http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Portugal , Algarve en-us Fri, 11 Dec 09 18:57:11 +0000 Fri, 11 Dec 09 18:57:11 +0000 My journey has taken an unexpected detour in Lagos. I've been here now for...let me see what day is it At which time I google calendar and look up the date lol...12 days At first it was great...lying on a beach all day long having tonnes of fun and meeting lots of new friends. I was having a blast But 12 days later I'm starting to realize that just maybe these activities aren't exactly th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-444320.html I arrived in Lagos in the afternoon and was unable to find a taxi anywhere. A local saw me and walked me to the door of my hostel. she was so kind. I spent a week in Lagos. I absolutely loved it. It is amazingly beautiful and so peaceful here. I came perfect time of year. During the summer Lagos is crazy with tourists. In October it was filled with locals and festivals. I went the culture fest an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-443384.html SUNBOY IS HEADING HOMEWell after getting the boat tied up and sorted Willem and I headed off to one of the local bars that has wi fi to check emails. The very exciting news we received is that Sunboy is now an official starter in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers 2009 along with 225 other cruising and racing yachts. Wahoooo.Our elation was soon quashed when the technicians told us that Hanse had s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-442973.html Lisbon Oeiras Sines Sagres Lagos LATE BREAKING NEWSWe tied up in Oeiras Marina smack bang next to a boat called Solitude a very large and beautiful looking Hanse 54. Small Nest was a couple of boats away and as usual saw a few other boats we had shared marinas with since we struck Portugal a few of them being British and Northern European Yachts heading south to make the Canary Isl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-442965.html I arrived in Lagos on Thursday and it's incredible here It's a small town in the Algarve the southern part of Portugal of about 20000 and it's basically just a beach town with lots of bars and restaurants and tiny winding streets like all of Portugal. The beaches are incredible though. They have these enormous cliffs and make you feel like a tiny little ant when you're up next to them Th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-441775.html Summer 2009 An excellent holiday back at homeWe got this fantastic place down in Aljezur for 6 of us where we were able to fit 11 easy It was just sun beach bbq beer and rock n roll For now and as I'm dead lazy you get the r'n'rBlasting some tunes in Aljezur rock on http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/blog-434842.html Thur Aug 13thLeft Lisbon and made my way to the airport to pick up my rental car for the next 10 days.After a few hours of waiting in line and waiting some more I was able to get my kick ass Mitsubishi Colt.So here we go to start my trip down the coast of Portugal and eventually into Spain.I donrsquot know how people drove around here without SatNav. I would be utterly lost and I have pretty go http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/blog-429717.html today we drove to faro with the intention of going out on rua da oura.we stopped to talk to some police and they said that street was in fuckin lisbon wtfthey warned us to leave faro as we would get mugged. they said tonight is friday night and tomoro is saturday night and they have to kick ass every weekend.hahe told us to go to vilamoura where we would find irish bars. we decided to do that http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Quarteira/blog-421114.html Lagoshellipwhew....What a wacky crazy week I must admit I wasnrsquot planning to go to Portugal but when every second person you meet is saying.. go to Lagos... go to Lagoshellip its hard to ignore. So long story short lsquoI wentrsquo and it was loads of fun. Since being there I reckon Irsquove told another 20 people to go and about half already have. Basically Lagos is the poorrs http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-420777.html Good old Lagos....what a crazy and wonderful place I arrived in Lagos after an intense over night 13 hour train ride from San Sebastian. I was on a bench on the train with 6 other men for 13 hours Luckily I was able to crawl under the bench and lay on the floor beneath them for the majority of the trip and was even able to grab a few hours of sleep After a train transfer in Lisbon and anothe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-420702.html Oh the sun the golden cliffs and the golden sand of Albufeira what a contrast to Ireland. We REALLY enjoyed the sun and the warm weather but not the cold Atlantic waters. Albufeira is a quaint seaside village where the lifeguards wear bright yellow Tshirts that say Matador Salvador Lifeguard where people spend the entire day lazing at the beach and then party until the wee hours of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Albufeira/blog-412522.html We travelled to the south coast of Portugal on the 5th of june. Spend 5 hours in a bumpy local train with no options for buying foodwater got us feeling pretty sick midway there. Live and learn kids which has become our motto when somethings goes wrongeven though everything more or less has been going smooth so far. Got to Lagos late a night and were in no mood for socializing. Therefore it http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-409102.html I donrsquot know if I have a severe writers block or if its because I havenrsquot had very much time to myself the last couple of weeks but my blog is lacking. Irsquom sorry. I will try to revive it and remember what has gone on in the last couple weeks. Primero the weekend before last was my very own first road trip across Europe. It sounds grand and I am pretty ecstatic about it bu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-404608.html This weekend my friends and I went to Lagos Portugal. It was about a five hour bus ride from Seville. Me and seven other friends left Friday afternoon for our weekend getaway We got to Lagos around 8 pm checked into our hostel and went out for dinner. It was my first European hostel experience and it was awesome Since there was eight of us we actually got our own apartment with six beds we h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-404213.html Well....... I do not know where to begin Portugal has been a great chance to throw all the rules out the window leave the sites behind and drink party and sit on the beach. I can't remember the last time I had a holiday like this but it was much needed. Kelly an Aussie teacher I work with at Bannockburn Primary and we planned to fly into Lisbon and see where life took us. The Algarves were se http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-403019.html Faro Portugal. Why there What makes it worth visiting Why would someone spend 3 hours and 40 minutes on a train to get there To me it made sense. The transatlantic sailing finished in Lisbonhellip..my 3rd time there. Well it turns out that there were no discount airlines between Lisbon and Londonhellipor none that went at a decent time and arrived at a decent time at one of the Lon http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Faro/blog-397504.html By the way in the nighttrain two nights ago from Irun to Lisbon I started to read Nighttrain to Lisbon.2 million copies sold but I dont think many people read it in the nighttrain.Had a look at Faro today. Nice town to see in one day. Rather good old city still with walls around. Faro have been a tradecenter in ancient times Greechs and Romans. Captured by the Moors in the 8th century and recaptu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Faro/blog-393594.html Just arrived end of the afternoon in Faro. Trip went well. Change over trains were o.k. Only a bit problem at Lisboa Oriente. It s a huge new station. Beautifull modern and almost without any people of the railway organisation. When you don t speak Portuguese or have not much time to change you are in trouble.Fortunately I had plenty of time. The signals like INF are hidden very well and when yo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Faro/blog-393325.html A Proposal in PortugalWho would have thought that I was going to get such a huge surprise on our one week holiday in Portugal Well it was obviously on the cards but a lovely surprise to be proposed to on a beautiful beach in Lagos. And yes the answer was defiantly YESWe started our adventure in Lisbon on a city tour bus the bus took us to all the must see attractions. Our favourite be http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-385878.html Waiting for Anne Graham and Ben It is now Sunday afternoon 29 March two weeks before Easter. Thus A G B have got a good deal with Easyjet and Touriscampo where we are stopped for a few days in the sun.We have experienced a little expense here with the radiator leaking while we were in Spain. Unfortunately we could not find the leak at the first garage as it was raining hard and so it was a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-385779.html