Sand City- International Sand Sculpture Festival

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  Lagos, Algarve, Portugal
Wednesday, August 27, 2008

So we wake up in the dark and make our way to the bus station where we secure tickets to Lagos and then sit out the front for a coffee. I am clowning around doing circus auditions then we see the bus leave without us. We are the only ones at the bus station. We hail a taxi and the driver does a good job of flooring it to the next town in time for us to beat the bus and get onboard, we made out connection in Lisbon City and then down the coast to Lagos in the Algarve area, its a fishing port with loads of European holiday makers. We really didnt like it because it was over-developed.

Taxi drivers dont want our fare so we walk up a large hill to find the camground. We met Goldie and Silver, two street performers who we camped next to and also four Aussie surfy boys doing the Euro trip in a beaten up truck. We went to an English pub called Fools and Horses for dinner and ate real Bangers and Mash and Steak and Kidney pie with an extra gravy boat. Mono Loco had pork chops.We saw a great band busking and their name was Olive Tree Dance. These guys are a high energy acoustic dance band who used lots of percussion instruments and didgeridoos

Cleopatra

. Monkey had a driving lesson and we bought him new converse shoes in his size, his first pair of shoes. We also went to the castle fort where there was a real drawbridge and an actual moat plus some cool wind sculptures on top. Many Europeans were at the beach getting the tan and playing football. We rae close to the beach where the little Madeleine girl went missing from. We saw the worst mini golf course in the world. We went to a Marina Mirage type venue. The motoclub had a gig down the beach where they had a band playing Dire Straits style with a smoke machine. So boring that we went to bed, after all the next day we were going in search of the largest sand city in the world.

The sand city was called Fiesa 2008 and is the 6th International Sand Sculpture Festival. The location was in Pera and horrendous to reach without a car. The excursion became an all day mission of buses and taxis. The rewards were worth it though. This years theme was fantastic Hollywood sceneries and famous movie stars, all recreated in sand. The festival uses 30000 tons of sand over 15000m2 area, carved by 60 sand artists.

The site was most impressive and included sand sculptures of  things like The Matrix, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Charlie Chaplin, The Simpsons; Laurel and Hardie, The Muppets, Pink Panther, Carmen Miranda, Fred Astaire, Jurassic Park, Liza Minnelli, The Neverending Story, Narnia, The Golden CVompass, Action Super Heroes, Crocodile Dundee, Indiana Jones, ET, Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Casablanca, Dracula, Aliens, The Flintstones, King King, Godzilla Tarzan and Alfred Hitchcock movies. There are lots of photographs because the city looked different from every angle you looked at it from.

I ate pastries of course in the afternoon. The best pastry in Portugal is called a pasteis de nata which means creamy pastry. The tiny custard tart is renowned for its egg-rich creme brulee like filling that contrasts with the sumptuous crackle of a parchment-textured pastry shell. The Aussie custard tart is better of course. We take the early morning train from Lagos to the Spanish border and beyond.

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clowning around and missed the bus	monkey drink	wind power	arches
Algarve	Merry-go-round	always Coca-cola	its heating up in Portugal
boring mini golf	Lagos	Euro ladies tan up	beach views
Atlantic Ocean	castle decor	fish design	a real drawbridge
um Bongo	marina mirage	Portugese men in Lagos square	local
cobblestone streets	a typical menu	art galleries	Olive Tree Dance
Tiles	Mono Loco snatches a ride	Portugese cow	Monkeys first driving lesson
Mono Loco new converse shoes	Bangers and Mash	I am a pork chop in mummies sunnies	street artist
Portugese flag	coffee	and more coffee	Armacao De Pera beach
Fiesa Sand Sculpture Festival 2008	Charlie Chaplin	Close Encounters	The Simpsons
The Muppets	Carmen miranda and Liza Minnelli	Ginger Rodgers	Sand City
Superman	The Neverending Story	Pirates Of The Carribean	The Wizard Of Oz
The Golden Compass	follow the yellow brick road	If i Only Had A Brain	Lord Of The Rings
Indian	ET Phone home	Gandalf, Gollam, Lord Of The Rings Scene	Rock Monster from Neverending Story scene
Star Wars	James Bond	Crocodile Dundee	Mt Rushmore
pyramid backdrop in Cleopatra scene	Laurence Of Arabia	amazing view over the city	my favourite scene
detail on Cleopatra	we cant believe this is made from sand	Charlie	The Flintstones
Jump For Joy	The Simpsons couch	The Pink Panther	its hot in the sand city
rock monster	pirate treasure?	Harry Potter	getting thirsty now
Mono with Tarzan scene	ET impersonation	Close encounters	Eyes Wide Shut
Dracula	Love Never Dies	detail on Aliens scene	sand details
sand city extravaganza	aguaaaaa!!!!	Narnia	Coming down from the yellow brick road
The Matrix	Our Attempt at a sand sculpture	pastries	yum

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