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Algarve Travel Blogs

Background: Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.

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By comeniusgroup
April 2nd 2008

Wednsday

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Faro

On Wednesday there was the workshop of the teacher Eccli. Everyone had their own Portuguese partner and they had to taste Italian typical foods. At the same time we were taking photos or note down the expression on their face. After the workshop there was a conversation; looking for a new identity with the architect Lago Monte Pedago. From 12:00 to 13:00 we had to return to school , but before we ate in a restaurant, after which we took the train and we went to Tavira. We stayed there form 14.27 until 17.11. We saw the cultural archeology of Tavira. [View Full Entry]

By comeniusgroup
March 28th 2008

Leaving for Portugal

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Faro

Meeting at 11, in Zuffo area, all happy to say good-bye to parents from the coach window... At last we started for this adventure, far away from Italy for 13 days!!! On the road for Milan-Malpensa, we laughed and joked, we listened to music and we had fun. When we arrived at the airport, for someone the anxiety started to grow; we waited still a bit of time before doing the check-in and later walked in the airport-shopping centre or to see the airstrip. Finally we got aboard the plane and in the take-off, someone held the arm of the fellow [View Full Entry]

By le sandwich jambon beurre
March 19th 2008

Portugal

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

breakfast time in loule portugal

Last Thursday my friends Jess and Alex and I hopped on a train to Sevilla and then took a bus to Loule Portugal. We spent the night there and hopped on another bus to Lagos and spent a few days there, then headed back to Spain where we spent a day and a half in Sevilla and saw our first glimpse of the Semana Santa (holy week) festivities. Portugal is beautiful, especially if you escape the sprawling, beachy highrises of coastal towns. One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to know my two friends a little bit better. [View Full Entry]

By Zoe and Rocio
March 10th 2008

A Bucket French Fries/Un Cubo de Patatas Fritas

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Albufeira

English At the moment we are taking a day off from biking, and we are staying in a small town called Alvor next to the city Portimao. We have been traveling for about a week, we left from Punta Umbria which is a small beach town in Spain where Rocio's sister lives) and now we are in Portugal. We've mostly been traveling along the side of the highway. So far we´ve mostly been camping, althouhg one night was spent on the beach and another in a hotel. We've been travleing about 40 kilometers a day, and we usually travle between 12 [View Full Entry]

By Tuulia
February 23rd 2008

Storms and Siestas

Europe » Portugal » Algarve

Cabo St Vincent

The Arabs named this part of Portugal ‘the Al-gharb’ (land of sunsets) but upon our arrival, it was difficult to see anything, much less a sunset! After the most drought-stricken summer on record, the heavens were wide open…just in time for our three- night stay. For much of the duration, the high winds whipped the branches of the palm trees from side to side, and the sky remained overcast (an unpalatable colour of grey and dirty dish water). The rain poured with a ferocity that was verging on the tropical. There were several thunderstorms, which caused electricity to moment [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
February 23rd 2008

Praia da Luz

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

Cove
Taken on a cliff walk.

We´re leaving our beloved village in two days. The month has gone by so very quickly. We´ve discovered so much more about this area than we understood last year on our first visit. Our favorite discovery is the beach/cliff walks that paralell the sea. The sea has changed greatly on this visit. We´ve had a series of easterly winds and storms. So, we´ve seen our quiet wave action turn into pounding surf. We now know why the rocks are so eroded--and beatiful. We´ve spent less time visiting sites mentioned in guidebooks and more time at places local people have told us [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
February 16th 2008

Three Countries: Three Days

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

Algerceris Port
The Rock of Gibralter is visible in the background.

We´ve just returned from a three-day bus tour that was great fun. The first day we drove to Seville, Spain for a few hours. What we saw of the city was beautiful: the Plaza of Spain, a beautiful building built for a 1929 Exposition; the old Jewish Quarters and St. Mary´s Cathedral. The latter is two-thirds of a UNESCO World Heritage Site that also includes a royal palace. We´ll be going back to Seville for a couple of days at the end of the month, so I can write more about it then. After Seville, the bus took us down to [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
February 12th 2008

Loule

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

Carnival Float
I loved the colors!

We made two trips to Loule last week. The town is the largest in the interior of the Algarve (between the sea and the mountains) and is known as a great market town. Our first trip, however, was to go to their Carnaval! They have the largest carnival celebration in Portugal with a parade of 17 floats. The parade was around and around the same four long blocks in town where the street is separated by a wide plaza. All the floats had sound systems that were blaring Brazilian music and there was one Portuguese band that was playing as loudly [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
February 8th 2008

Sagres - Monchique

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

Ponta de Sagres
Sorry for the bluriness. It was so windy it was hard to hold the camera steady.

We´re finally bestrirring ourselves to get out on the road somewhat. Two of the places we´ve recently visited are Sagres and Monchique. Sagres is where Henry the Navigator set up his famous School of Navigation in the 16th century. He´d gathered the best minds in Europe to study navigation, which started Portugal's ability to explore so much of the world. They believe his school was out on a promitory of land on the southwestern corner of Portugal (and Europe), called Ponta de Sagres. We visited the site last year and found nothing left of the school itself. This year I learned, [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
February 5th 2008

Western Algarve

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

Algarve Cliffs
Cliffs in Western Algarve

My sincerest apologies for not writing sooner. There is something about this place that just mesmerizes us. Whereas in Funchal there was a definite beat to the city and I wanted a routine; here, there is no schedule, routine, or desire to make plans. We are just so happy to BE here. A word about where we are: The Algarve is the southern coast of Portugal, Western Algarve is the least developed area where cliffs dominate the coastline, but you can find lovely, unspoiled beaches; and Luz is the village we´re staying in that has a lovely beach. The landscape is [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Europe » Portugal » Algarve