Blogs from Algarve, Portugal, Europe - page 38

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Europe » Portugal » Algarve January 26th 2008

Deus quer, o homem sonha, a obra nasce. Deus quis que a terra fosse toda uma, Que o mar unisse, já não separasse. Sagrou-te, e foste desvendando a espuma, E a orla branca foi de ilha em continente, Clareou, correndo, até o fim do mundo, E viu-se a terra inteira, de repente, Surgir, redonda, do azul profundo. Mensagem - Fernando Pessoa Believed to be the end of the world until a few centuries ago, the Ponta de Sagres/Cabo de Sao Vicente is a fantastic location, where you can still feel the magic atmosphere which amazed and frightened our ancestors. At Roman times this whole area was part of the Promontorium Sacrum (hence the name Sagres), the furthermost tip of eastern land into the Atlantic, where the sun, when setting upon the ocean, was believed to ... read more
San Vincent's Chapel
A Fisherman on a cliff 50m Above the Waves
God of Time at the World's End

Europe » Portugal » Algarve January 21st 2008

The beaches in the Algarve are so beautiful! No wonder why northern Europeans fall in love with this place and stay over. I reached the south of Portugal after spending a week in Sevilla, where I was glad to see Rosa and her friends. I had driven as fast as I could through the Atlas towards Fez. Heavy snow up in the pass made the roads remain closed the day before. Snow was still pilled up on both sides of the road and my hands nearly froze as the temperature kept on 3'C for one hundred kilometres or so. I spent a night in Fez which won't let me forget what Morocco is all about. A second hellish customs experience in Tager and I was so glad to leave Morocco behind! A night in Tarifa helped ... read more
Castelos
Ria de Alvor
Praia do Vau

Europe » Portugal » Algarve January 6th 2008

Travel blog 11 A very Happy New Year to all the followers of the Blog.... all our family and friends. We miss you all. Our thoughts are with those who are struggling with their health, Winnie, Allan, May and Dave and Barbara's son, Paul. We think of you all and support you in our prayers. Not going to bore everyone with daily life here at Armacao but just to report briefly on December. Enjoyed lovely few days with Alexia and Stuart who joined us early in the month and played Santa by bringing us lots of lovely goodies for the festive season. It was a very different Christmas and despite missing our family more than we can say, we had a nice time here. The carol service, Christmas Eve, was an emotional time. Christmas Day was ... read more
Armacao Beach
Bridge to the Lagoon
Lagoon at Armacao

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Albufeira December 7th 2007

Travel blog 9 - Sorry for not blogging for last month, but we thought our everyday life might be boring. Understand it probably is, so apologies to all and to let you know we plan to stay in Algarve until Xmas and then move off into Spain in the early new year.... so watch this space Tuesday, 6th November Roverless today, so got bikes out and headed east to find the bird hides at the lagoon east of the site. Sadly lagoon dried up as Algarve now suffering from a drought and despite cycling miles along could see no sign of the hides. What a shame. Also the bicycle situation is not working out and causing some marital disharmony! Andy's lovely ELECTRIC bike, whizzes along. I on the other hand struggle really hard to keep up ... read more
Fish for Sale at Silves
Faro
Faro

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Albufeira November 7th 2007

Voyages Geneviève et Lucie : Portugal octobre 2007 Algarve - Albufeira Lisbonne... read more
Photo 11
Photo 13
Photo 2

Europe » Portugal » Algarve November 6th 2007

Thanks to everyone for comments on our blog - our following seems to be growing quicker than we are travelling on! Travel blog 8 Monday 29th October - continued Decided we would hire a car for a week and explore the whole of the Algarve whilst leaving the motorhome on the site as a base as site only £7 a night with electricity. All place names in Portugal beginning with Al are of Moorish origin and Al-Gharb as it was stood for the West - the western edge then of the Islamic empire. Five centuries of Arab rule left a legacy still visible in the architecture of the area although this is now almost overshadowed by blocks and blocks of apartments. We are told the Portugese are amongst the biggest second-home owners in the world and ... read more
Sagres cliff top
Harbour at Sagres
Praia de Luz

Europe » Portugal » Algarve October 29th 2007

Travel blog 7 Saturday 20th October Lovely to wake up in the heat. Set off into Evora which as we anticipated was wonderful as you might expect a walled Roman city to be. The city's historic legacy was officially recognised in 1986 when UNESCO declared it a world heritage site. In England we make such a fuss and big deal over anything historical but here we just walked thro a Roman temple erected in 2nd Century and the cathedral was wonderful. The houses within the city walls were very 'Moorish' where the architecture retains many Arab features. On the drive to Evora we passed big industry in the cork oaks. Apparently it takes 20 years before the first bark is removed for tanning. The outer bark then re-grows and is ready for stripping again every 9 ... read more
Evora
Whoopee for Hoopoe
Odivelas

Europe » Portugal » Algarve October 26th 2007

Hi - We just arrived back in Gib today after a 2-week training voyage to southwest Spain and Portugal. Training was pretty tough, but it was great to see the little towns along the way. I've attached several photos of the trip. We started by sailing from Gib to Rota in the Bay of Cadiz (Spain). From there, we stopped in Ayamonte (Spain) and Via Real de San Antonio (Portugal). Ayamonte and Vila Real are on the river Quadaquiver (?) which creates the border between the two countries. We had the best meal ever in a tiny restaurant on a narrow street of Ayamonte - no menu, just pick what you see has been prepared that day - for us it was great fish and tomato salads. We visited the Portugese towns of Portimao and Lagos ... read more
Vila Real de San Antonio, Portugal - marina, evening
Ayamonte, Spain
Portimao marina (Portugal)

Europe » Portugal » Algarve October 20th 2007

Bom Dia Bo & Dud, How we love Portugal - 4 hours travelling south from Evora and we’re at the seaside again. Before we set out on our Great Adventure, we bought a comprehensive map of Europe and asked family, friends and colleagues to write on post-it-notes places we should not miss, and stick them in the book. We didn’t fancy the ‘touristy’ bit of the Algarve and a note from my colleague Roger Wilkinson pointed us towards Sagres (this is the most south westerly place in Europe). We found a site which comes highly recommended and settled for this week to the west of Lagos, just a couple of kilometres outside a small bay - Praia da Luz. Now, you know when something sounds familiar? It was not until we walked around Praia da Luz ... read more
Walking off lunch
The fisherman of Cabo St. Vincent
Lighthouse at Cabo St. Vincent

Europe » Portugal » Algarve October 8th 2007

Albufeira in the rain. Can I just start by saying that even the rain is better here !! It doesn’t rain in Ireland, whatever the wise ones might say, they are wrong. In Portugal when it rains it pours, biblical proportions !! There we were sitting in a lovely little restaurant in an old converted wine cellar, complete with the most perfect vaulted ceilings and a couple of thousand bottles of port in the walls, when it started to rain. We had just ordered lunch and were looking forward to going on to watch the Ireland -Argentine game when drops as big as golf balls began to fall. So far no problem about to tuck into avocado salad with prawns followed by grilled sea bass washed down by a bottle of vino branco, yum. Looked at ... read more
The Ladies!
St. Vincent
Still Raining!




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