Inside Lagos

We haven't really seen Lagos so we decided to stay in town instead of our planned trip to Faro and Tavira. The visit there would have taken us a whole day. Lagos is really nice, located on the water, very clean city with many beautiful small streets and artistically designed. We have read that the streets would be unbearably crowded in summer, and I could already imagine because even at this time in April, there's already a lot going on. The street cafés were already crowded.

We began our tour at the small fortress, "Fortaleza da Ponta da Bandeira" which is on the waterfront and on the road from the hotel to downtown. It was built in the 17th century to protect the port. It has been restored and now houses small museum of Portuguese discoveries. There was not much to see though but on the rooftop, there are numerous modern artworks of pretty figures of different types of wind-machine kind of things.

Directly opposite is the impressive city walls "Muralhas" and the beginning of the old town with its narrow streets. We passed by at a church and fled from the beggars who are acting strangely more dramatic than the beggars in Berlin. (One was missing a leg and the others were moaning or kind of wailing like they were in some kind of pain). They sat strategically at the entrance of the church.

Further on, we passed by at the fish market. It was very clean for a wet market. The ground floor was reserved for fish, other sea foods as well as vegetables. On the upper deck is a kind of open area where you can view the hustle bustle of the town and the marina and on back side is an art or science museum. We just looked around and took some photos of the place.

 

When we went down, I saw a shop and immediately went in when I saw the kind of harem pants I was looking for. I got the shorter version though. Tezenis is just like H&M, and I love it.

It was windy when we got to the other side of the avenue. The marina is another going out area with a lot of restaurants and cafés. We were hungry and my friend Krizz, a foodie, esp. told me to try Piripiri so I ordered chicken Piri Piri. I was actually expecting a real hot spicy Piri Piri, but all we got was just a fried chicken. Well, what important was that my friend was happy with his food. He said it was delicious.

The area looks like the party mile during summer. I could only imagine how full it's going to be. On our way back, there was this lady who was smiling at me and I realized it was the same Canadian woman we've met the previous evening on the beach at Praia Dona Ana. It was funny to meet her again. We said our hellos and she took our pictures while I gave her my website address. 

We went back to our hotel to rest a bit then decided afterwards to go to the other direction going to Ponta da Piedade, another promontory and a lighthouse. From our hotel, we went off to the right which was the opposite direction to the city center. The road goes directly to the lighthouse but there are many viewing points along the way. We made a stop and went down to Praia do Camilo; there was a small restaurant at the beginning of the stairs going down to the beach. It was quite busy even though the season hasn't really begun. There were already a few sun worshippers around at the beach even though it feels a bit chilly still. There was another beach but going there would get us wet so we decided against going there. Off we went to our little hiking on the beautiful landscape and cliffs with the view of the Atlantic Ocean.

In the evening, we went again to "our" beach, Dona Ana. I forgot to bring my tripod, so I had to go back again alone.

Sunny Sagres

We got up early and went walking to the bus station in Lagos because we didn't know how long it will take us to the central bus station at the city centre on foot. We left at 9:15 a.m. with the Eva Bus to Sagres which is an hour away. The bus ticket costs at a very reasonable price of 3.80€.

We got off at the central square in Sagres, where the tourist information is also located. First, we decided to take our breakfast and found a cafe on the way to the beach. Our day began with a cake. From there we walked directly down to the vast and fantastic beach, "Praia da Mareta". It was surrounded by rocks and really impressive. Had we known that the preceding days will be rainy and colder, we would have taken advantage of a refreshing plunge on the Atlantic sea.

After a hundred photos or so, we decided to go to the farther end fortress, the "Fortaleza de Sagres". It lies on the southwest of the town on a one kilometre long and 300 meters wide headland with steep cliffs of Ponta de Sagres. It is a national monument with paramount significance not only to Portugal but for the world in general. The fortress was originally built in the 16th century and rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries. It's a vast complex with ruins, a lighthouse, magnificent scenery and view on a high promontory with the Atlantic sea around it. The entrance fee is 3€ per person.

Within this fortress lies the famous stone circle which was unearthed only in 1928 whose age and purpose are unclear. The ring is divided into 42 fields and with a diameter of 43 meters is interpreted as a wind rose (Rosa dos Ventos), but could also have been a sundial. What is agreed, however, is that it comes from the time of Henry the Navigator. There is also an old church which was converted into a mini-cinema where they show a short film about Portugal etc. We circled the whole area with awe and amazement.

To the west just behind the "Praia de Beliche" is a small fort, the "Fortaleza de Beliche" which in 1587 was destroyed by the soldiers of Francis Drake, except for the little chapel of Santa Catarina. After it was rebuilt in 1632 and 1755, it was destroyed again by a great earthquake and ensuing tsunami. It lies over 200 years in ruins. According to current estimate, the quake had a magnitude of about 9.0 on the Richter scale, and its epicentre was only 200 km southwest of Cabo de São Vicente in the Atlantic. It was one of the most destructive natural disasters in European history. The Fortaleza de Beliche was restored in 1960 during the 500th death anniversary of Henry the Navigator.

It was sunny and warm, so we decided to take the later bus going back to Lagos, to explore the town a bit more. Our next destination was the port, Porto da Baleeira from where we went straight to the next fortress ruins, the "Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora da Guia" better known as "Forte da Baleeira". There was hardly anything left there, just some remnants of a wall and an arch, but the view of the harbour and the sea from this another high promontory is fantastic. One can proceed from Sagres to Cabo de São Vicente but the bus doesn't ply the route every day, and there was no taxi in sight. It was decided that 6 kilometres on foot was too far and we were not certain if there will be enough time to catch the last bus going back to Lagos. We then took the last bus at 17.10 o'clock. The buses during our whole trip are punctual, reliable, well-maintained and quite comfortable. This also goes for the toilets that are very clean, something that you would never have expected even in other European countries.

Since we planned to travel by bus in Portugal, we came prepared and printed out all possible timetables and schedules. The only problem with the buses in Portugal perhaps was that there were no timetables posted in many bus stops saved by the ones at the central stations. So it's advisable to come prepared really. Check out beforehand the schedule esp. for Algarve at Eva Bus website.

Back in Lagos, we still have to go grocery shopping and already feeling miserable. Coming from the bus station, there was no supermarket in sight, and it was already getting late. I already had a blister on my foot from too much walking even though I had good walking shoes. Then we passed by at a big supermarket, bought food and drinks (water and sodas). There was no bus or taxi around to take us back to our hotel. We, of course, misjudged the distance and my companion insisted on walking back home with the heavy load at hand, and my sore feet made it even harder to walk. I literally had to drag myself towards our apartment. We later found out that there is a small grocery store next-door which you can buy all the bare essentials. Argh!

After putting away our grocery, we decided to go down to the beach, Praia Dona Ana. It was just 5 minutes on foot from our place, and you have to go down the stairs to get to the actual beach. There were a couple of people still. My friend wanted to swim, but after getting a shock from the ice-cold water, he abandoned the idea. I goaded him a bit, but he did not dare. While I was taking pictures from the stairs, there was a Canadian woman who was also taking pictures, and we struck a small conversation on how beautiful it really is on the beach and the area.

In the evening it was clear that the guidebook was truly right - we should not underestimate the Algarvean sun. My friend had a terrible sunburn in every possible place, and I had on my face esp. my nose. Luckily I wore a long-sleeved shirt when we were out and about.