Algarve and Lisbon in Portugal

We start our European adventure on an Edmonton-Toronto overnight to Lisbon. 

Mid morning, we arrived in Lisbon,  rented a car and drove directly to  the Alvor Aldeamento Prainha Club in the Algarve region of southern Portugal.

We found the key exactly where the owner said it would be despite the language barrier and the email translations. Our VRBO rental was in a gated community.  The closest unit to the water.

This is the view just a couple steps from our accommodations. There's a long flight of stairs down to the sand.

First order of business was stocking up on the essentials in the on-site grocery store.

This small restaurant is part of our gated complex and is less than a minute walk from our condo. There is an elevator inside if you choose not to take the 200+ stair steps down to the beach.

There are so few people on the beach that we could almost call it our private beach.

High tide brings water into this cave.

We had two large swimming pools within our gates but very few people lounging around them. June might still be a bit cool for the locals. For us Canadians the weather was perfect.

There's a huge beef industry in Portugal but we saw a lot more pork and fish on the restaurant menus.

Grilled Black Pig "Secrets"?

Calzone, like a folded pizza!

Pretty house, pretty ladies!

We had beautiful weather throughout Portugal.

They can make almost anything out of cork and most of this stuff seems to be made in Portugal. Cork trees can be seen alongside the highways between Lisbon and Alvor.

We were always on the lookout for specials. Quite frankly, we found food prices reasonable in Portugal,  bit lower than Spain and certainly lower than France.

There are plenty of caves and beaches along the coast and the best way to explore them is by sea. We boarded a Zodiak-style boat that took us into dark caves and alongside secluded beaches.

Our captain took us inside a couple caves big enough to turn the boat around in.

Wind, rain and surf erosion have worn away this rocky coast.

We returned to this little coastal town by car later in the day to hike the boardwalk.

Giant opening in the roof of a cave

This fisherman was trying to sell us his catch but we were on a tour boat without coolers or ice.

This is another restaurant that was carved out of the rocks.

This tunnel made it possible to walk from one beach to another without having to climb over the mountain. Not sure if people were shorter in 1945 or if the tunnel had filled with sand.

It was cool in the tunnel and there were hundreds of tiny insects on the cool rock walls.

These fantastic beaches had miles of fine white sand.

Finding shade was always a problem. Directly above me, out of the picture, is a warning sign printed in Portuguese:  "Falling Rocks"

Next stop: Lisbon

On the drive to Lisbon, we spotted these large bird nests on the power transmission towers. They were stork nests and each one had a stork sitting in them. Storks seem to like towers that are near bodies of water - likely for a source of food for their young.

Our cozy apartment in Lisbon was modern with large windows and great light. It was central to many restaurants and bus routes. Taxis were far and few between until we found out that you can't just hail a cab on the street like you do anywhere else. They won't stop. Taxi cabs congregate in designated areas and you have to make your way to where they are unless you order one by phone. We were lucky that there was a taxi stand only a block away.

Rita was our Tuk Tuk driver. She drove us around and also acted as a tour guide. She charged by the hour and stayed with us as long as we wanted. She left us with a list of additional places to visit and things to see after we parted ways. As we were paying,  her she gave us her cell phone number just in case we got into trouble in Lisbon. She promised to rescue us.

Rita assured us that we didn't have to worry about pickpockets with her as our guide

She even walked along with us into areas of the old town where vehicles are prohibited.

These chocolate cups filled with cherry liquor are popular so when we bought a round for ourselves the server included Rita. She smiled and thanked us but I'm sure she had it planned all along.

The next day, we took a trolley to the end of the line which coincidently was a cemetery.

The steel door into a crypt

Every day is laundry day.

Our Lisbon AirBnB

Shish kabab.

Tuna belly...don't let the name scare you off. It's great!

This restaurant allowed you to pick the fish before they cooked it.

Black beer...all in the name of research.

Chilling in Rita's Tuk Tuk

Grilled sardines are delicious and we ordered them several times while in Portugal. Best eaten with bread and beer to wash down those tiny bones.

Flaming Portuguese sausage

The Sangria lady

A bottle of Port to bring back to Canada

We were driving on the trolly tracks in Rita's Tuk-Tuk. This is perfectly acceptable in Lisbon. Following us was a trolly car and the driver kept zooming up to us whenever he could laughing all the while.

 off to Marseilles for 10 days in Provence