Discovering Portugal

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WOW what a day. We saw some incredible sights today. Some of the best scenery of the Algarve area. We made a loop and went up into the mountains then over to the west coast then back along the south coast. A long day covering over 160 kilometers.

The highlights f the day:
1. The walled city of Silves--the wall dates back to the 9th century

2. Monchique--the highest point in the Algarve region of Portugal. You can see hundreds of miles up the west coast and also along the south coast. One of the best vistas we have seen. This vista rivals the Rock of Gibraltar.

3. Sagres - the most southwestern tip of Europe, once called the end of the earth. There are two main capes here. The first one is Cabo de St. Vincent. The views here were phenomenal. We toured the mariners museum and watched a fishermen fishing from the top of the cliff. The second cape is Ponta de Sagres. Prince Henry the Navigator established a school here in the 1400's to teach navigation to students such as Vasco da Gama, Bartolomeu Dias, and Ferdinand Magellan. There were more fishermen along the high banks at this point. And, again the views--incredibly breath taking.

4. Salema--a quaint Portuguese fishing village with the best beaches we have seen so far. We were told of this town by some friends of our friend Jim from Bellingham. We could have stayed there for days. But it was getting late and we still had miles, well kilometers, to go.

5. Last stop for today --the town of Luz. In our neverending search for a really good beach we decided to take a look at the beach in Luz. It seemed like a clean town with an okay beach and some Roman ruins.

It was time to head back to the resort, get some dinner, and plan our outing for tomorrow

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Photos

Silves from a distance
You can see the city wall

The Cathedral at Silves
Jan in the doorway to show how huge the entry is

Possibly used by Henry the Navigator
They are unsure what this large circle was used for. One theory is that Henry used it as a teaching tool.

fisherman preparing their nets
Salema, Portugal

clay pots
Used for catching octopus

Comments

[Bill & Carol]

Amazing!
And we never gave Portugal a thought!

[Judy]

Wow!
Wow, the pictures are wonderful! and why do the fishermen fish from SO HIGH UP? that would be a long way to pull up a fish!!! Keep having fun! and the pics coming!

[CazKing]

can't wait
hello :) I'll be travelling to the algarve in a few months time, this blog was very interesting, we'll be hiring a car so it's nice to see where others stopped off on their trips. I didnt know about the giant circle in sagres, now I'd like to see it with my own eyes! so thanks! can't wait :D