Portugal road-trip part 2

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TUESDAY 5TH MAY 2009

Had breakfast this morning at the hostel - some kitchen ladies served us rather grumpily - eggs, croissants, yoghurts, juice. When we left the hostel a short time later we actually managed not to get lost getting our of Lagos. We headed straight to Sagres which is still on the cost, but pretty much the most western point of Europe. First stop, without even realising we were there, was the Fortaleza de Sagres - essentially the fort. We got heaps and heaps of photos here as the place was pretty much deserted and the view of the cliffs and crashing water and beaches in the distance was stunning. Within the fort there was also a small cathedral and a lighthouse which we also wandered around. It was a huge area. At one point I was taking a photo and I could see this fine line going out into the water which I though was a little odd. On closer examination, at the other end of it, sitting down on the cliff rocks, was an old guy with a fishing rod. We wrere quite a way up so I am not sure what would have happened if he had hooked a big one - he would have been pulled in.

After that it was on to Cabo de sao Vicente which is THE most south western point in Europe. We browsed a few of the nearby souvenir shops before taking some photos and hopping back into the car to go to Vila de Bispo where we had lunch - open grilled sandwich. Thankfully, I also managed to get out money here as the ATMs had all rejected my card the previous evening for no reason. Apparently it happens with HSBC sometimes!! Needless to say, in one of the tiny little Portguese villages I didn’t have a problem. Also saw people grilling fish on an outdoor fire outside of their house which was quite interesting to see.

Managed to stumble across some clean and free public toilets where we put on our swimwear and then drove to Figueira, a quiet little beach quite off the beaten track. Even the road to get down there was quite narrow and if I hadn’t driven it both in and out, I would have assumed it was one-way!! Thankfully I didn’t have to pass another car on it though. After parking the car we had to walk about 500m or so through a valley and heavy scrub before coming out onto the beach. The surf waves were crashing, nice clean sand, and only half a dozen other people around. So we sunbaked and swam as it was a lot nicer weather than the previous day. The waves were quite big as well which meant that we got battered around a little.

After drying out and making our way back to a main road, we went into Salema which was a nearby beach and town. Had ice cream but didn’t bother swimming. Managed to cause havoc in the local shop[ when we made the lid of the ice cream machine fall off. Thankfully it didn’t break, but we were given a dirty look by the elderly shop keeper!!!

Then it was another short drive onto Luz where we went swimming and laid in the sun. From there, via a little shop to pick up some really cheap sangria and a few red bulls and we headed back to the hostel in Lagos. Ended up having some of the sangria while we were showering and getting ready to go out. Did a bit of a DIY pub crawl through some of the places recommended by the hostel. One place we got enticed into by an Englishman turned out to be a bit of a mistake. The toilets were in a terrible state (we were there for total of half an hour so it wasn’t us!) and when we told the barman (English) he got stuck into Emma for making the mess - and was saying some rather crass things. Eventually we told him not to talk to us and after trying to get his attention once our drinks were finished we threw some money down on the bar and left. He actually chased us out accusing us of not paying - was a real idiot. Had dinner at a Portuguese restaurant - piri piri chicken which was enormous and tasty - but not as good as you would imagine. The wait staff were all very nice though which made for a nice change from the previous place. After that it was a few more bars and a few more drinks, before getting back to the hostel in the early hours of the morning.

WEDNESDAY 6th MAY 2009

After only about four hours sleep we got up and had some breakfast. We must have looked pretty average or been speaking really loudly as we got some rather strange looks in the dining room. Oh well. After that we wandered around town - ended up grabbing burgers from a fast food restaurant for lunch and then went souvenir shopping. From there we drove to another beach called Toportimao and spent a few hours there lying in the sun and swimming. After that it was about a two hour drive back to Faro airport.

We hadn’t needed to fill up the car, and knowing what rental companies are like if you don’t fill it before you return it, we thought we should fill ’er up. It was a cute little car - but it took us a good 5-10 minutes to find where the petrol cap was, then another five minutes to remove the cap. Luckily the couple in the car behind us had exactly the same car and had no idea as well!! I didn’t feel quite so stupid… until of course I had to go in and ask which pump to use for unleaded as I couldn’t read what any of them said. Doh!!

At any rate, we ended up returning the car safe and sound without any dints or scratches and headed into the airport to get changed out of our swimwear. That was a bit of an effort as all our clothes were everywhere along with half the sand from the beach as well. After changing we checked in (including our bags) and browsed through the duty free shops for final random gifts for people. Managed a wrap for dinner before boarding the flight, which was very empty. Both Emma and I managed to sleep most of the way back to Gatwick, and then got a taxi from there to my house in Tooting. All in all - a very enjoyable few days in Portugal.

I don’t usually say I would want to go back to a lot of places, but Portugal is definitely one I would like to see more of. The locals are quite friendly, the towns are adorable, with little cobbled streets and lovely houses. The beaches as well are just stunning - clean and not too crowded. It might be different in summer of course!!

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