The End of the World…and back!
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Our time in the Alentejo region came to an end at the beginning of this week and we had to get back to Lagos, where we rented our car, to find our new home.
The End of the World
Making the most of having wheels, we took the long route into town. We first drove to the end of the world.
The lighthouse at Cape St. Vincent, or Cabo de São Vicente, marks the most Southwesterly point in Europe. It was considered the end of the world until European explorers discovered the ‘New World’.
From miles away, the lighthouse can already be seen sitting high up on the edge of the cliffs. Inside the buildings there are a couple of little stores, washrooms and a museum. Unfortunately, we happened to visit on a Monday when the museum is closed.
The views are stunning, the cliffs impressive and the deep blue Atlantic Ocean is wild.
It’s also a pretty popular tourist destination. It felt strange to see so many people as well as vendors, after 6 days in the park.
After checking out the lighthouse and the views from the cliff’s edge, we walked off on our final hiking trail for a while.
This fishermen’s trail is only 6km long but follows the coastline and so wasn’t really feasible to do in a loop on this particular day. It was also the most challenging. We were walking along very rough, rocky ground that was hard on the feet and not especially enjoyable.
Sagres
Once we got enough of the views, we decided to return to the car and drive to Sagres. This little surf town is pretty isolated and sleepy. The waters however were full of groups on surfboards.
The fort at the point looked interesting… But not quite enough to pay the entry fee.
Lagos
Our new apartment was going to be available between 3 and 4pm so we headed back into town and found the building. It’s right across the road from the city park with the old city wall just on the other side of that. We had a coffee and a pastel de nata while watching some kids pull off some sweet tricks at the skate park.
Sunny Portugal
We haven’t had the best weather for our first week in Lagos. Just like other parts of Europe, they have been having an uncharacteristically cold and wet spring.
It’s given us a chance to get some work done but we’ve made it outside plenty too. We had no choice but to brave the pouring rain on our first morning here to return the car.
We decided to stop in at the fish market on our way back through town which gave us a chance to dry off. It’s definitely the winner for most interesting selections I’ve ever seen. Various rays were popular as were squid, octopus and all the usual fishy suspects.
When the sun came out we popped to a few local beaches and enjoyed the heat with the huge, orange cliffs protecting us from the wind.
It’s such fun going to one beach and then finding tunnels through the cliffs to another hidden beach.
Nature Week Algarve
Saturday we were walking back through town after spending some time at a local beach when we stumbled across lots of activity in the main plaza.
It turns out it was the start of Nature Week in the Algarve and, besides giving out freebies, they are offering discounts on various activities in the area.
The event was being kicked off with a free sunset hike out to Ponta de Piedade. Unfortunately, they turned around and walked back to town before the sun actually set so we’ll have to do that again by ourselves!
Despite being a bit cold and wet, we are enjoying Lagos. Hopefully we’ll get to the beaches a little more in the coming weeks!
How was your week? Were you wet and cold too or sunny and warm?
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