Daily Hang Out-New AirBnb-Old Town Walkway-Cliffs

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My Spot:No offense to Sheldon of Big Bang Theory; BUT this is MY SPOT! Many days if warm, I walk down hill 4-5 minutes and hang out in afternoon sun here on the cliffs east end of Albufeira or I go below to the beach area for an hour or two.

New AirBnb: See the pics on my new AirBNB next door to the one I had. Nice balcony view! Much smaller place and queen bed in the living room but I can handle that. I have a nice round marble table for my laptop and to hang out with sea view through the sliding glass doors..

Wednesday 11-17 I took a couple hours walk to western Albufeira deep into hilly old town along the beautiful western cliffs and beaches complete with very old buildings, Big tourist area, but very cool including a museum showing 800-1700 A.D. artifacts from various old fortresses and buildings. see the pics

Thursday 11-18 I met with Facebook Expat Albufeira group at Jacks Irish Pub at Albufeira marina; many drove 35-40 minutes away from Carveiro and elsewhere; maybe there were 12 people altogether.Got great info to get tax ID NIF and potentially a lead for a contact in Wash DC Embassy that can grease the skids for residency card;

Great news; I learned that a Residency card from Portugal gives me 6 months visitation in each of 26 EU countries for travel if I want. instead of the 90 days every 180 days limit with US passport alone.

I have found the bus network quite convenient and I paid for a pass point .8 euro for 1 hour including connections;

- no need for a car if I were to live here. However you can wait 30+ minutes for the next bus if you miss the bus like I have ... so some time wasted.

Observation: Portugal in the Algarve has an infatuation with Irish Pubs and many times I can see 2-3 withing a block or two. Very strange also occurred in Lagos and Playa de Rocha.

In fact a very good Stout is made right in Albufeira called "Sagres" named after a pretty fishing town West of Lagos .

Friday 11-19 I am joined some expats from Facebook group Only 4 people showed up including me.We went to the east side to Oura just shy of Olhos de Agua called the "Strip". It's a relatively new (last 15 years) younger crowd, party area with restaurants/ bars apartments which are apparently packed during season as Albufeira area population grows from 50,000 to 300,000.

We met at a well known highly rated coffee roaster/cafe for coffee, 1 from England lived in Portugal 10 years teaching English, 1 female artist (painter) scouting from Grand Rapids, MI, 1 from India here for 2 years, IT consultant all over the world; I.took a walking tour of the strip with this guy- a younger guy that frequents the restaurants and bars.

This time of year Strip is empty and many places are closed until mid January. One local told me the beaches (Oura and Santa Eulalia) can be crowded at 7Am with people left sleeping on the beach from partying the night before during season.

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Photos

Albufeira Beach
Looking east from cliffs near Centro

Cliffs west view
Looking West from cliffs near start of Centro
Praia dos Pescadores (Fisherman's Beach)

Myspot backside
where I sit like an an retired guy; 4-5 min walk to the cliffs

myspot2
I can sit on the wall with my back to the Atlantic ocean and read rick Steve's Portugal guide

1new AirBnb
view from middle of the apartment via balcony

2AirBnb
From the actual balcony my view. Too cold many days to spend too much time here but still very nice.

No Worries
In Portugal we throw caution to the wind, a vento! Balcony charcoal grill fired up next to orange propane tank! no problema

1of many streets
One of many narrow streets that make Old Town So nice to walk and explore.

views thru allies
walk along and you get these openings to walk down to the marble "boardwalk" along the cliffs with restaurants/bars- most are closed this time of year

IMG_1151
1 of many historic churches-pretty but never seen them open

Old Town Walkway
From the Western cliff side Old town "boardwalk"

restaurant w view
on the Cliff walk -restaurant with a nice outlook to eat

Cats in sun
There are several outlooks along the walkway; this one had 2 cats, obviously friends touching each other and relaxing in the sun-like I wasn't there 2 feet away

Marina entrance
From the walkway you can see the marina entrance. My yacht is parked in there somewhere. Haven't seen it for a while but the crew is taking care of it. So no worries...maybe I go next to near by Morocco, Tangier? or where ever.