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Published: October 16th 2017
Yesterday was the last sunny day for the near future, so we headed for the main beach after brunch. On the way, we checked out the bike rentals in town and decided to rent bikes on Monday. The young man in the bike/surf shop was Scottish, and his father lives in Aberfeldy, where I lived in 1973!
There were quite few people on the beach since it was Sunday, but it was very rough due to the effects of Hurricane Ophelia passing by on her way to Ireland! I sat in the edge of the surf, but didn't dare swim... A few surfers attempted to go out without success. The beach is golden sand, with almost no litter and no shells.
After the beach, we walked to the port, had a beer in a restaurant overlooking the docks, and then walked to the supermarket. We learned the hard way on our first visit that there is no back entrance, and the main road in front has no shoulder or sidewalk...We discovered a path behind the store that involved climbing a wall and jumping down into the parking lot, but was better that risking our lives on the road!
Mareta Beach Sagres
This is the "sheltered" beach!On Monday, we rented our bikes, and headed out towards the lighthouse at St. Vincent. We stopped on the way to see the incredible surf caused by the hurricane. Cabo St Vincent is the actual tip of Europe. Rick Steves warned that it was a ghastly tourist trap, and it was. Now we can say we've been there! The lighthouse, guarding one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, is among the most powerful in Europe. Its two 1,000 W lamps can be seen as far as 37 miles away.
Cape St. Vincent was already sacred ground in
Neolithic times, as standing
menhirs in the neighborhood attest. The
ancient Greeks called it
Ophiussa (Land of
Serpents), inhabited by the
Oestriminis and dedicated here a temple to
Heracles. The
Romans called it Promontorium Sacrum (or Holy Promontory). Sagres got its name from "Sacrum" or sacred. They considered it a magical place where the sunset was much larger than anywhere else. They believed the sun sank here hissing into the ocean, marking the edge of their world. According to legend, the name of this cape is linked to the story of a martyred fourth-century Iberian
deacon St. Vincent whose body was brought ashore here.
(Wikipedia)
After escaping the hordes at the lighthouse, and resisting buying a hot dog at the "Last Hotdog Stand Before America", we cycled back to a tiny paved road that the Scottish lad, Pete, had told us about and headed up the coast towards the cliffs around Ponto Ruiva. Pete gave us detailed directions on how to follow the trails along the cliffs, and said that one part of the loop has a small ladder that we would have to carry our bikes up, but that it would be no problem for us (even after Bill asked him if he realized how old he was...).
It was very windy, but the views were immense and striking. The waves were getting smaller, but the spray was still coming fifty feet up the cliffs in places. Some of the trails and roads were hard to ride on, because the sand was so deep in places. We saw several hikers (We were on part of the Rota Vicentina, a 400 + km network of trails in this part of Portugal), and some other cyclists on rental bikes. On the way back we decided to try the trail that Pete had described
with the ladder, since it would be faster and involve less of the difficult roads. It was quickly clear that one would have to be an expert mountain biker to actually ride this trail...we walked our bikes, carried our bikes, and finally came to the ladder...Bill stayed at the bottom and I passed the bikes down to him...
After a breather. we rode back to town (there was lots of traffic on the main road, but nearly everyone was respectful of cyclists), and went home to wash off the dust we'd accumulated...
Today we learned that many of the rental properties in Sagres are now Airbnb or VRBOs, and workers cannot find a place to live that they can afford. We realize that we are part of this world-wide problem, since we prefer to stay in apartments rather than hotel, so we can cook and have more privacy. But these short term, relatively expensive (by local standards) are having a terrible effect on towns and cities...including LaConner...
Tomorrow, bus to Lagos and a train to Silves for the day...
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