Well day 21 of drinking every day at lunch and dinner and maybe a happy hour beverage as well. It’s a weird thing but we are on vacation! And never drunk. Okay, one time I couldn’t count money and one time Kirk thought he was in a Formula one race in Douro but that’s it.
We decided today would be a moving day. We knew we’d be doing a lot of exploring down here so it was expected. But slow to get going. Been waking up around 8 or 8:30 almost every day since we arrived but breakfast was always at the hotel or bnb but here we have an apartment and needed to fend for ourselves! It was hard to find a place just for coffee. Kirk walked around for about 30 minutes and nothing was open. They either open late or are closed Monday. There is no 5am Starbucks or Dunkin’ etc. Mornings are quiet and things just start later, even schools. It’s really wonderful and the total opposite of home. You can feel the slower, calm and lovely pace of life here. No rushing food, days, driving.
Ended up having a lovely breakfast at a small bakery up the street from us. Croissant sandwiches, cappuccino and pastel da nata. Grabbed a 1.5 liter of water for 80cents Euro. Wow. Then we headed out to Seven Hanging Valleys Trail about 30 minutes away in Lagoa. It’s an out and back thing or you can uber back to your car. We found a parking lot but so did everyone else and their friends. It’s so freaking busy there. Our German friend was right “A lot of Germans in Algarve.” Again. The Benigal caves are here as well and super popular with kayaks, boats etc. Tourapaloozas. We wound our way around and around and saw a lot of posts along the road so people couldn’t park which is unlike so much of Portugal that we’ve seen b/c parking has been easier than we thought in most cases. And it’s free almost everywhere in the small towns at least. We didn’t have a car in Lisbon and Porto. We found a pay lot and Kirk said “how much” and the guy said “First, sir, bom dia”. It was cute and mostly indicative of what we have encountered. So $5 Euro which we can redeem at the bar and restaurant close by.
So we were off and it was really quite the view on top of the cliffs overlooking the turquoise water. Lots of boats and a pirate ship. They seemed to be having fun with pretend cannons shooting at other boats and cheering. I waved of course b/c I’m a dork. It was quite deserty in some spots and steep drops down the cliffs. Blow holes, small beaches that can’t be reached by walking. We found quite a few shells embedded in the cliffs, which is amazing. It was warm but the breeze made a huge difference. Passed a still-working lighthouse. Really just a stunning view all around. At the end we found a bar and had some drinks, fried cuttlefish, grilled shrimp and a burrata salad. And then we turned around and went back again! Quite a hike, not in elevation but rugged terrain and some steep steps. I was pretty tired at the end and my feet were getting sore. I think I’m just not resting enough trying to do everything.
Made it home and had to go drive around the block which is actually about 8 minutes b/c we missed our parking spot and everything is one way and alleys. Annoying. So jumped in the teeny pool to cool off. Kirk went all in and I just soaked my knees and had some wine. Went to a pub called Lyric for dinner. It was super casual and our waiter was from Argentina. Sweet kid who we could barely understand but he was very animated and loved talking to us from California. We ordered chicken wings, seafood chowder (not as good as Scotland or Ireland). The wings were small but delicious. I’m sure not pumped up with hormones. And then I had a burger b/c the couple beside us got the last stew! Damn. But the burger was sooooo good! And I had the house red and it was also damn good. The walls were covered with pictures of famous singers and poets. So cool. We walked home and I dropped into bed at 9:30 and got up at 8.
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