Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Portimao Portimão

... Luz for the last 40 years! Dinner is grilled sardines, garlic bread, calamari and BBQed pork steaks and chicken drumsticks. All washed down with some fine vinho verde.

18 Nov
Our last day on the Algarve B4 we head for a couple of nights in Granada, which was the last bastion of Islam in Spain. As part of our visit there, we hope to see the Alhambra and some of the Sierra Nevada. Then itºll be onwards to hook up with Annabelleºs folks ...

... but did some paddling! for lunch we headed 5km up the coast to Luz. A wonderful sunny afternoon and towards the end of it Lym did venture into what turned out to be rather too powerful surf tho he is now feeling more confident about trying to get "out back" beyond the white water, albeit usually unsuccessfully... more pracise required. Still, another day spent in mid20s temperature, few crowds and stunning scenery.

... 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 ...

I'm anxious to get to know Daniella and Frank, now that I've gathered a bit of info on them. They came in last night, but I never really met them.
This morning I met Daniella in the kitchen, she was already well into breakfast prep. I helped her finish up, then over our own breakfast of stale bread and cheese, discussed chores for the day. The first task is to make bread.

"I don't really like to make bread" she tells me, as she haphazardly dumps an unknown quantity of water ...

... 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 ...

... noticed some people outside who were getting wet so he invited them in. Do I need to mention that there were good looking chicks in the group? When they came inside, we discovered that they were from Spain. So we sipped on their Venusualun rum and talked to them in slurred childlike Spanish. They returned the favor by doing the same in child like English. It was fun. A couple of the Spaniards rolled their own cigarettes which was, to we non do-it-yourself Americans, a huge hit ...