Lagos, Portugal

We're meeting our friend Madli and her daughter Naiara in Lagos and will share a house for 4 days with Louie. Madli is from near Talinn, Estonia and unfortunately, she lost her phone in a taxi in Lisbon on the way here. So we were getting worried when we didn't hear from her in 2 days. She didn't have our info memorized, but she contacted her mom, who contacted Peter, the owner of Izhcayluma in Ecuador (where we met), who contacted Deanne to let us know where to meet her in Lagos. We did that and went out for a celebratory dinner that night.

It took another day to get her phone, which was no small miracle. By borrowing phones, she managed to contact the taxi company, who agreed to drop it off at a bus station in Lisbon and then they would deliver it to Lagos' bus station. We made 2 trips to the station and she made a few phone calls, but it arrived in the early afternoon the next day for 6 Euros. I can't believe it. It took at least 4 honest people in that transaction.

Madli used to live in Portugal and knows Lagos. So she took us to a beach in the city. At low tide, you can walk through some tunnels in the sandstone cliffs to go to farther beaches. The weather is unseasonably warm and dry. It hit about 76 that day. I went swimming in the Atlantic for the first time in a long time. After lunch in the old town and some gelato, we went grocery shopping and back to our luxurious house. For under $100/night for a 3 BR house with a pool, it's a steal. It's the off-season but the weather trends may be changing the defintion of off-season.

There's a BBQ grill by the pool, so we decided to grill some fish and enjoy the house. The nearby grocery store, Intermarche, has a great selection of fresh seafood and the bonus of the day was that the woman working the counter gutted, cleaned, and split the 2 Dourada for us. We had a feast and I didn't burn the fish! We plan on doing it again. Already, I'm getting tired of eating out all the time, so cooking in is nice.

The next day, we headed west to the charming resort and beach town of Salema. We walked around the town, which was quite dead, but you could tell it gets busy in the high season. It hit 21C or about 70. Then we drove to the SW point of the Algarve, which happens to be the most SW point of Europe: Sagres. It's the namesake of the most popular Portuguese beer. It's also where Henry the Navigator's ships left to sail around Africa, the world, and to Brazil. We walked through an old fort to a lighthouse and enjoyed the steep cliffs and blue seas on both sides of the peninsula. In the distance we spotted a nice beach.

We found a highly rated local seafood restaurant and tried the classic dish called Cataplana. It's like French Bouillabaisse, chock full of fresh seafood (including a lobster) in a tomato and onion sauce. Yum. Then we headed to that beach, Praia do Martinhal for a couple of hours. The temperature was warm, the sand was soft, and it made a great spot to rest after the large lunch. Back in Lagos, we bought more fish and groceries and we BBQ'd again, this time with more Dourada and a couple of Robalo (Bass). We wiled away the hours with charades, a strange kazoo game, and a fun game Louie had on is phone that resembled the TV show, Password.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Madli and Naiara and drive the car back to Lisbon with Louie, who would catch a flight from there. We'd kill some time after turning the car in and catch a train north to Aveiro.

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