Day 5 – Tuesday 5/21
We have an 11:25 am flight to Lisbon today so we are up early at about 7:15 am. Get dressed, close suitcases, and head to breakfast at 8 am. Also settle our bill at the front desk (drinks at the bar). We ran into an American guy at the front desk who has just been assaulted and had his wallet stolen on the sidewalk outside of the hotel. We later saw him talking with police in the lobby.
After breakfast, we go back up to the room and get our luggage. One quick sweep to be sure we got everything and we come down and get a taxi outside of the hotel in just a minute or two. We are on TAP airline which is in Terminal one. Trip to the airport is about 20 minutes and 30 Euros.
We had to ask a few times to locate the TAP business class check-in and it is, of course, at the farthest end of the terminal. We check our two bags, show our passports, and get the name of the business class lounge. We go through priority security so it is not a long wait but as Margi and I both have knee replacements, we set off the alarm and get patted down and hand wanded. At least we were saved the hassle of removing our shoes.
Next challenge is finding the business class lounge which we are told is just behind the coffee shop. Still we wander around for 5-7 minutes as it is UPSTAIRS behind the coffee shop. Enter and find some quiet seats. As we just had breakfast, we just get some sodas and kill time. I keep checking the gate display to see when they finally post what our gate will be.
Once the gate is posted and we are completely bored with the lounge, we go to the gate and find the business class check-in. We are in seats 1 A & C so everything has to go into the overhead. Flight to Lisbon is one hour and 40 minutes and is uneventful. In Lisbon, we are first off but as is common in Europe, we are not at the terminal but on the tarmac and we board a bus. We are first on and get seats. Customs in Lisbon is odd because we get into the terminal and the duty free shopping area and then to baggage claim without going through passport control (where passport are typically stamped).
Next, we have to find the rental car desks, specifically Hertz. At the Hertz counter, Margi puts in our name in a kiosk so that we are in the queue. She notices that we are “Gold” members so I re-enter our name and note the Gold status. We get called in about 5 minutes, ahead of some others who are waiting.
It took a few minutes to get a car. We are offered a choice but for us, as we are not familiar with either model, is a choice of white car or blue car. We choose blue!! After the paperwork is all done, we are given directions to the car but I have to go back in to the desk a second time to get BETTER directions. We find the level in the parking garage with all the rental companies and see Hertz (at the farthest end). We find the correct space and I load the luggage into the back. I start the car and pull out from the spot and encounter three problems. I cannot find reverse (manual transmission); I can’t release the parking brake; and the GPS is in Arabic. Margi finds a Hertz guy who helps us (there is a lockout lever on the gear shift; you need to depress the brake pedal to release the parking brake; and he is able to get the GPS to English!!)
Into the car GPS, we put Salema, the town in the Algarve where our hotel is located. As is typical in most large airports, the roads are a little confusing but we make it out and onto the super highway. Our trip will take about 3 hours. With about 45 minutes left in our trip, we are directed onto the N125 which is a local two lane road with frequent roundabouts (every mile or two).
We have Margi’s phone running Google maps for the actual hotel (Casa Praiamor) as well as the car GPS with just the name of the town (Salema). The car GPS takes us into the town, down some narrow streets (and one work area we had to reverse out of). Once in the center of Salema, we refer to Margi’s phone which takes us up and out of the town, where I recognize the hotel a little way ahead. It is on the other side of the street, so we go past and out on a country road looking for a safe place to make a U-turn.
A little note about the hotel. It is, like most other places in Salema, more an AirBnB. We have gotten an email from the owner/manager, Tania, that she will NOT be available when we arrive so she will leave the keys in a box on the front door. We check the box and no keys!! Luckily, a couple from Houston is parking in the spaces next to the AirBnB and they help us out. We figure out how to call Tania (hold down the zero key to get a plus sign needed for the local number) and because we are there at about 4:40 pm, she is available and is actually walking up to the location as we speak. So, she lets us in, gives us our keys, and tells us where to look for restaurants and market. We have agreed to pay cash for a slight discount, but we will settle this on Thursday, as Tania is off on Wednesday.
We are in unit #5 on the top floor facing the ocean. The far wall is a full glass sliding door/window out to a balcony overlooking the pool (unheated). We have a double bed, TV, desk, and a small kitchen with small stove and fridge as well as appliances and utensils (only used the cork screw – LOL). Bathroom is large but spartan with a bathtub and bidet. We get unpacked and then head to the market which is just down the street as it closes at 6 pm and we want to get some wine and snacks. The main part of Salema is about 100 yards down from our place. It is a flat area with access to the beach and parking for maybe 20 or 30 cars. There are more AirBnB places, several restaurants, and the market here, otherwise, everything else is uphill from there.
Our “food” shopping complete, we head back to the room and relax for a bit. We then head out to the Atlantco Restaurant for dinner. As Salema does not seem packed at this time of the year, we get a table without a reservation. We are offered seating on the outside deck but as it is getting cool with sunset and there is a little wind, we opt for inside seating. We have some drinks and Margi gets fish and I get grilled squid. Food is good. We walk back to the room, a few hundred yards up the main street. Back in the room, we attack the TV, looking for something in English.
Steps – 7,189
Day 6 – wednesday 5/22
We are up around 7:30 am, dress, and head down looking for a breakfast place that Steves has in his guide book. We find the place with a couple of people (owners/employees) sitting outside smoking. They inform us that the place doesn’t open until 8:30, so we walk the beach for a short time. Back at 8:30 and the lady outside has to double check her watch before she opens the door for us. Margi tries to order a bacon and egg sandwich but we find that will require we wait for the cook to arrive. We settle for two buttered hard rolls, cappuccino and cafe au lait. We sit outside in the sun next to 3 British couples and enjoy our simple breakfast.
We decide to drive East to Sagres today. The GPS takes us out the road our AirBnB is on and so we avoid the twisty route through the heart of Salema. Out to a roundabout for the N125 and east for about 30 minutes to reach Sagres. We see the fortress off to the right as we drive in but decide to forego as it doesn’t seem to inviting. So, we find our way to the main drag in Sagres. As it is around 10 am, not much is open so we drive the length down to port area. After a couple of passes in the car, we find a place to park that gives us access to the beach. It is a steep descent to the beach, and the weather is not too warm with a good breeze blowing. Down on the beach, there are few people but we walk for quite a ways as Margi hunts for shells. We walk back up the steep slope, using walkways and paved paths and we find a small coffee place open. We get a coffee and coke and people watch. Below are pics from Sagres
We have exhausted our exploration of Sagres so we head back to Salema. On the way out of town, we stop at a gas station and fill up. There does not seem to be a credit card option on the pumps themselves and there is the confusion of gasolina and gasoleo (gas vs diesel) so I go inside and the very nice attendant comes out and gets the correct pump going for us. I return inside and pay about $50 (in Euros) cash.
Back in Salema, we get our backpacks loaded with some beach towels and head out to explore and then relax on the beach for the afternoon. We walk up to a restaurant which is 1/2 a block up from the main town center and we make reservations for 8 pm tonight. We heard from the Houston couple that this place is one of the best in town. We opt for indoor seating rather than in the outside (no view) patio. Back to the beach and per Rick Steves, we find that there are beach chairs and umbrella’s available for 15 Euros in front of the Atlantico Restaurant. We pay and stake out two chairs in the first row. We “veg out” as I get a sunburn on my legs (we don’t need no stinking sun tan lotion) and Margi walks the beach looking for shells. Mid-afternoon, we tell the attendants we are leaving to get lunch and we head across the parking area to a sushi restaurant for a non-sushi lunch and some wine. Back to the beach to continue relaxing until late afternoon.
A little note on the weather. While we had no rain, bright blue skies, it was not really warm. Highs during the day were in the high 60’s but except for early in the morning, there was always a steady breeze. That made it cool in the shade on the beach. And the water temperature, according to the lifeguards and attendants, was only about 16 degrees centigrade (62 degrees F), so while some hearty souls went into the water, we abstained.
In the evening, we make our way to the restaurant and have a nice, but a little cool dinner as they have the front windows open in the inside part of the restaurant. They bring a large platter of fresh fish to select from but I think we opted for something more mundane. Food was good but not exceptional. We are overcooked from the sun so back to our lodging and crash.
Steps – 9,616
Day 7 – thursday 5/23
We rise early and look for an alternate place to have breakfast as our reception in the first place was disappointing yesterday. I have mis-read my watch, so we are too early for the alternate place so we take off for Lagos, which is west of Salema. Again, out the back road by our lodging to the N125 and another 30 minute drive west with roundabouts ever few miles.
Lagos is a much larger town than either Salema or Sagres. Rick Steves characterizes it as a party town vs the laid back, sleepy Salema. As we have no accurate street map, we just drive into the main part of Lagos and try to navigate the narrow streets. After going down impossibly narrow lanes, we opt to find some parking on more car friendly streets above the town. We try one parking lot (nothing open) and then find a spot on the street but on a rather steep incline. I surprise us both by successfully parking our manual transmission rental car between two cars. We take pictures of some places around so that we can find our way back (Carla Ramos – Lawyer and Empanada restaurant)!!
Locking the car and hoping we will see it again, we head down the street and basically follow the other people on the street, hoping they are smarter than us. This strategy proves successful as we reach what seems to be a main walkway with mosaic tiled pedestrian only street. Street is Infante de Sagres and has lots of people, strollers, suitcase rollies, etc.
We walk down just a block or so and find a cafe with outside eating. We take a seat as we have not had any breakfast yet. I ask inside and there is a waitress who will take our order. We order coffee and pastry and enjoy petting the lab of an adjacent couple as we wait for our food. Breakfast is simple but good.
We continue down the mosaic lined pedestrian walkway with shops on both sides. We stop at a few, meaning I stand outside while Margi goes in to look, as there are no motorcycle nor hardware stores along this route. Further down toward the water, there is a chain type soccer store where we purchase gifts for Hailey and Jack. We continue down the street to the water and a boat basin. Along the water are kiosks selling all manor of things, from which Margi picks a pretty top for herself.
We then opt to follow a Rick Steves self guided walk back into Lagos. We go into a fish market which has many unusual types of fish and then proceed to the slave market area where we stop for a beer and a coke lite.
We left Lagos in the early afternoon, easily finding our car and taking N125 back to our lodging. When we got back to the room, the cleaning lady is there, so we get what we needed for the beach and get our 15 Euro beach chairs and umbrella. As we are “late”, all the first row chairs are occupied so we station ourselves in the second row where we sit until about 4 pm. Back at Casa Praiamor, we find Tanya in her office in the lower level by the pool and give her the cash for our room. She provides a receipt.
Yesterday, we stopped at Restaurante Aqua Na Boca to make a reservation for tonite (only 8:30 was available). This place is recommended by RIck Steves and we have a very nice dinner on our last nite in the Algarve. The place is full tonite.
Steps – 10,868
Day 8 – friday 5/24 (back to lisbon)
We debated about leaving early for Lisbon but decided against it cuz our room would probably not be ready if we arrive too early. We pack our luggage and then go to breakfast at the shitty place with the people who don’t want to be there. After breakfast, we go back to our room and get our bags and load them in the car. I return the key to Tanya and we are off by about 10 am.
The 3 hour ride back to the Lisbon airport is uneventful. We made one potty stop at a highway rest stop. We do see something interesting. White storks create nests in the power lines and are now protected by law!!
We put in “Hertz at the airport” in the car GPS but we have also been given very explicit “directions” at the Hertz counter about returning the car. Head toward arrivals and watch for a BP gas station where we can fill up the car.
Following the GPS, we pass an “aeroport” exit and see the BP we were watching for and begin to panic. Then went onto a VERY crowded and slow traffic circle which was also noted as “aeroport”. At one point, as I am trying to enter the jammed circle, a taxi comes quickly up to block me and I proceed to beep my horn. The taxi driver got out and came over to our car, gesturing angrily at what I assume was a sign that MIGHT have indicated he had the right of way. Margi thought that we might end our marriage at that traffic circle. But, I gesture back and he gets in his van and we get into the traffic circle. Luckily there is a gas station on the circle, so we are able to fill up the car as required (although at that point, we had agreed to say “F**K IT” and let them charge us for gas). We then continue around the traffic jam and finally see signs for rental car return which take us into the parking garage on level zero and safely return the car.
Steps – 12,291
Hit back button and then select Lisbon