left us to continue the 5km journey on foot. We were ready, because the last leg of the journey always gives us a bit of an adrenaline rush because we know the end is in sight. Turns out we didn’t even have to walk because a nice couple drove by, stopped and then stuck their thumb out the window, a kind of reverse hitch hiking. Mel and I looked at each other looked at the truck and then ran towards it. Turns out they were an America and Welsh couple living in Portugal; travelers just like us. They didn’t kidnap and murder us, or sell us into the sex trade, so my faith in humanity is still strong!
(Guincho beach at night)
Guincho is a mostly untouched area, with a beautiful sandy beach and lovely green fauna. After camping that night near the beach, we headed to the beach for our first day in our swim suits! It was hot, with a nice breeze and a good amount of surfers to watch. But we of course couldn’t stay because as travelers you can’t stay in one place for too long, and we wanted to head into the Algarve. With travelling you mustn’t stay in one place too long, but you also must be flexible in your plans, and as it were, we weren’t able to make it to Lagos that day so much to my delight we had to spend one more night in Lisboa at the Old Town Hostel. And even better we met back up with the Savage and Deadly (Irish slang) Saar, who was travelling back through Lisboa as well. Now the three of us have been travelling together ever since.
After saying farewell to Joao and all the other friendly and awesome staff at the hostel we left to go south to the town of Sagres (the most south west point in Europe, but not where the beer is made). We got a hot tip about a beach we could camp on near there and so made our way to Sagres, and had a nice 2km walk to the beach we’d be camping on. We spent an epic night alone on a beach in the middle of nowhere, under the stars, listening to the waves, only a tad worried that the tide was going to come up ( but it didn’t…note to self, learn more about tides). At night when the tide was out we could walk into crevices that are usually water covered. Of course as we respect the environment and take only pictures and leave only footprints, we packed up real well and didn’t leave a trace and were able to spend the whole day on the beach with the other day beachers.
(On the way to our private beach)
(Sunset in Sagres)
(Waking up on our own private beach!)
A surf school called Sagres Natura (http://www.sagresnatura.com/) was giving a group of students lessons because the waves here were the perfect size for beginners. The group they had were all male, so the instructor Luis (who reminded me of a Portugese Captain Ron) asked Melody and I to pose in a picture with the group because they wanted more ladies because the picture was for a newspaper article that was going to be written about them. Of course it took a lot of convincing for me to say yes to pose for a picture with them, but we did it, and then Luis offered us a free lesson and time with the surf board when the students took a break! We jumped at the chance, and Mel, Saar and I each had a go with the surfboards for free…so Luis made our epic day even epicer!
(Most South Western pt of Continental Europe)
After the epic day, we continued our whirlwind tour of the Algarve hitting up Lagos, camping in Alvor and hostelling in Faro. Now we are on our way to Seville for one night. Being a whirlwind traveler and hitting up new cities and towns every day is exciting but also can take a toll on you. So After Seville we are taking a much deserved break in Barcelona, then it is off to the French Riviera and then another Heritage moment for me in Italy!
(Promo for Madeira in Faro. Due to the floods that happened in Madeira earlier this year there are many promotional exhibits for Madeira on the mainland)
(Portugal, especially Lisboa is covered in graffiti.Much of it is ugly tags, but there are many wonderful and creative pieces aswell...I liked him)
All in all I have loved Portugal and will be coming back hopefully with my family as well because I still need to go to my roots of Madeira Island in the Azores. Hope all is well where you are.
Love and Kisses,
TaCaGo
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