Some highlights from my emails to my friends last week:
Oct 16th:
Our reservation for the cheapest compact car panned out to be a manual deisel-fed BMW. So, we are zooming along everywhere we go. It is a ton of fun. Although I had not slept much on the plane, I was in good spirits at 9a.m., and we headed straight for Sintra, just northwest of Lisbon.
It is a vibrant town. After finding a small cafe where I discovered the secret, special pastries that were hidden behind the counter (not sure if this discovery had anything to do with my batting my eyelashes at the garcon), we headed to the Moorish Castle. Well, at least, that is where we thought we were headed. We were soon plucked off the side of the road by Antonio the bus driver (who was driving an empty tour bus). That was quite fortunate because it turned out that the castle is miles up a steep winding road with nosidewalks, where the buses and cars cross paths with little more thanan inch between them.
We enjoyed walking around the castle and Pena Palace before heading back into town. Shortly thereafter, though, we realized that we had no idea where we had left the car (the streets all looked the same!). We found it, eventually, and had a bite to eat before heading down to the Algarve. That is where you find me now. After a wonderful breakfast overlooking the ocean in Salema, I am ready to walk to Sagres -- at the end of the world, as it is known.
Oct 17th:
I write to you now from a place far more wonderful than even the end of the world -- the island off the coast of Tavira.
After visiting Sagres on the far southwestern tip of Portugal, Amy and I travelled along the coast of the Algarve to a number of small towns and beaches. We spent Monday night in Lagos (unfortunately remembered as the firstport where the African slave trade was initiated). After a 3-course meal that included a shared bottle of red wine for <9 Euro.
On our way east, we stopped off at Praia de Rocha (just south of Portimao) and sat out in front of the rocky coast on the white sandy portion of the beach, sipping sangria. It turned out to be a beautiful beach day, but we decided to continue on after relaxing a bit, walking the boardwalk, and dipping our toes in the ocean. I have to point out here that coming to the Algarve after the tourist season ends (in mid-September) is a really good move. The weather is great,and the areas that must normally be packed -- at least based on the number of tables out in front of all of the restaurants -- are only mildly populated. We took our mini-beemer along to Albufeira and had a short adventurethere before winding up back on the highway to Tavira. We have now settled here for a couple of days. This morning was so lovely that we decided to hit the island nearby. It has the longest stretch of undeveloped white sandy beaches that I have ever seen. The sky is the same color as the ocean and stretches high and wide in every direction. I went for a long run to see if I could find the end (I did not) and came across very few folks. The ones that I did see were quite naked. I cannot say that I turned a blind eye, but rather let a smile creep onto my face as I tried to keep pace.
Oct 19th:
Lisbon is a lot like SF -- hilly and fabulous. We earned our keep hiking the narrow switchbacks and enjoyed wonderful local food at Velho Macedo on Rua de Madelina (sp?) for dinner lastnight. We followed that with excellent jazz on Rua de Rosa atCaracass (sp?), and a stop at the hottest night club, Lux. In between, we discovered that Rua de Italia is THE spot to enjoy a fewbeers on the street. There were people and music shutting out thetraffic, but it appeared to be a regular and natural occurrance (rather than a street festival).
