Geoff and Rita's Trip to Portugal

The sun was back again and we wanted to stretch our legs since we spent most of yesterday indoors.  So we headed for Meia Praia Beach, the largest and longest beach in Lagos.  The beach is about a 20 minute walk from our place as we head to the waterfront, over a foot bridge and past the protected Lagos Marina. Along the 4km continuous stretch of this golden sand beach there are no beachfront resorts or condos as it is protected by grassy sand dunes and above ground boardwalks.  After our long walk we headed back into one of the public squares in Lagos for a leisurely cappuccino before strolling back to our place for a late lunch and catching some rays on our roof top deck.  What a difference 24 hours makes,                                         The pristine Maia Praia Beach as it stretches 4km in front of us, While sipping a cappuccino at one of ...

  Woke up to rain today and so we nested in our home and caught up on laundry, emails, reading and Netflix.  The rain subsided around 6pm just in time for us to head out for our dinner reservation at Café do Mar, a seafood restaurant we spotted on our cliff walk.  You can order off the menu or check-out their catch of the day ice cooler which has a selection of fish brought in that day and sold by the kilo.  We selected a 800 gram sole which was taken by our waiter to the chef to prepare.  In the meantime we ordered a bottle of local white wine and a couple of appetizers.  It was a very delicious evening and we enjoyed our walk back to our home as the stars were out which gave us hope for sunshine the next day.                                Having a cozy day in our home waiting for the rain to subside. Our waiter preparing the sole we chose fo...

Had a good nights sleep and woke up to sunshine and blue skies.  Headed out to the local supermarket for supplies of food and wine that would last us for a few days.  Returned home to have breakfast before heading out to explore some of the local beaches and viewpoints that are famed for their dramatic scenery.   The soft sandstone cliffs were carved out and artfully shaped by centuries of pounding surf, creating steep and stunning formations just offshore.  After walking the cliffs and several beaches we headed home to change as we had made a reservation at Pepperino Pizzeria known for its wood-fired pizza.  It was quite casual but did not disappoint in the taste department.                                                                       Breakf...

It was a long but uneventful trip from Vancouver to Frankfurt on Lufthansa's budget carrier, Euro Wings, to meet up with Rita who was in Germany to spend time with her mom in Kassel.  We overnighted at an airport hotel before an early departure to Lisbon where we picked up our rental car and made the 3hour drive to Lagos.  We booked a place in the old part of Lagos which is filled with very narrow, one way roads and homes piled on top on one another.  Our GPS told us we had reached our destination but we were in the middle of an intersection.  Managed to find a parking spot and called the landlady who helped us walk the 100 meters or so to the house.  After getting the familiarizing tour we retrieved our luggage, unpacked, showered, changed and headed into town for an early dinner at Don Sebastiao seafood restaurant. Our adventure begins. Rita in front of our home in old town Lagos.  The historic three level home has been completely updated and modernized....

Its been 2 years, 11months and 25 days since Rita and I made a hasty and early departure from our Portugal vacation due to the Corona Virus Pandemic.  We had tried to go back to finish our tour of Portugal in 2021 and 2022 but sadly were thwarted due to the continuing outbreak in 2021 and then Rita's Dad's illness and passing in 2022. However, we are finally back, ready to explore the rest of this amazing country.  We will spend our first two weeks back in Lagos as the Algarve has the best weather this time of year.  Our next stop will be 3 days in the resort town of Cascais, then onto the surfing capital of Nazare for 7 days, 3 days in the university town of Coimbra, 5 days in the port wine capital of Porto before heading to the capitol, Lisbon for 7 days.  Can't wait to finally get our Portugal adventure started again.