Our Excellent Portugal Adventure – Part 3

Down to the Coast

Approaching the halfway point of our Portugal trip, it was time to leave Evora and head south to our next destination.  We spent four nights in Evora and felt it was the right amount of time for a town of its size, one additional day would have been too much and we were ready to move on. We left Evora around 10 AM and we calculated that the drive to the south coast would have us arrive far too early so we decided to take a scenic route along the west coast of Portugal to give us a later arrival.

Fish for Two

After about two and a half hours on the road, we found ourselves approaching the coastal town of Sines where we stopped for lunch. Near the parking lot, we had our first view of the Atlantic Ocean along with the historic cannons of the castle all facing the beach, no doubt protecting the town from enemies in centuries past.

We wandered around Sines and found ourselves in a small busy restaurant that appeared to be packed with locals. It’s exactly the type of place we normally look for but very quickly we determined that speaking anything but Portuguese was going to be a problem. I had Google translate ready and just in time as we wanted to order one catch of the day to be shared between us, not two orders. We suspected, based on experience with other meals here, that this was going to not be a small dish and easily feed the two of us. Our instincts held true as what got laid on our table was the largest whole fish we’ve ever seen, easily as long as my forearm and it came with a large separate dish of vegetables. We had to separate the fish ourselves but the end result was easily one of the best fish lunches we’ve ever had.

Having an excellent lunch, we got back on the highway and a few hours arrived at our final destination in the Algarve region the town of Lagos.

Condo Life

Unlike the hotel which we stayed at in Evora, we’ve rented a condo here in Lagos. Being a seaside town, there appear to be a lot of condos in the area and like ours is close to the shore. While the view from our balcony faces the water, none of the buildings here are actually on the water. The photo above is a view of the beach from the top of the overlooking hill, about a 5-minute walk from where we’re staying. As you can see, the unique aspect of this beach is the rocks that protrude out and add a lot of character to the location.

The leisurely pace is one of the best aspects of staying at a condo instead of the hotel we left a few days ago. For example, it’s now about 10 AM and we’ve just finished breakfast. At the hotel, we had a fixed schedule for breakfast and it was a bit more regimented than we’d like being on vacation. As soon as we get up, we open up all of the doors as there’s a nice breeze coming in from the ocean.

The weather here in Lagos is slightly cooler than in Evora, now in the mid-20s but still nice and warm and I’m still only wearing shorts as none of my long shirts and pants have made it out of the suitcase yet.

We’re staying here in Lagos for 5 days, the longest stay at any of our locations of our two weeks in Portugal.

Getting Around

Since arriving in Lagos a few days ago, our car has remained parked near our condo and we’ve been walking everywhere. We’re on the outskirts of the town of Lagos and today we walked into town for the first time to explore and have lunch. It was about a 45-minute walk using a walking trail that goes along the water (the above photo was taken from that trail) but we found out that there was a more direct route and we took it walking back which cut the walking time in half. Since getting to Portugal, we’ve definitely been getting in a lot of walking, especially here in Lagos getting up and down the many hills in the area. It’s just the perfect answer to all of the restaurant food we’ve been eating.

We have a few more days here in Lagos then we depart for the final stage of our Portugal Adventure. Stay tuned for the final installment of our Excellent Portugal Adventure

I’ve continued to upload my Portugal photos to my photo website which can be viewed here.

Baden.