Dom Joćo Ii Hotel Alvor

... of "pints" in a sports bar and watched the Brazil v England match. Luckily we were the only couple in there! We wandered around the walled town of Lagos utterly impressed by the consisten beauty and well kept buildings. Lots of tiling and prettily painted doors and window frames on top of the whitewashed buildings everywhere. We decided to eat takeaway pizza, washed down with more beer and a game of pool.<br><br>15 Nov<br>after a relatively ...

Over the last couple days I've watched my shaky plan fall around me. I don't really know where to go next, and surprise bills are depleting my meager funds. Thankfully I'm stranded in Southern Portugal, its cheap and beautiful, indeed there are less desirable places to be stranded.<br><br>I decide to join a group of young kiwis heading to Lagos; partly for the social aspect, partly because I would like to see more of the coast. Faro ...

... you'll have to leave."<br><br>I'm left with no choice, I'm not going to put up with this *********. He offers to take me to the train in the morning and I accept.<br>The other volunteers and Frank's son put up a protest, trying to get Frank to change his mind. But to be honest I don't want to stay, not now.<br><br>I've got no back up plan.<br>That night, I don't sleep a wink.<br><br><br><br>Dinner tonight is Daniella's gig. I'll help out, but basically its her opportunity to teach me

... 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.<br><br>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 ...

<br>An excursion to Lagos&#8217;s Marina followed by a boat trip to Ponta de Sagres (The most western point of Europe, from where the Portuguese sailors started the discovery of new worlds) will allow to enjoy the<br>natural beauty of the rocks, especially the famous and most impressive caves of Ponta da Piedade, wild beaches and the sea waves on the cliffs along the coast and also some of the &#8216;highlights ...

I arrived last night, under the mystery of darkness at the Quinta. My plan is to stay here for 2 weeks, working in the garden and cooking. Should be good. This morning I woke to experience the view concealed in last nights darkness. The house is perched on top of a large hillside, looking past palm, lemon, fig and pomegranate trees, out over a large lake. Absolutely stunning.<br><br>I met up with Matthias from Belgian and Melissa the States, two fellow ...

In Albufeira, we went to a Portugese bullfight, not the real deal as in they don't kill the bull, rather they stab them in the back with a bunch of arrows. I thought it was mean, especially the first bull because it was pretty much still a baby and looked scared instead of angry. Jon ...

... tons of mussels on the bottom, also not fun. The road to get to this lagoon was really sketchy, there's a video in the link below so you can see for yourself.<br><br>http://picasaweb.googl e.com/Jonny.D.Lawrence/20091012Alvor?au thkey=Gv1sRgCN_Jy47QxsiTwAE&amp;feat=di rectlink

The west and south coast of Portugal is pretty much a long stretch of beaches surrounded and separated by huge red cliffs and you can get from one beach to another by crawling through caves in the cliffs (I also think that's where the bums sleep at night...) We did some surfing at a small secluded beach that I had been to 4 years ago with my family. We&#8217;re ...

... pleasing indeed. The marzipan (I think) cakes are works of art in themselves. As they have a similar price tag we didn't have any but they are similarly appealing anyway. On toward the Sao Vincente lighthouse at the south west cape, we stopped at Beliche Beach to see the cliffs and wind-swept terrain that Sagres is famous for. Sparkling water ...