Blogs from Faro, Algarve, Portugal, Europe

Geo: 37.0154, -7.93511Bom-Dia à tous,Nous sommes dans une chambre avec des français. On bavarde un bon moment. Aujourd'hui a notre grande surprise, il pleut beaucoup au matin et nuageux le reste de la journée. Un peu plus frisquet. Nous allons à Loulé. Une petite ville très jolie et un peu plus dans les terres. Puis allons à bras de Alportel. Jolie mais une peu morne. Nous revenons à l'auberge vers 16.00. Petite journée relaxe. Le temps nous y oblige. Le soleil semble vouloir revenir et nous allons assisté à son couché. On voit surtout beaucoup d'avion atterrir. La ville est super belle la nuit mais il a peu de monde dans les ruelles. Trop froid pour eux j'imagine. A demain.... read more

Faro, the Algarve’s administrative capital, is a city of some 65,000 located about 30 miles (50 km) west of the Spanish border. Besides the usual buildings, stores, hotels and artisan shops, it is a fishing port, a railway hub, and the site of the International Airport, the University of the Algarve, and three museums. It has been occupied at least since Roman times, with the Moors developing it as a port starting in the 8thcentury. Most of the artifacts from those periods were destroyed by the earthquake of 1755 or periodic raids by booty-seeking crusaders and sea-borne raiders. Nevertheless, today there is still much to see and do. The most interesting parts are those within the old 13th century walls beside the port, and the nearby pedestrian mall, which offers good shopping and restaurants. Within the ... read more

On the road again...in the air again...off to Portugal again...!!! I am currently sitting on a flight to Faro, in southern Portugal, with my new friends: Jen from Canada and Magali from Belgium, both au pairs in Vigo with me. And along with it being a new city in a new country, it also happens to be: HALLOWEEN!!!! Thus, I have a pair of white sheer fairy wings tucked into the overheard compartment. These last few weeks have been nice, filled with fun times with the kids, busy and confusing school days, where I trudge to and from the university with my new friend--Leo, from Georgia--and attend a class filled with German students who have all studied Spanish at least three years longer than I have; bit all this I so with a big grin because ... read more

Dear reader. Yet again another day without photos. We updated to Flash 11 and now the photo upload function doesn't work. Hope Travel Blog gets it fixed soon. CORRECTION. We switched over to Chrome and now it all works. You'll see photos from today and yesterday to catch you up. Anyways, today was market day in Loule. There were two markets today. One is the weekly market outside and the other is an indoor market that is held daily. The outdoor one featured fresh produce, cheeses, nuts, sausages, etc as well as the most popular vendor who made fresh fihols (those hot donuts dipped in cinnamon - the word translated to "dreams"). So yummy. Inside there were lots of fresh fish vendors as well as some permanent shops selling pottery and lace goods (traditional Portuguese). We ... read more

Stage One of our Tour de Portugal started off with, big surprise, the flight. That is the Plane part. Nothing to tell there except that I (Lori) was taking Benadryl round the clock to reduce the significant swelling in my left Cankle….not a running injury but a wasp bite that occurred on my porch in Ajax! I think it was a vampire wasp (is that a kind??). That is the Pain part. We all managed to fall asleep on the flight which was amazing (even Nigel)! I may have even fallen asleep still chewing my dinner….not sure. We arrived in Lisbon on schedule at 9:30am and it was a breeze getting to Faro airport in the rental car. At our very first roundabout we went around a few times (just cuz). That is the Automobile part. ... read more