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We've been to Portugal before -- once for a KBS meeting in Porto then again to the Algarve one March. Both visits were fun, the Portugese people are kind and friendly, and we enjoy the food and wine. We were hoping for some nice weather and were not disappointed. Of course it's winter and too friggin' cold to even attempt to go into the ocean.
This vacation package includes the flight, a rental car and an apartment for less than $1,000 per person. It's a pretty good deal. In the summer months these apartments are full, more expensive and the beaches are quite busy. The winter is the slow period and they're glad to have anyone come to stay. And, as Canadians, we think the weather is pretty nice .... because there's no snow!
We flew overnight from Toronto to Lisbon on Air Transat. We hate overnight flights -- you arrive exhausted and the time zone change makes it even worse. Next time we shouldn't be so cheap; for an extra $150 we could have flown first class. We picked up our rental car at the airport and after a bit of a struggle navigating the city found our way to the E1 expressway leading south the three hours or so to the Algarve and Albufeira. On the way we had to pull over in a rest area for a nap, I could not keep awake.
Our one bedroom condo styled apartment at the "Perlo do Algarve" is conveniently located behind the Modelo Hypermarket and well appointed. There are only a very few guests at this time of year and few events -- there was a sparsely attended event on December 30th with a couple of pretty Brazilian dancers (see photo above). The pool is open, but unheated. Kate uses it to cool her ankle (she broke her ankle in June and is struggling with pain). Outside on the street Kate finds a cute little black cat that people are feeding. We miss our cats.
Fisherman's Beach, Albufeira on our first day (Thursday 29th) is lovely and sunny. Just the weather we're looking for. There's a stage being set up on one end of the beach for a New Years Eve event with Nelly Furtado headlining. She's Canadian with Portugese roots - I like her music but we don't stay up for the event. Today there's a fellow making sand sculptures on the beach and others basking in the sun, fishing from the pier or bravely venturing a toe into the cold Atlantic. We enjoy the day and spend most of it drinking sangria, people watching and soaking up the sun. The restaurants along the esplanade have coolers with fresh catch of the day -- you pick the fish you'd like them to serve you. Always fresh!
On Friday we take our car for a bit of a drive to the west. In Porches we stop at Casa Algarve, Art Regional, Pottery and Azulejos (blue tiles). There are these huge terra cotta amphora scattered around that probably were used at one time to make wine (or perhaps to store it). The blue tile mosaics are quite impressive scenes composed of multiple fired tiles -- you see a lot of blue tile in Portugal.
Further on a Carveiro we have some views of the cliff side. Carveiro is another fishing port at the mouth of a narrow river valley emptying into the sea. There's a potter we visit who speaks good English -- he tells us his wife is English. We picnic at a secluded beach where there are stairs leading down to the shore. Reg tested the water and finds it frigid! That evening we see the Brazilian dancers back at our hotel.
On Saturday we go out for lunch (while we could cook in our room with food bought at the Modelo it's more fun to eat out) and we're back at Fisherman's Beach for the NY Eve festivities. We have some drinks beach-side and meet up with some young folk. We were able to get a table at the Tipico Ruina overlooking the beach-side cafes for dinner. This is a restaurant that seems to be built right into the cliff. After our time at the cafe's along the beach and our tipsy dinner at the Ruina we stumbled home early with intentions of watching the fireworks from our balcony at midnight. Good intentions....
New Years day, Sunday, is cold but sunny. We drive west to Lagos where there's an impressive rocky headlands. There are, apparently, some caves and such that you can see from boats who will take you to them. We have a fresh fish lunch at the Cafe Pria Dona Ana, a restaurant perched on the cliffside. I had called ahead to make a reservation but there was no need for that. At the end of the headlands there's the caves of Ponta da Piedade. We descend the stairs to the water edge but didn't take a boat tour. From there we head north and west towards the Atlantic coast and visit the old Castelo de Aljezur. From there back home to share some wine on our balcony that evening.
On Monday we've booked a jeep tour with several others of the surrounding countryside with a guide who goes by "Al Capone". He's a great fan of the old Algarve before it became a summer tourist mecca. We visit small towns and the hilly countryside with old windmills, abandoned farms, grazing sheep, cork, orange and olive orchards. We stopped at a farm to sample some aguadente (firewater!) and honey. Afterwards we have some lunch a the Restaruante "Rosmaninho" where a grizzled old timer plays a small banjo like instrument for tips. Alte is a small beautiful hill top village with white washed building, blue trim and lots of gift shops selling blue pottery. It was a fun day exploring the backroads by jeep.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we took a bus trip to Seville in Spain and then on to Gibraltar. In the high season the tour would have included a trip across the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier. It was a rather full trip with a lot of time on the bus listening to our tour guide natter on about nothing much while you cross miles of the Andalusian countryside. In Seville we stopped at the gaudy Tower of Gold and the Plaza d'Espana where everything is tiled. In the city center we visited the Cathedral where they (claim to) have Christopher Columbus' remains. It was originally a mosque when the Moors controlled the Iberian peninsula. I went up the Cathedral bell tower for the views on high. We wandered the old streets of Bairro de Santa Cruz (the old Jewish Quarter) and had a nosh on the street at a tapas bar Casa Placido. That night we stayed in the Spanish port city of Algeciras before heading to Gibraltar.
The day in Gibraltar starts with a drive across the Gibraltar airport! The "rock" is just a short distance from the Spanish shore. In between some of the sea bed has been filled in to make a flat landing area for airplanes! At the far side of the rock there's a mosque and a viewing point to look across the strait to Africa and the Atlas mountains. We took a cable car to the top of the rock with a brief visit St. Michael's Cave where they sometimes hold concerts. There's good views from the top of the rock. The famous monkeys (so long as there are monkeys Gibraltar will remain British) are everywhere. You have to be careful -- they will bite and pick your pockets. There was one that jumped on a boys head and proceeded to violently hump his hair until ejaculation! That didn't look like a lot of fun. After Gibraltar we returned on the long bus ride back to Albufeira retracing our route.
The trip to Seville and Gibraltar spent quite a bit of time in a bus on the road. The places are interesting, the drive not so much.
On Thursday we drive north across the coastal range to the Alentejo farming region. Al Capone (from our jeep adventure) has recommended a winery "Herdade do Esporao" that we visit. We have a lovely lunch -- the salt cod was to die for. We've seen salt cod in the hypermarket -- dry slabs of fish that you might buy by the board-foot. What ever they do to reconstitute the fish at this restaurant is amazing. Flaky, fleshy, white and no taste of salt. I would have thought it was fresh fish instead of dried salted planks from the Grand Banks of Canada!
Anyways, our server for lunch turned out to be the sommelier and was keen to introduce us to their fine wines. We told him we were hoping to buy something and he led us through a tasting. Portugese wines celebrate unusual varietals that you just don't find anywhere else. We were tasting a blend and Kate says "I think there's a shiraz in this one". Our server smiled slyly because Kate had got it. Our server kindly arranged a place for us to stay as well in the pretty pedestrian friendly historic hilltop village of Monsaraz. From there you can look to the west to see the Spanish border.
Exploring further in the Alentejo on Friday we investigate pre-historic and Roman sites, vineyards -- some with ancient vines -- and the historic town of Evora where we had lunch at the Pousada dos Loios. In the nearby Igreja de S. Francisco (church) there's a ossuary full of bones and the remains of plague victims from long ago. One dried emaciated body was strung up for all to see. Interesting but creepy and I'm not sure why. The church itself is one of those gilted baroque examples. There's also the remains of a Roman Temple. There's more Roman arches, an aqueduct, at the nearby Conventinho do Bom Jesus da Mitra which is an impressive example of renaissance architecture from 1545.
Saturday had us enjoying a fine day in Albufeira. More time on Fisherman's beach. That evening we went to a folk dance at the Hotel Sol e Mar (Sun and Sea).
On Sunday we drove west and north to ascend the peak at Monchique for views of the area. The road up the hillside is quite steep. There is a restaurant at the peek but we ate in one on the road back down in the town of Foia. There's a spring along the road side and locals were collecting water there. Back in Albufeira we caught the last rays of another sunny day. Warm enough to sun bathe as long as you were out of the wind.
Our return flight Monday morning left from the nearby town of Faro, a half hour to the east on the Algarve coast.
A rather full week for us in the Algarve.
[Update 20/04/30: The "Perlo do Algarve" is now called the "Luna Miramar Club"}
