Today’s All About Transportation

Goodbye trains and trams....hello busses and cars! Today I left Lisbon by bus heading to the Algarve. Public transportation is pretty easy to navigate once you figure out where things are...finding the bus stop involved taking the Metro, then coming out in a construction zone, asking the local bus driver where the bus station was, then finding the train station, asking the train ticket office worker to point me in the right direction for the bus, only to find out it was right across the street. Pretty typical of my navigation stories so far in Portugal.

The bus ride was pretty non eventful...I had both seats to myself the entire 4 hour drive, so was exited about that. It’s the little things right? Along the way I saw the landscape change as we got closer to the coast in the south...more orchards, hills and valleys, and winding roads.  I’m fairly certain I saw cherry, lemon and orange farms along the way.  I also saw one salt flat and high in the trees I saw several white storks in their massive nests...they are huge!

I arrived in Lagos...the western side of the Algarve and went from Lisbon with a population of 3 million to 35,000 in Lagos. Time to slow down and chill after a week of non stop activities. I was pretty tired when I arrived and found the cutest little vegan coffee shop to sit and enjoy a coffee with milk…hello caffeine. 

From here I made my way...luggage in tow...to the rental car company to pick up my car for the next 3 days.You heard it...time for some off the beaten track exploring now! I think the weather gods have been watching my activities because as I was doing the visual check before heading off in my car, the dark clouds had rolled in and it was starting to sprinkle rain...apparently rain is not common right now, so hopefully it clears up by tomorrow.

I packed up the car, set my GPS and was off in my little Rio in search of my resort in the small community of Luz. It’s been a while since I drove a stick, but all went well...well maybe except for a few times I forgot to change gears. Then there were all the roundabouts. I swear you could never get a speeding ticket here because there’s a roundabout every 2-3km. I went from from 90km to 70km to 50km in a span of a couple minutes over and over the 15 minute drive. Once at the resort, I decided I may need to brush up on my roundabout etiquette to make sure I don’t get in an accident...driving is so much fun!!!

I found my resort...Estrela da Luz...checked-in and dropped my luggage off in my room...only after a minor delay when I couldn’t figure out how to use the fab for the underground parking. I’m sure the two at reception had quite a laugh at me because I also didn’t pay attention to what my car looked like, so I wasn’t sure which car was mine out front ...yep you read that correctly. Thankfully it was pointed out that the license place number was on my key tag, so problem diverted.

Since it was raining I thought I would take a drive about 20 minutes to check out a ceramic shop I read about...Paraiso Artesano...plus it was a good time to get some practice driving in before tomorrow. This place was a huge warehouse of ceramics and other items. I was hoping to pick some things up because the prices were supposed to be really good, but when I arrived everything felt mass produced and that is not what I am looking for. No need to buy something that looks like something I can pick up at Winners, so I took a look around and then headed back to pick up some groceries.

You know you are in a small town when the main grocery store does not have any fresh fish or bags of mixed salads. A bit disappointed, but found some things for dinner + drinks and headed back to my resort to cook something up. To my surprise there was no cooking oils or spices at my place, so it was time to be creative. Cooked some white fish, quinoa and cherry tomatoes...flavours were not bad considering...and I enjoyed my dinner with a delicious beverage outside on my balcony. It’s actually a really lovely evening with the birds chirping and the ocean in the distance.

Tonight is a well needed time to chill and I’m looking forward to sleeping in for the first time tomorrow. May check things out in Luz tomorrow and possibly the Old City of Lagos…unless something else more interesting comes along.

Until then...share in the experience.

Lisa