Some observations on Portugal so far:
The people seem very friendly and speak a lot of English.
The wine is good and cheap.
Our accommodations are perfectly located and well appointed.
The roads are good and not crazy busy and free.
The food is cheap and the seafood is a good bet.
The beaches are unbelievably beautiful.
So, today we headed inland up into the highlands above Portimao to a place called Monchique. The downtown could be quite nice but presently there is a tonne of construction going on so it is not all that inviting. We found the most interesting thing was to drive right to the top of the mountain, where there are telecommunications towers in abundance, planted on barren rocky land. The views of the Algarve coast were outstanding from here. The temperature was only 11˚ and with the wind you didn’t hang around for a long time, but it was worth the drive. By the way, note the lemons on the tree in the pic above. Lots of laden orange and lemon trees everywhere.
Leaving Monchique, we headed across the rolling hills to the wild west coast of the Algarve. On the way we found a very nice picnic area and had lunch. While there we were visited by a very friendly old man, who tried to talk with us to no avail since this language is like nothing we’ve experienced before and we didn’t understand him nor he us. Alas, the folly of being language stunted! The view above is Portimao and the Atlantic from Monchique.
At the coast, we went to two small beach towns as the skies were threatening and the seas were smashing into the shore. The temperature hit 20˚ here for the first time in our stay in Portugal and with the March sun, it encouraged many to actually venture out into the ocean and the great waves. We were not equally tempted, however, and watching them was sufficient. In the second beach town, we discovered an amazing bay dotted with wet-suited surfers, none of whom were very successful. On the way back to Jardim do Vau, we ran into rain, which kept up for the remainder of the afternoon. That was fine, since we were forced to slow down. Dawn & Bill prepared dinner tonight for the crew – cooked chicken with piri piri sauce from the Continente grocery store , boiled potatoes, brocolli and crème brulee for dessert. I wonder how you say “Life is Good” in Portuguese?
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