Weekend begins!

About three years ago, when we checked out of a hotel in the Algarve, the receptionist suggested we drive back to Lisbon along the western (Alentenjo) coast. We stopped in several random beach towns, each one prettier than the next and decided to come back for a weekend. So here we are.

We left Lisbon right after my class on Thursday and were in the hotel here by 9. The hotel is not on the beach but in a great location, about smack dab in the middle of the area we wanted to explore.

Today we walked about 10 miles and got into a routine of driving to some pretty place, getting out and walking for an hour or so, and then driving on. Sometimes up on the headlands, sometimes down on the beach itself. We had a very late and very delicious lunch in a fish restaurant in Zambujeira de Mar — one of those typical Portuguese places where you point to the fish you want (knowing it arrived no more than a few hours ago from the ocean) and then they grill it. Heaven! The bigger fishes are much easier for us ignorant Americans to debone, so Joe and I frequently get one to share.

After lunch, a long beach walk, and then a drive to the Sardao lighthouse, where we walked along the cliffs for a couple of miles and then saw a beautiful sunset.

Though our balcony doesn’t have much of a view, we are going to sit out there and have a few snacks instead of a real dinner. Given our lunchtime feast. Tomorrow we will repeat the routine, except we will head south instead of north!Read more