Portugal 20 - 24 Sept

On the first day in Lagos, we found a boat to take us out to the grottos and Ponta da Piedade. This is definitely worth doing (it cost us €25 for three people and skipper for 45 mins), the coastline is stunning with plenty of caves and rock formations carved out of the coast by the sea.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging at the beaches, swimming, eating salty seafood, drinking cervejas and spending some quality time with Scott. Nice to have you over with us mate.

After dropping Scott back at Faro airport, we headed for Sagres and Cabo Sao Vicente, the south west point of Europe, and appropriately desolate and windswept. We parked up here for the night. In the morning we made our way up the Atlantic coast, stopping in at some beaches recommended by Nick. Top spots were Praia do Amado, Praia de Odeceixe, and Praia da Zambujeire. All are beautiful surf beaches right up there with the best back home. In fact much of the Portuguese coast reminds me a lot of places back home. I was looking for somewhere to rent a board for a few hours but it wasn't to be today.

We ended up at a long stretch of beach just north of Sines, Praia da fonte Cortiço. We were kept company by two very pregnant straw dogs, not the first stray dogs we would meet.

Next morning we drove inland to Évora, another beautiful walled town on a hill with a cathedral in the middle. We had probably our most genuine Portuguese experience in a restaurant recommended by the tourist office guy. We met two really nice Brazilian couples and went out for drinks. We all met back at the same restaurant for lunch of feijoada (a kind of bean stew).

That afternoon we drove to Lisbon, staying at the main campismo on the edge of Monsanto park. We checked out the Belem waterfront for the night, very nice.