That is how we ended up on the comfortable bus going from Seville, Spain to Faro, Portugal. After not having seen many Americans for the past few weeks, nearly everyone on the full bus was an American. Conversation flowed easily amongst us and we talked of our experiences.
The Guadiana River delineates the border between Spain and Portugal. We arrive in Faro and 10 minutes later are on the bus to Albufeira. The bus travels the winding roads through picturesque seaside towns before arriving in Albufeira. The driver (Just about everyone we interacted with in Portugal spoke some English) instructs us on the 10-minute walk taking us from the bus to our home for the week, the Clube Praia da Oura, a huge beautiful and sprawling resort on the south coast of Portugal. Entering our unit, we find a nice bottle of Portuguese wine on our table – a welcome from management.
Our room includes kitchen facilities, and the grocery store is only a 5-minute walk away. I found a bottle of wine for €.95 (about $1.30) at the store. Elaine said don’t buy the cheapest wine. So, I passed on that one and picked another one for €.99. Not too bad. Portugal must not tax its local wines.
The weather continued to be in the 80’s and the Atlantic Ocean was warm enough for swimming. Portugal has no Mediterranean coastline as it is west of the Straits of Gibraltar. Sunning, swimming and walking seaside paths becomes our daily routine, along with some afternoon siestas.
As it was late September, many of the hundreds of rooms were vacant. That reduced crowds, which must be massive in season. We meet several other guests during the welcome meeting. We win a nice bottle of wine. Two older English ladies tell us of a restaurant that offers real English fish, chips and mushy peas. I ask, what are mushy peas? They sound disgusting. Later in the week, we dine alfresco at this restaurant. We tried mushy peas – they taste very nice. When we next saw the English ladies at the pool, I let her know that I have changed my opinion on mushy peas.
The resort offers a shuttle bus to the old town, which turns out to be several blocks of restaurants and tourist shops. There is a coastal path that winds its way back to our resort. It takes about 1.5 hours for the walk. The ocean views are magnificent, with many sea arches and blowholes.
Several very inexpensive guided day-trips can be booked at the concierge desk. A half-day tour of the western Algarve (the region of southern Portugal) looked interesting. Our first stop was the fishing village of Lagos (pop 20,000).
The name Lagos, means “lakes”. [As an aside, the city of Lagos, Nigeria was named by the Portuguese in 1472. At nearly 8 million people, it is the second largest city in Africa (Cairo is 1st). ]
Back to Portugal. Lagos is known for its beaches, fishing and nightlife. It is a tourist party town. Lagos was founded over 2,000 years ago by the Carthaginians. The Romans conquered the area and then the Visigoths. Next came the Moors. It is from them that the name “lakes” comes from. The Moors made Lagos (Zawaia in Arabic) into a fortified port. A good bit of the old fort can still be seen.
Lagos was conquered by Portuguese King Alfonso III in 1241. Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) held his school of navigation in Lagos in the 1400s. Some of the early Portuguese voyages of discovery originated from here. A large square contains a statue honoring Prince Henry. Part of the darker history of Portugal, and much of the rest of Europe, was the slave trade. Prince Henry’s sculpture sits next to the old slave market. Lagos was the center of slave trade in Europe.
The Moors allowed the Church of Sao Joao Baptista (St John the Baptist) to be built in Lagos in 1174. Apparently, the Moors (Arabs) were more tolerant of Christians and Jews than now.
The interior of the Church of St. Anthony (from the late 1500s) has many intricately carved wooden statues covered with Brazilian gold. There are also a number of beautiful frescos depicting the many miracles of St. Anthony. No photos allowed. An attached museum at the church proves interesting.
Leaving Lagos, the bus motors through a hilly and dry countryside until arriving at Sagres. On the way, we stop and view some very beautiful coastline at Ponta de Piedade.
Sagres does not offer much of historical interest, as it was completely destroyed by the 1755 earthquake and tsunami. It is a short drive to Cape St. Vincent (Cabo de Sao Vincente), which is the furthest southwestern point of land in Europe. The Cape sits atop cliffs of about 190 feet.
Here we encounter the most expensive pay toilet we see in Europe. They want €.50 ($.65). When traveling in Europe, public toilets are usually pay toilets. Usually the equivalent of 10 or 15 cents. We decide to cross our legs. Incidentally, the cleanest toilets in Europe (other than private residences, of course) seem to be in the local McDonald’s – and they are free. Pay toilets tend to be dirty and smelly; making one wonder what is it that you are paying for?
Fortunately, we soon stop at a restaurant/gift shop and enjoy their free facility. We enjoy an ice cream treat before boarding the bus back to Albufeira.
We enjoy the small villages. Each home seems to have a unique chimney (or chimneys) atop the roof. The variety of chimneys is something to see.
Portugal and Spain both experienced a real estate boom in the 1990s and early 2000s. Just like the USA, the crash occurred. We saw what looked like brand new hotels and partially built resorts that now are abandoned to growing weeds.
Sunset turns everything a soft golden color as we near Albufeira,.
There are always some ups and downs on a trip. While we had no really big problems, here is a list of what went wrong:
1. A part broke in the battery holder of our camera, which meant that one had to hold the batteries in with your hand or they would fall out. As our trip progressed, the on/off function began to turn itself on or off by itself. Sometimes several times in a row. No replacement parts are available, so we had to buy a new camera.
2. We borrowed a camera from Anne. Unfortunately, the memory chip was corrupted and we could not use her camera.
3. Anne’s cellphone began having trouble and had to be replaced.
4. Elaine’s hair curling iron burned out (yes, we had an adapter for the 220 volt current).
5. While enjoying my ice cream treat near Cape St Vincent, Portugal one of my molars broke. Had to have the tooth crowned when we got back to USA.
6. The crystal of Elaine’s wristwatch fell out somewhere, which made necessary buying a new watch.
7. When we returned to USA, our car had leaked a great amount of transmission fluid. Had to have a costly seal replaced.
8. I injured my hand. Fortunately, it was not broken and healed after several weeks.
9. For a while we were wondering what next?
A list of what went right would be too long to make.
On our final night in Albufeira, we attended a Portuguese-style bullfight. They have the ornately costumed matadors and picadors. They advertise that the bulls are not killed in this style of bull fighting. This isn’t quite true. The picadors thrust hooks with ribbons attached into the back of a very angry bull. The pain makes the bull more angry. After sticking it several times, the matador comes out and does the red cape routine. Then the strangest aspect of the fight occurs when costumed men come into the arena and the matador exits. One person dons a green and red knit cap (Portugal’s national colors) and proceeds to taunt the bull until it charges. As the bull nears, he jumps onto the head of the bull, between its horns, and holds on for dear life. The other men grab onto the bull’s tail and stop it in its tracks. The capped man then jumps off and quickly gets out of the ring. The others drop the tail and do likewise. After this, another man comes out holding a shepherds crook herding 3 or 4 very calm bulls. They lead the bull out of the ring. Sometimes the capped man incorrectly times himself and has to try again. One poor fellow tried jumping on the bull’s head 3 times – he never did get the job done. After the fight, the bull is killed and given to the poor (so we are told).
A 3.5 hour train trip brought us to Portugal’s (pop. 10.6 million) capital, Lisbon (pop 545,000, with 2.8 million living in the metro area). On the way we see cork trees (no photos). The cork bark is stripped off in sheets of maybe 8 foot long, which gives the trees an unusual look of being painted red up to the 8 foot level. On the outskirts of Lisbon, a large statue of Christ comes into view. It looks pretty much like the pictures of the Christ statue on top of sugarloaf mountain in Rio de Janero.
Greeting us at the train station is our niece Karen and her husband Antonio. Antonio is a colonel in the air force of Portugal. They make us welcome in their home during our stay.
Lisbon is a fascinating city. It has been the home of humans far into the dim past. The Phoenicians established it as a trading post in about 1,200 B.C, but Iberians inhabited the land for a far longer period. The Carthaginians (later day Phoenicians) held Iberia until Rome beat Hannibal. Portugal became the Roman province of Lusitania. After Rome fell, the Vandals, Suebi and Alans controlled the land until the Visigoths replaced them. The Moors followed in 711 and held Lisbon until expelled in 1108 by the, get this, Norwegians on the way to the Crusades. This is not an Ole and Sven joke, really, Norwegians. However, the Moors regained the land in 1111 and held it until expelled by the Portuguese in 1147. Due to its location on the Atlantic Ocean, Lisbon (& Portugal) became the trading hub between Europe, Africa and India. In 1755 an earthquake and tsunami destroyed much of Lisbon.
One of the great names in Portuguese history that we have heard of is Vasco da Gama, who led the first overseas voyage from Europe to India in 1497. A large church in Belem (a parish of Lisbon), the Monasterio dos Jeronimos (named after the Hieronymite religious order) holds the remains of this explorer. I still cannot believe all of the historic tombs, artworks and sites that we visited on our trip.
The monastery is a huge structure with ornate carvings inside and out and is another UNESCO World Heritage Site (which means it is a good place to see).
Many tourist buses are here and the church is crowded, but well-worth the visit. Lisbon welcomes over 1.7 million tourists annually and the most popular places will have crowds.
Nearby is a large park with monuments and fountains. A monument honors Alfonso de Albuquerque, viceroy of India. Vasco Da Gama was the first viceroy in 1524; however, he died after only 3 months in that position.
From this park, you can take a pedestrian tunnel under a very busy 6-lane highway and commuter rail line to banks of the Tagus River. Along the waterfront sits is a monument to great Portuguese explorers, missionaries and spreaders of culture. See how many you can name.
Give up? Then go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padr%C3%A3o_dos_Descobrimentos
A very wide stone pedestrian walkway along the Tagus leads you to the Belem Tower (built 1515-1521), one of several defensive fortifications built in the 16th century along the coastline.
Elaine & I enjoy a Portuguese lunch, alfresco. Then off to the Portuguese Presidential Palace & Museum.
Unfortunately, the President was having a function that day and the palace was closed to visitors. I guess we now have a reason (besides seeing the wonderful Brancos) to come back to Lisbon.
Antonio and Karen recommended that we see the Royal Coaches museum, our next stop. A very large building houses many royal coaches from the 1500s to the 1800s. Each is a work of art that illustrates the opulent lifestyle of the nobility. Several remind me of the Cinderella coach in the fairy tale. It amazes me that these coaches have survived for nearly 500 years, in some cases. Thanks to those with the foresight to do so.
Another day was spent walking in downtown Lisbon. The city was totally destroyed in 1755. One church has been left as a monument to the destruction, the Igreja da Carmo church, rest of the city has been since rebuilt.
An old elevator takes us to the upper part of the city.
From the viewing platform, one gets a great panoramic view of the city. From our birds-eye perch, we see the Lisbon castle,
the railroad station
and King Pedro IV square.
The city has a subway system and an electric tram system. The trams are old and remind us of those in Olomouc in the Czech Republic.
After enjoying another café lunch, we seek out the Institute of Port. This facility has over 400 different kinds of Port wine (yes, I know that it really isn’t a wine, since it is fortified with extra alcohol). True Port can only come from the Oporto region of Portugal. Anything else is not port, but only an imitation. So that lets out you Gallo port drinkers and even my own favorite Grand View Estates in Henderson, NZ special port (see May 2007 slutigram). After sampling a few ports, we make our selection and stagger out. From the outside, you would never know what this place is, but is well worth the effort to locate.
Incidentally, in Lisbon when you order a meal, they bring out a plate with bread, cheeses and olives even though you did not order it. This is not like a Mexican restaurant where you get free nachos and salsa. If you touch one bite of the contents of the plate, you pay for the whole thing and it often is about the same cost as your meal.
The city is full of parks, memorials, fountains and museums. I will be back to this beautiful city someday.
Architecture is always of interest to me & Lisbon provides no end to architectural styles from classic to baroque.
Another neat feature of Portugal, and especially Lisbon were the street signs. They frequently are tiles of various degrees of artistic merit.
After unsuccessfully trying to find the entrance to the botanic gardens (we found 3 locked gates), we return to enjoy another evening with the Brancos. A beautiful supper with wonderful Portuguese wine awaits us.
On the weekend the Brancos take us inland to the town of Sintra, where we spend the day. The summers are hot in Lisbon and the royalty would retreat to Sintra, which is at a higher elevation, to escape the heat. An old castle from the Moorish era sits atop one hill and may be toured. Antonio says another castle is much more interesting.
From what I learn, there are two royal palaces in Sintra. The older has a mixture of architectural styles and is known for the unusually large chimneys.
We choose the 18th century Pena royal palace, home of the last 5 Kings of Portugal. We drive up and up, then walk up and up and then take a tram to the castle. The tour takes us through the whole complex. No interior photos allowed.
On the drive back, we stop at Cabo de Roca, the westernmost land of continental Europe.
Our stay in Lisbon ends with a seaside evening meal while we view the sun setting over the Atlantic Ocean. Thank you Antonio, Karen, Andre and Samuel for the wonderful time in Portugal.
Our flight takes us back to London for one more night with Bruce (thanks again) and then homeward bound. The flight back treats us to a truly awesome view (I know the word is overused, but this was awesome in the true meaning that it brought “awe” to me). We fly over Iceland and southern Greenland. Greenland is covered in snow and ice, and the play of the sun on this is simply beautiful. A fitting end to our time in Europe. As my camera was packed, I point you to a website that gives an idea of this beauty.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-701&sz=all&va=greenland+aerial
I hope you have enjoyed these stories from Europe.
Don & Elaine
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