Lagos, Portugal

It was very nice having a car so we could drive to our desintations and see the country. The fields of grapes, olives, and cherries were all so beautifully groomed. In one field we found the olive trees to be long bushes about six feet tall and four feet wide as they groomed them to grow in a row like grapes. It made sense as I'm sure it was easier to harvest.

We drove from Evora to Lagos, located on the southwest coast of Portugal. It was a fun trip, but boy do these people drive fast. On the freeways, the speed limit is 120 km, which is about 75 mph. Cars pass us like we are standing still and you don't get in their way or they will pass you with literally inches to spare. The first time this happened, it scared me and we got the message. At first, I thought it was a fluke, but we saw it happen to other drivers too. It was a little unnerving to say the least, but we got the message… stay out of the left lane. Overall, we enjoyed the country drive and arrived safely at our “surprise” destination.

This country is full of round abouts… there are hundreds, maybe thousands. In fact there are no stop lights except to slow traffic down. It's the oddest thing to come to a stop light that has no intersection. They just want to slow down the speed. Hmmm, I'm surprised there weren't stop lights on the freeway.

There are also acres and acres of solar panels. Keith read an article that Portugal actually switched everything to solar and they were able to go three days before having to bring other power sources back on line. That's pretty cool. I wonder if Arizona could do that.

Welcome to the BoaVista Golf and Spa Resort. This was such a fun surprise and we very much needed to have a space where we could stretch out for a few days. It has two stories with living spaces in both, so we could do separate things without bumping into each other.

Day 1 - This is the view out of our back door and it was so quiet and peaceful. We chose to lay low this first day as we needed some rest. This gave us a chance to do laundry, take a nap, and explore our surroundings. We were glad we did, we needed it.

We finished day one in town and met our new friends, Lindsey and Scott, for dinner. They are just a precious couple and we found we had many things in common. The evening was truly a treasure and we agreed to keep in touch as we headed our separate ways at evenings end. Keith always teases me that I can't help but talk to strangers - sometimes there are jewels found in those conversations. This is one!

Day 2 - A must see in Lagos is the Algar de Benagil Caves, also referred to as the 7 caves. They are only accessible by boat, but you can hike out on top of them. This was a very fun afternoon as we crawled around on the rocks, and up and down over the cliffs. it's hard to tell in the pictures, but the top of the cliff is 500-600 feet above the water. Here are several pictures that just start to describe the beauty.

It was amazing how many shells were embedded in the rock. Remember, we're 500+ feet above the sea and there was tons of these shells. There was a time when God covered the earth with water and here is another example.

I wasn't afraid of the edge, but took this fun picture to show how deep it was. What a great afternoon we had, warm and sunny too. It rained in the morning and then sunshine all afternoon. It was great!

Day 3 - Another cloudy one with sprinklage throughout. We took off early in the morning and played 18 holes of golf with a couple from Sweden. It was great fun with some good shots, some not so good… that's golf! It is very hilly terrain in this city, no matter where you go. At several places along the course, there are bells that you ring to let the group behind you know you are far enough ahead so they can tee off and not hit you. It was very fun and we only lost four balls.

We finished the day at a very good Thai Restaurant recommended by the locals . When we got home, we found a bottle of sparkling wine left from the staff for my birthday. They were all so very nice.

We closed the day out with our nightly routine of a game of cribbage and I lost. You would have thought he would let me win, it was my birthday after all.

Day 4 - It turned out to be beautiful, white fluffy clouds, a cool breeze and sunshine. Two fun things occured. First, we dropped off the first box to be shipped home. It was surprising how just a few things can weigh so much. I used clothing I overpacked, to pack the keepsakes and off it went.

Then it was a boat ride out to the caves that we visited several days earlier. Wow, that was a treat.

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These are the types of boats we see out in the sound looking for whales. There was a bit of chop on the water so coming back at full speed made it a bit exciting.

When we hiked this area, we didn’t get to see the full view so seeing them from below was spectacular. These are all made from water and erosion. I have too many to share but these were some of our favorites.

The seas were just rough enough that we were surprised the boat captain went inside, but once we got in, it smoothed out because there was no wind.

The last stop for the day was at the pastry shop to pick up goodies for our last morning in Portugal. These cream filled treats and croissants are the bomb and, early on, we wisely rationed ourselves to just one (or maybe two) a week. So this is our going away gift to ourselves as we head to Morocco.