Sat June 15
Up early….just after 6. Finished packing up and cleaning up. Beatriz arrived at 10 as planned and called a taxi for us to get down to the parking garage with all our stuff. The only thing I won’t miss in Arcos is that walk back up the hill!
On the road to Portugal just after 10:30. Spain is very beautiful…..very sad to be leaving really. Must come back some day….so much more to explore! Would have been nice to get to Cadiz but also nice to not have big driving day…..I really am sorry we didn’t get there but I guess you just can’t see everything!
Had to head back towards Seville to get on the highway to Portugal but no problems getting around it…..great peripheral road that bypasses the city and once on the E1 it’s the same highway all the way to Ferragudo in the Algarve. The sunflower fields in Spain were absolutely beautiful…..and just no good place to pull over to get a good picture. I don’t think a picture could have done them justice anyway……really quite spectacular to see at this time of year…..field after field!
Crossing from Spain back to Portugal down here was different than further north. Much more mountainous, forested and rocky/boulder areas up north and very little difference crossing from Portugal into Spain. Down here it’s rolling hills and you go from the very orderly and cultivated Spain into a very scrubby and wild Portugal. Not sure why, perhaps in Spain it’s all privately owned and in Portugal it’s not so less farming??? The closer we got to Faro it became much more developed. Stopped in Tavira for lunch, hoping to find a nice little place on the beach but was a very busy little tourist place with no clear access to the beach area. Found a nice pizza joint not too far off the highway…..good thin crust!!
Just passed Faro we found a “super mall” which included a huge grocery store and IKEA! Decided to bypass it and find something a little closer to Ferragudo.
Was getting close to 3 (check in was after 3:30) so decided we’d just head to Villa Marlena and wait for Chris and Marie to arrive. (They, Rae’s son and his girlfriend, had just spent a week biking near Porto and were joining us for the first week in the Algarve.) The directions we have for the house are absolutely useless!! Whoever wrote them up can not possibly have ever been to the house……no road names whatsoever once we left the highway. The final straw was when we had to “turn right at the crooked palm tree”. We put Villa Marlena in google maps and it came up……we had definitely turned at the wrong palm tree….one of hundreds around here!!
https://www.allure-villas.com/allure/component/villas/view/2382
The house is beautiful……..gorgeous views of the river Arade and the sea. Four great bedrooms, all ensuite, and a self-contained one bedroom suite downstairs. Lovely solar heated pool, which looked much bigger in the pics, but will certainly do. Very, very windy here, nice and sunny but not too hot unless you are sheltered from the wind. Brenda and I picked our room, got somewhat settled in and headed to the LIDL market in Ferragudo. Not the greatest…..no deli or meat counter and most of the veg are prepacked. Nice bakery though and some good wine! Didn’t stop today but looks like there might be a couple of nice shops in Ferragudo…..bakery and little grocer with a meat counter. Picked up some basics to get us through tonight and breakfast tomorrow. Will look for another bigger grocery store on our travels tomorrow before the rest of the group arrive. (Friends Jill and Larry and Rae’s other son Mark, his wife Natasha, and their two boys 8 and 10yrs old…..so for the first week there are 12 of us).
Chris and Marie had arrived by the time we got home. They got settled in one of the rooms and we sat around getting caught up on their travels.
Dinner tonight was a roasted peri peri marinated spatchcock chicken, fresh prawns cooked in a little olive oil and garlic and a salad with beets, goat cheese and almonds, and of course some good wine! Sat around chatting for a bit then to bed. Quite early for me…..just after 10 but a long day so very tired.
Sun June 16
Up very early…..tried not to disturb Brenda! Lovely sunrise. Made coffee and sat outside updating my journal, checking emails, FB and catching up on the news.
Everybody was up fairly early this morning…..breakfast and ready to go exploring by 9. C & M walked into town and Brenda, R & G and I walked to the beach, Praia Grande. Spectacular beach! Soft sand, great for walking. Protected by a jetty that separates the Atlantic from the river. There are a couple of restaurants and places to rent chairs and umbrellas. Hoping we get a couple of days to just sit and enjoy it! The beach carries on around toward the river and the old/new castelo Sao Joao do Arade (now privately owned and not open to the public), where it becomes Praia da Angrinha, another beautiful soft sandy beach with huge big rocks (limestone/sandstone?) with big holes and caves in them. Walked all along the beach and waterfront and right into the town of Ferragudo……took about 20 min.
Had coffees and picked up a few goodies (pastel de nata) at the bakery and checked out the little grocer…….very little from the front but fantastic meat counter tucked away in the back!! Picked up a few more things for dinner tonight at the daily veg market. About a 10 minute walk back to the house.
Did pop out for what should have been a quick trip across the river to Portimao looking for coffee pot!! All we have here is a medium size French press, which isn’t going to work once everyone is here. 12 minutes according to Google to get to the SuperU…..hahaha. One wrong/missed turn and it took 1/2 an hour. Portimao is not a great city to drive in. It seems to have been added on and added on over the years without much thought to proper city expansion planning….you can see the street you should be on but can’t get to it! Argh!!! Did manage to get back across the bridge and into Ferragudo to check out the Staples and a home/hardware type store….nada, no coffee pot.
Back home for a quick lunch and to relax around the pool. Had a few dips, read, drank some wine…..beautiful afternoon. No wind! C & M had gone for a run and down to the beach.
Dinner tonight was pasta, with some of the sausage we bought at the Ferragudo grocer and veg from the morning market and thru together a salad. Something simple and could be ready whenever everyone arrived.
J & L arrived just after 7 (at little later than planned!!) Chatted and got caught up on their adventures…..one of which was finding this house!!
C & M had picked up some goodies this morning and put together a great appetizer……crostini with tomatoes and sardines….(very, very good) and melon wrapped in ham.
Was so pleasant tonight without the wind we ate outside…..great dinner, great wine, great friend and fantastic views.
Sat around the rest of the evening until Marcus and Natasha and boys arrived around 10. Their flight was late……they had NO issues finding the house using google maps!
A bit of chaos after they arrived……after getting themselves organized in the suite downstairs they came up for their dinner. Natasha went back down for something and found that the door had locked!! It automatically locks when it closes….who would have thought that! And of course the key was inside. Called the local manager and he had to bring a spare set of keys. Took an hour or more for him to get there! He could not explain why the door automatically locks, other than perhaps for security purposes. We now have a spare set of keys just in case someone forgets to take their key with them. That’s actually a bit dangerous….what if someone had fallen in there, or there had been a small child inside, or, or, or……
Brenda and I just got out of the way and went to bed. C & M had already disappeared……so assuming all ended happily!
Mon June 17
Full house here now….12! Everybody up and about by 7:30. Lots of places, inside or out, at this house to enjoy your morning coffee…..either on your own or with company.
I was up first as usual so thoroughly enjoyed watching the sun come up, the fishing boats returning to Ferragudo and the baby seagulls on the roof across the street!! And the quiet time! Must look up seagull nesting habits later…..I see nothing on that roof that resembles what I think of as a nest. During the hottest part of the day the babies (2) just seem to tuck themselves into a crevice between the tiles and the gutter or wander around aimlessly squawking until mommy brings them food. You would think they’d cook up there! We have a couple on our roof too but can’ts see them of course…..certainly hear them though!
Tavira today! At least for some of us. R & G and J & L and Brenda and I. M & N and the kids are doing a beach day, C & M are heading off on a cycling trip near Tavira somewhere. We have 4 cars between us, which is definitely needed for this many people.
Brenda, Glen and I (the driver) took our car, Rae went with Jill and Larry as she feels they’re directionally challenged!! The plan was that they would follow us…..and it worked!! That usually does not happen….someone gets too far behind, takes a wrong turn, misses a turn….thank goodness for cell phones….but this morning was non-eventful.
Tavira is a lovely little town/city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavira Had originally planned to take the ferry over to Ilha Tavira, a nice beach sandspit just off shore to check out the beach and have lunch there but decided to just wander around Tavira since it was market day. Very cute place, along the river or inlet, with lots of shops, restaurants and the main square market, a castle, churches and a mosque or two. The town is on both sides of the inlet with a couple of bridges connecting it….one is a beautiful old roman or possibly moorish bridge from the 13-15th c. (depending on what you read!!) Lots of history here. Great place to wander around. Lovely friendly people. Bought a fun little black sun dress and the lady “hid” a gift in the bag for me…..a silver (coloured!) and blue stone necklace. Bought a pair of comfy linen pants (15E!!!) and they threw in a cute little bracelet!
They were setting up for some celebration that was starting this week…..Saints Festival. Would be fun to come back and check it out…..lots of music, food stalls, dancing etc.
Had a great lunch along the main square/waterfront…..skewered grilled peri peri prawns and monkfish with fries. The skewer hangs from a little contraption dripping over the plate of fries…….fun! The monkfish was delicious! I’ve heard it referred to as the “poor man’s lobster”…..and it really could pass for it!! A big jug of sangria and coffees and lots of people watching…..could have sat there all afternoon!
Reluctantly we got up and did a bit more wandering around…..crossed the bridge and walked along the river/inlet. Very pretty on both sides but could really use a bit of cleaning up here and there but overall a pretty little place. Lots of old buildings but also lots of new condos everywhere…..definitely a resort type destination. Had hoped to find a local beach but was told not to waste time and head to Ilha Tavira. Which we didn’t do as we’d spent too much time at lunch!! Great place though and definitely worth a visit.
Larry needed an extra pillow!! And there was limited bedding for the kids on the sofa beds downstairs so the logical place to stop….IKEA! It was on the way (passed it on the way in the other day) in a town called Loule. What a great parking lot!! They have red/green lights at the end of each aisle telling you how many free parking spots there are in it…….then as you’re driving down the aisle each spot has a red/green light indicating where the available spot is!!
We need this at our IKEA at home…..on the weekend you spend as much time finding a spot as you do shopping!! Got all the goodies we needed and picked up a couple packs of their meatballs (one chicken…Natasha doesn’t eat beef!) for a quick dinner and back on the road home.
No problem finding the house now…..have found a quick and easy way thru town to get there. I really think the people that own this place have never actually been here because the directions we got were really pretty ridiculous considering that we’ve now found the very simple, right way to get here!!
Everyone was back home by the time we got there. Dinner was great! Did some roasted potatoes, onions, peppers, carrots and mushrooms to go with the meatballs….was all delicious and quick. Wine and bread and a couple of local liqueurs and a brandy that C & M had picked up on their travels today.
It’s lots of fun getting dinner ready…..thank goodness the kitchen is big enough for at least 6 or 7 people……cooking, yakking, drinking wine…..what could be better!
To bed around 10:30…..another great day!
Tues June 18
Rain!!!! Very misty and socked in this morning…..couldn’t even see across to Portimao. Only rained for a 1/2 hour or so then around 7 started to brighten up a bit. Had breakfast…..everyone on their own each morning for breakfast whenever they get up.
Rae, Glen, Brenda, Jill, Larry and I and the boys walked to town for MORE coffee…..drizzled again a little when we got there…..just enough to friz my hair. Picked up a few more veg and fruit and spent time watching the fisherman untangling and rolling their nets back up. Even at 9AM the big charcoal grills are going and they’re grilling up some of the fish! Really beautiful, fresh fish in the market, which you have to be really quick to get ……great produce too….all local!.
Chris and Marie are doing dinner tonight! Fun to take turns doing that. Rae is making dessert with some beautiful meringues from the local bakery and fresh strawberries…..Eton Mess! https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/eton-mess They have great figs here too, the two bite size ones, that are not cloyingly sweet. Popped in and out of some of the little shops. Bought a cork watch….cute. They had a really cute pair of shoes too but did not need. Had another coffee and pastel de nata then home with our goodies. Finally started to see bits of blue sky.
Carvoeiro for lunch today. https://www.algarveuncovered.com/carvoeiro/ Very close to us, only a few minute drive if you don’t take a wrong turn! Very pretty place tucked in between the cliffs. Nice little beach at the bottom of a very big hill that we parked at the top of. Street parking down the hill but every spot was taken…..did find a “mall” underground parking lot but didn’t bother trying to find a spot in there. Great walk down the main street. Lots of nice shops mixed in with the usual souvenir and beach toy places. Tons of cafes and restaurants all the way down to the hill right to the main square and the beach. Many restaurants right on the square just before the beach…..all a bit pricey but you pay for the view right? We chose “O Patio” https://www.praiacarvoeiro.com/portfolio/o-patio/ Great view. Had a prawn and avocado salad, sparkling sangria…..was all really good, good service too.
Walked on the little beach a bit. Huge waves, only a few people braving the water. It’s set in a nice little cove…..sort of like a mini Positano. Quite pretty. The beach had very grainy sand, not like our lovely soft sand beach. Lots and lots of vacation apartments and a few, what appear to be, very expensive hotels, all sort of stacked up and tumbling down the hill surrounding the beach. A very nice boardwalk on the east side of the square….you go up and up and then walk along the top of the cliff for a 1/2 km or so. Great views.
The sun had come out just before lunch so made for a great afternoon. Bought an air mattress and some other floatie toys for our pool.
Home just after 4. Gave Lucas (Rae’s grandson) 3E to blow up my air mattress!! Had time for a bit of a swim and some fun in the pool with Jill and Lucas…..air mattress races!
While we were having fun Chris and Marie were putting together a great dinner. Bacalhau and chicken soft tacos…..absolutely delicious! They made guacamole, salsa fresca, corn etc. Had Rae’s Eton Mess for dessert.
Lots of fun today. Sat around until 10:30 or so making plans for tomorrow. Possibly up to the mountains to Monchique…..views right down to Cabo Sao Vincente, on a clear day…..but that will be weather permitting….possible showers tomorrow 😦 . If so we’ll save till Thursday.
Wed June 19
Nice slow start this morning……everyone was up so Larry made his “famous scrambled eggs”, which were very good. Marie made French toast with yogurt and honey, also very good. Don’t usually all manage to eat breakfast at the same time so was fun today.
Weather was still a little iffy with the mountain looking a bit socked in at the top, so Lagos was our original destination today. All the kids, big and small had gone off so the 6 old adults headed out in our two car convoy. Managed to get separated this time even before we left Ferragudo! After a number of phone calls and pin pointing where the other car was, we decided that Alvor https://www.algarvetips.com/beaches/portimao/praia-de-alvor/ would be a good place to regroup because they’ve got a nice big parking lot. Rae, Brenda and I were in one car, Jill, Larry and Glen in the lost car.
We had a nice walk on the beach, checked out a few of the restaurants. Alvor has a spectacular beach! It must be at least 3-4 km of very nice, fine, soft sand. Fantastic! Cliffs and a big rock island at one end and I think Lagos at the other. Big waves. A few places that rent chairs and umbrealls and a couple of beachfront restaurants. There’s a boardwalk along the dune that seems to go on forever. Had a few more phone calls with the lost car….they now seemed to be heading in the right direction and will have one more go at finding Alvor, if not they were just heading back home so we decided to have lunch. Rather forgettable unfortunately and pricey too……but that beach view was amazing! I had a hotdog……what could possibly go wrong with that!! Rae and Brenda had burgers, which were OK but basically just the bun and meat….no tomato, lettuce, onion etc. Fries were good though. BUT…..the sangria was pretty special. Each drink came in a little jug with a dollop of lime sorbet, which the waiter stirred in with lots of drama! Very good.
Just as we were finishing the lost car crew arrived!! Lots of stories to tell about their adventure…..asking directions at a police station was the highlight! Jill had her phone but would not turn it on to use Google maps because she didn’t have a data plan!! The waiter quite nicely made room for them and we sat and enjoyed another sangria while they had their lunch.
Nice hour or so walk on the boardwalk after lunch……very hot though. Alvor is pretty much a resort town but they’ve done a great job of protecting the beach and the dune. Lots of hotels and condos but all on the other side of the boardwalk so none extend right on to the beach, which is really nice. A number of umbrella/chair rental kiosks all along the middle part of the beach but that seemed to be it. Really a lovely unspoiled beach! Enough excitement for today, so Lagos another day.
Back home via an unplanned detour through Portimao…..took the wrong exit. There really doesn’t seem to be any rhyme nor reason to how the streets work in that city. Even using the GPS and Google maps, you get taken through funny little alleys and lanes, even a parking lot or two……and a very narrow one way street with a medieval arch that our car barely fit through!
Mark and Natasha are cooking tonight! Larry, Brenda, me and the boys played cards…..taught them how to play Garbage (fun, quick, easy game….) Dinner was a delicious pasta with seafood, salad and really good bread. Pasta is really a lifesaver meal when feeding masses of people!! Throw in whatever you’ve got laying around and you really can’t go too wrong….and it’s always good! No wind tonight so we were able to eat outside….beautiful evening.
Thurs June 20
Everyone on their own for breakfast today. Chris and Marie left early for their 5 hour hike on Serra de Monchique….the highest point in the Algarve and the dividing line between it and the Alentejo region. The rest of us (10) left a couple hours after them to drive up, tour around a bit then meet up with them for lunch up there…..everything and anything in peri peri sauce is the area specialty. We managed to pile into 2 cars. Mark, Natasha, Brenda and Ollie came in my car. LOL, I warned Mark to not complain about my driving, and he didn’t! (I’ve known Mark since he was 2!!) We all managed to stay together the entire way……only because there is really only one road up! Weather was still a bit questionable when we left, so hoped for the best.
Up and up you go, thru the little towns of Monchique and Foia. Was a very pretty drive on a good but very twisty road with lots of cyclists going both UP and down (at mach 1 speed!) Directions were pretty good until we hit the centro of Monchique where our little caravan entertained the old guys just sitting/hanging out at the bus stop by going around the roundabout 2 times and then pulling the same U turn a second time…..they laughed and thru their hands up in the air!!
The road continues up and up further still past a few restaurants that had great views right to the coast. Stopped at a lookout……amazing views!
Down thru the hills/mountains, all the towns below and right out to the water…..pretty spectacular. An old couple were set up selling cookies and “natural” spring water. We all bought cookies (almond and sugar, v. good) and Natasha tried the water…..said it was better than Starbucks!!??
Up we went still further, right to the top of the mountain. A couple of the trailheads start up there. Great views in all directions. Quite windy and definitely a good 10 degrees cooler. Nice local artisan shop, a coffee shop/restaurant and gift store with some really nice stuff….beautiful sweaters, all made locally. Found a nice blown glass Christmas ornament. Wandered around to take in the views from all directions. There is a huge rock that hangs over a precipice that people were climbing on, apparently you get an even better view…..the kids climbed it but looked like potential broken ankle stuff to me. Big parking area with very few cars……a bus load of tourists arrived just as we were leaving…..good timing!
Back down the twisty road to find a restaurant that could handle 12 of us for lunch….which we did, O Luar da Foia (no website but excellent Tripadvisor reviews). C & M met us there after their hike, which they said was great but a bit chilly. The restaurant managed to seat all of us at two tables across from one another. The views from there are spectacular……and luckily much warmer just this much further down the mountain. And the food was really good…..not cheap but you are paying for the view. Had the peri peri/piri piri prawns which were huge and full of delicious meat…..right into the head. Came with what looked like plain old rice but was also really good with herbs and garlic. It also came with a salad that was pretty much just lettuce, pea shoots and orange wedges in a really tasty orange dressing.
There were lots of storks up near Monchique too……they are everywhere here in the Algarve. They build huge nests on anything and everthing that is tall, like chimney stacks, telephone/electric poles, church steeples etc. All appear to have babies right now which are pretty darn big to start! You see at least 2 or 3, sometimes more, in each nest. Amazing birds and fun to watch.
A quick stop at a super market in Monchique town on the way down…..it takes a lot of shopping to feed 12 people! Was interesting to say the least with 10 of us “shopping”!! Plan was to only pick up a few things, but as at home, that was not the case. Toilet paper for 12…….48 roll packages on sale so we grabbed that and honestly they think of everything here….that great big pack at home would mean poking a hole in it somewhere to be able to carry it but here they have plastic HANDLES on the big packs!! Scotties you really need to step up to the plate at home!!
The weather was a bit iffy today. Started out a little cloudy, but could still see the mountain off in the distance so gave it a go anyway…..glad we did. Maybe just marine fog but windier this morning and not terribly hot. Cleared up quite a bit and got warmer but as we climbed up the mountain it got even windier and was damn cold at the top. But was definitely worth it.
Back home around 3. Had warmed up nicely and no wind!! Kids went for a swim, we sat around yakking and enjoying a couple of glasses of wine.
Jill and Larry decided they were doing dinner tonight…….ordering pizza!! That worked for everybody. They would deliver but the house really did not have an address, and they weren’t familiar with the name of the place, so Brenda, Jill and I drove down to pick them up. Today was the Corpus Christie bank holiday so “downtown” Ferragudo was just rockin’. Cafes and restaurants were full, a guy entertaining with magic tricks in the square, another singing…..lots of fun. Pizza from “Delizia”, crazy busy too. Still ended up waiting 45 minutes for it. Just as we were leaving home there had been a mass “flyover” of seagulls. There had to have been hundreds of them coming from every direction heading to town…..the fishing boats were coming in for the evening! We found them in town! The fisherman were cleaning their fish and throwing the guts etc. back in the water which created a seagull feeding frenzie. Quite something to see. Also managed to get a couple of great pics.
The pizzas were excellent…..nice thin crispy crust with lots of toppings.
More cards and chatting and bed. Great day.
Fri June 21
Salema and Sagres today…….a three car caravan, which did not disappoint in comedic relief! I was in the lead (probably the least directionally challenged of all of us….and that isn’t saying much!) Rae and Jill were my navigators. After checking google maps, it appeared to be quite simiple…..only two roads to get to Salema, our first stop. No problem getting out of Ferragudo, bypassing Portimao completely so that was good. Mark and family were in the second car and Larry, Glen and Brenda in the third. Larry is not a fast driver so I was constantly slowing down to keep him in sight pulling up the rear. All was good until the second roundabout when Larry had fallen too far behind and too the wrong turn off……seen him do it, so got on the phone right away. Tried all their numbers but NONE of them answered their phones! Oh well…… Found a nice big parking lot at a stadium to pull into and phone again and got Brenda who said they were actually going in the total opposite direction, heading to Faro!! I started laughing so hard I could hardly breathe……kept them on the phone until they got turned around and were finally heading in the right direction. Told them where we were and that we’d wait until they came by……you just could not miss this spot, right? Waited and waited and waited. No sign of them after almost 1/2 and hour. Phoned again and they said there were seeing signs for Salema, so would just meet us there. Told them to look for “praia parking” signs and follow them.
Off we went, on a bit of an adventure of our own. Took the “a” exit, which was one exit too soon. Checked google to make sure we could still get to Salema from there and carried on (only 4km away). What a beautiful drive. We went through a very nice touristy town/development called Luz. The road then takes you thru some big dunes and inland through farms, cobbled roads and beautiful rockly hillsides and another place called Burghau (sp?) …..a bit of a detour but a very nice one! And Mark followed all the way….no problem.
Finally made it to Salema. https://www.travel-in-portugal.com/beaches/praia-da-salema.htm Parking in Salema is a bit limited, right in the main part of town at the beach. It’s very tiny with a couple of shops, restaurants, lots of condos but very scenic and a gorgeous beach. We parked and went off to explore the little town. Had coffee and walked on the lovely beach. 45 min later and still no sign of car 3. Called again and said they were now seeing signs for Lisbon!! More laughing!! Almost an hour later they’d managed to get turned around again and arrived safe and somewhat sound!
Found a busy little “chippy shop” right on the main drag that could seat all 10 of us….two separate tables but it worked. Frozen fish and chips but good enough and a nice glass of rose. Did a bit more exploring with the late arrivals then on to Sagres.
Chris and Marie had headed off surfing somewhere……they never sit still!! Thought we might see them at Sagres.
Sagres was only a 15-20 minute drive. Three beaches here that we know of….Praia Mareta and Tonel, which supposedly are very touristy and crowded, so we picked Praia do Beliche instead. Parking is a bit helter skelter at the top of the bluff but there was quite a bit so no problem finding a spot. Parked at the edge, no guardrail so made sure I left at least 15 feet in front of the car…..could be very scary because there is nada to stop you from just going right over!! The view of the beach from the top is beautiful.
Quite the walk down the stairs, which are a bit steep near the bottom with no handrails so you kind of have to find rocks and cliff bits to hang on too if needed, but so worth every stair (down and back up!) and probably why it’s less crowded than the other beaches . There are no words to describe the beauty of this beach…..a beautiful crescent with soft, fine sand and golden red cliffs surrounding it, small caves to duck into to get some shade. There are no facilities down at the beach of than an umbrella/chair rental place and a restaurant/café/bar with NO bathroom! This was by far the most beautiful place we’ve seen so far. Spent an hour or so on the beach, just walking from end to the other. Would love to go back for a beach day with a picnic. My pictures just do not do this place justice!!
https://www.algarvetips.com/beaches/sagres/praia-do-beliche/
Drive home was uneventful……everyone was on their own to find their way back. At one of the Ferragudo roundabouts there’s a big field and today it was filled with storks…..there must have been a 100 of them. First time we’d seen them on the ground. Interesting to watch, thought maybe they were teaching the babies something.
All 12 of us headed into town for dinner at Tapas Bar Sao Joao. The guy set up a big long table for us in the middle of the street….fun! Worked out really good. Everyone ordered a variety of tapas dishes, which we all shared. Chicken wings (v good) mushrooms stuffed with cheese and bacon (v good), calamari (really tender and v good), mixed seafood fritters and veggie skewers, all washed down with big jugs of a great sangria. Was lots of fun sitting outside but lucky the streetlights came on when they did or we wouldn’t have been able to see! Sat there for a few hours…..was a great time. The bill came to 15E per person, which really wasn’t bad at all considering we were all very full and all a bit tipsy.
Back home…sat outside with more wine and lots of talking and laughing. Everybody was feeling pretty good by the time I went to bed around 11:30.
Just another great day! Can’t believe a week has gone by already!
My Travel Journals 