Sollagos Apartamentos Turisticos

It is hard to believe that it is already Thursday! We had to make the most of today (not as though we haven't everyday so far!) so started on the early-ish side by a trip to our favorite pastrt shop for coffee with hot milk and a split croissant. Not the best pasterrie that I've had so far so Jones-ing for something special before I would feel ready to really start the day!!

Dan stayed at the first coffee shop with The Financial ...

... same language with a different accent. Now, don't going quoting me on that, it's just my way to describe how similar they are, but they truly are two different languages and have lots of differences. However, I had very little problem understanding them enough to get the information I needed.

So, in summary, I LOVED Portugal, I can't believe I've spent so much time in Spain and have only now visited its neighbor, and I can't wait to go back!

... leave lagos til 3, getting to Faro at 515....Only to find out that the last bus back to Lagos left Faro at 530....so we hopped back on the exact same damn bus to go the 2.5 hours back to Lagos and never saw a freakin thing in Faro. Soooo ******. Bus oh well! Anyway, all in all, Lagos was an awesome place that Id love to go back to...soo many ppl we met there meant to stay for a few days and have ended up living there for a few months cause they love it so much. Its no wonder ...

I managed to get our bags, one at a time, down the ladder that was our stairway. I was feeling a bit of animosity towards the bags at this point but from there it would be mainly rolling, not too much more lifting. Our trip to the bus station was pretty uneventful. The metro was not too busy, although busier than I had thought for a Sunday morning. We bought our tickets with nearly an hour to spare so went to look for somewhere we could get a bite to eat. We found a ...

... that the bus driver was driving (yes it was). I stopped in a cafe for a hot chocolate to get some energy back and was reading my rough guide info and saw that the Quinta Da Regaleira was not to be missed, so off I trotted to the tourist information centre to get directions. It was about 10 minutes walk along the road and cost only 5e to get in which I felt was excellent value. The main building has some really interesting architectural ...

... that there was a bird stuck on her aviary, but I think she just thought I was crazy and was excitedly talking about the fact theat there were birds in the aviary. Anyway, she just gave me a wierd look and mentioned something about the policia so I said Desculpa and left. Im bummed out I couldn-t help the little guy, but I thought it was wise not to have any confrontations with Southern Portugal Policia, lest I become an amnesty candidate. Thats my story of the day.

Well we knew something was happening when we saw people setting up stalls and flags and things in the streets, ans as it has happened we have come across a medieval festival which has made us stay a few extra days, parades, firetwirling, celtic bands, sword fights at the castle, fireworks, street performers and juggling. it is a good atmosphere in the streets day and night. it has ...

... a little disappointing. Especially, the Toy Museum, which was tiny and didn't contain many entertaining toys at all. We also paid a visit to the Castelo de Sao Jorge, which was worth the visit more for the sweeping views of the City, than the castle walls and towers themselves (nothing else remains). I found Portugal to be a friendly Country, and wouldn't hesitate to go back there again.

From the Douro region we drove straight down to the Algarve and the cliffs and beaches of southern Portugal at Lagos. The beaches are amazing, we took a boat ride through the grottos and got our asses kicked by some huge waves. The water is an amazing aqua and green color... After two days in Lagos we drove through Portugal and into Spain, through Cadiz and down the coast to Tarifa, which was an unexpected stop but turned out to be one ...

... over an hour looking for two restaurants that my guidebook had suggested, but never found them. Doesn't help when the guidebook doesn't show where they are, and you're map of Lisbon doesn't have the streets on it. So I walked in a maze for over an hour until I gave up. Oh, well. After dinner, it was back to the hostel where I have yet to pack up again. I hate packing. I'll have to get it done in the morning. Got a 10:30 bus to Lagos, and it sounds like a good place, so until then....