Our next stop in Portugal was Lagos, a town on the south coast in the algarve region. When we arrived we were really struck by how beautiful the city was. The houses were white with reddish tiled roofs and the side streets were made of stone, warn smooth by time. The city is surrounded by a big medieval wall which indicates the border of old vs new.
Our guesthouse was a 10 minute walk from the town square, uphill through small winding streets lined with lots of little shops and restaurants. The owner was from Morocco, she moved to France and eventually to Portugal.
The weather in Lagos was fantastic, so we headed to the beach on our first day. It was a bit of a hike from the center of town. The beach was huge but not many people were swimming. We started walking along in the water and soon realized why; It was FREEZING!! It was strange to sun tan on a beach but not be able to go in for a dip for fear of hypothermia! While having lunch at a place on the beach we found out that the restaurant is a club by night so we decided to come back a few days later.
The following day we headed to Sagres, the most south western city in Europe. Before the discovery of the Americas, it was thought that Sagres lay at the end of the world and when the sun set in the sea it went over the edge. We went and saw a huge fort which had been used by the Portuguese to train their navigators. We had breathtaking views of the rocky coast from here. The water was a beautiful blue/green color and super clear, probably because it was so cold. We saw a guy fishing in the ocean from on top of the rocks, his line must have been 100 feet long to make it into the water. I can't imagine how he would reel in his catch from such a height.
While waiting for the bus back to Lagos we were talking with a British English teacher who was working in Morocco. He said that he had come to Portugal to get away during Ramadan since everything is closed. Yasi had told me that we should skip Morocco due to the time of year, she was right.... Again!
On our last day we headed to a part of the coast which has two small beaches that are tucked in behind a series of towering rock formations, they call it the Grotto. The two tiny beaches were stuffed with tourists, you could hardly walk without kicking sand on someone! The scenery was amazing, there were people kayaking in the cold blue waters and around the huge rock formations. Add in a few anchored yachts and we had a perfect Mediterranean picture. The only downside was that it was extremely hot with no escape from the sun.
Our next stop is Seville, Spain. We were very pleasantly surprised by Portugal and would definitely come back.
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