Bela Vista Praia da Rocha

... and watches from the wings. Then sheºs in... battered and bruised as she battles those gladiator waves to enter the playground. Ok, letºs try again... getting past those rollers as they come into shore aint so easy... and they do it again... it was the washing machine effect and sheººs out for good this time. Lym grinning on the horizon for the next 15mins bobbing up and down as there are no waves out there, then he gets the Bold 2 in 1 ...

... since we left the UK). We learn that there is a campsite in the town centre. Initially we viewed this with some trepidation and indeed it was less than rural surrounded by apartment blocks, however, cheap (euro 10 a night) clean and run by a very friendly Dutch lady; ideal for a couple of nights of cosmopolitan living (Lym gets to put his jeans on for the first time since leaving the uk).

so Saturday night on the town... for starters we had a ...

... above the river Odeceixe which runs out to the Atlantic. This was an idyllic location and though the tide was all wrong to surf, we parked up on the river bank within sight of the ocean: an absolutely fantastic location which was all ours complete with open fire. We commented on how different the Portuguese attitude is to free camping; its almost part of their constitution!

... t the most inspiring town, and after two days its time to move on.The kiwis have a plan, they've got a hostel lined up, and a group of friends meeting them, so why not?

A two hour bus ride to Lagos was longer than expected, as we got off the bus we met up with Kirsten another traveler who was staying at the same hostel. Together we all walked to "The Rising Cock" hostel, the clever name suggesting that I perhaps was not its ...

... a pile of flour, salt and yeast.
I don't doubt her at all.

She stirs it for a bit with the back of a spoon, until it begins to form a stodgy dough. She works it briefly until it barely comes together, then puts it in a bowl to rise. It hasn't been kneaded at all, and is thick with way too much flour. It looks horrible. I now understand why the bread is always so crumbly, and no one wants to cut it.

She gives me directions to finish the bread
"once it has ...

... a patch of wild fennel. Back in the kitchen I find some white beans and a nice chunk of chorizo, now we're on a roll.

In my mind the meal comes together beautifully. The grilled hake is joined with a dish of white beans, sauteed fennel and sausage. A delicious pilaf provides the starch and a bit of colour comes from roasted tomatoes and red peppers. I am ...

... of Lagos, and many beautiful beaches of Barlavento of Algarve as Meia Praia, Praia D. Ana, Porto de Mós, Praia D. Maria, Burgau, Solária, Batata, beach of Estudantes, Pinhão, Camilo, Canavial, etc….

Head on to the Cabo de São Vicente (Cape St. Vincent - the southwestern tip of Europe, and considered to be the “world’s end” in the Middle Ages), the trip continues towards Sagres ...

... it was pretty tame until one of the toreadors almost got trampled by one of the bulls, the dude was lucky they dulled the tip of the bulls horns.


http://picasaweb.google.com /Jonny.D.Lawrence/20091016Albufeira?aut hkey=Gv1sRgCImA4oCXitDO5AE&feat=dir ectlink

... there, he was hilarious and exactly like a euro version of an American beach bum.
We also went to check out the lagoon, I got out for a couple tacks, the wind was super light and I crashed my kite and it deflated... fun. I had to walk my kite back through shallow water ...

... not "surfers" but we we’re much less scared of getting tossed by the big waves this time. We also came to the conclusion that it maybe wasn’t us that, but that it’s the size of the board that was hindering our performance....

http://picasaweb.google.com/Jonny.D .Lawrence/20091011Sagres?authkey=Gv1sRg CMmMtI7egbGKvAE&feat=directlink