Blogs from Sagres, Algarve, Portugal, Europe

Journey to the land’s end! Perched on high cliffs Cabo de Sao Vincente (or Cape St. Vincent) is the furthest southwest point of Europe that points out into the ocean at the bottom of Portugal. But the first stop was Sagres (pronounced Saw-gresh). Sagres is slightly east but further south of Cape St.Vincent and also perched on top of towering cliffs. Boldly guarding the cliffs is Sagres Fortress which was built in the 1400’s to protect against any potential invaders from north Africa. It’s quite a hike all the way around the promontory but well worth the walk. There were fishermen pitting their luck against the sea and the 200 feet high cliffs but as we watched one fisherman won the lottery. After much winding of line he pulled up a nice silver fish - dinner ... read more

Thursday morning, we awoke to a deluge! Not just a little rain, but wind and pouring enormous amounts of cold water, putting a damper on our plans to visit Cape Sagres and the site of the end of the world. As an aside, every Portuguese citizen that we have spoken to has remarked at how much they needed the rain and how dry everything has been. California friends, does this sound familiar? To this, we say, you're welcome! After another great breakfast, we said goodbye to the lovely Danielle, then promptly stole our room key. Waiting for an easement in the rain, we hustled to our car by way of the steep outside marble steps. Let's just say that our B&B in not exactly OSHA approved. No problem. Off we went to Cape Sagres with hope ... read more

We always try to leave as much flexibility in our travel plans as possible, just in case places are different once seen "in person"...and on this trip, we're glad we did! We made a change in Lisboa already, turning Evora into a day trip rather than an overnight.. We then decided on our last night in Lisboa to scratch the side trip to Salamanca, Spain. It was just too much travel time and was too expensive for a short trip. We also hadn't found a place to stay that we liked in Coimbra, so decided to make that city a day trip from Porto later in the month. Once we made those decisions, it was easy to have the rest of trip fall into place!. We decide to stay longer in the south and then go ... read more

11th April Breakfast, washing then wifi time. I went to see the lady on reception about the police, no joy & we have to ring the police station where the prosecution will be launched. No doubt on the day, we’ll ring & no-one will have a scooby doo why we’re ringing. I hoping that come the day the campsite will let us use their phone & one of them can speak English & help translate. Then David arrived & he drove us into Lagos. He has a small IQ... as in Toyota IQ, a super little car. Parked up & had a leisurely wander through the town & went for a coffee outside a restaurant overlooking the bay & 6km of sandy beach. Overall, we summarised our lives since we last saw each other whilst David ... read more

History is everywhere in Portugal. The casual tourist would never suspect that desolate, forbidding Cape St Vincent, Europe’s most south-westerly point of land, was the site of two of the most significant events in modern history. What happened there six centuries ago led to the discovery of the world as we know it today. Before then only the bravest of sailors dared to venture beyond the “Pillars of Hercules” (Strait of Gibraltar), and none was foolhardy enough to sail past the rugged cliffs which marked the end of the known world. All that changed in the 1400s: the world was opened up to discovery, exploration and settlement; and Portugal and other countries went on to acquire overseas empires and great wealth. All this was due mainly to the foresight and determination of one man – Portugal’s ... read more