Mar E Serra Apartments Portimão

... in order. Hence we had lunch at the campsite (warning - we have become garlic fiends; a meal sans garlic is no longer a meal!) and then went for a wander along a couple of Lagos beaches, the Marina, b4 heading back to Luz beach for a couple of sundowner Superbock beers, this at the Bull. The Bulls rear end (!) has stunning sunset views. as you may have guessed by its name, its British owned but certainly while we were there, there were no sign of ...

14 Nov
we awoke early and decided to go for a stroll along the river bank to the point where it met the ocean (NOTE AT TIME OF WRITING, we have an entry for Odeceixe to insert). En route we had a quick wash using water that was effectively run off from the hillside. Proceeding on at the beach, we were greeted by two sea otters, happily frolicking in the surf; a wonderful pre breakfast feast for the eyes. As the tide was running very low, surfing ...

... 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!

... in to the hostel, and then was planning to drive out to Sagres, the end of Europe. Kirsten and I decided to join him and away we went.

Alex liked to tell us that he wasn't a typical American. He spoke several languages, and had traveled the world. I found him vaguely annoying, but I was still happy to take a free ride from him. A 30 minute drive took us to Sagres. I don't want to bother trying to explain the beauty of Sagres ...

... in a country just over twice the size of Vancouver Island with a population of 11 million. Remote is relative I suppose.

Tonight, dinner is Daniella's gig. I'll help her out, but ultimately this is her opportunity to show me how things are done in her kitchen. She's frantic in the kitchen considering that she's only really cooking for 10 people. A beautiful kabocha pumpkin, my personal favourite, is blended with potatoes and an instant stock to create a basic soup. Its ...

... 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 ...

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 ...

The kiting in Alvor is supposedly one of the best spots in Portugal, because of a huge shallow lagoon, however the wind was in the opposite direction so we ended up kiting on the sea side in the waves. Exhausting, but very fun to launch off the waves. We met a wicked ...

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’re ...

... liquor bottles and garbage were everywhere. The oldest part of the city, the Alfama quarter, still retains its medieval feel. It was neat to walk around the narrow cobbled streets and peek into the the little shops and cafes lining the sides. Lisbon did not win us over for cleanliness, the streets are rather dirty and graffiti is everywhere. This is not typical of the other places we went in Portugal, they were usually spotlessly clean. Such a shame, otherwise it is a beautiful city.