Algarve

 The words of the day are obrigado and bom dia.

It’s not hard to see why Susanne wishes our taxi rides were longer. It's a wonderful combination of the captive audience of a taxi driver and Google Translate's gift of sounding words in Spanish or Portuguese. Today was no exception. Riding from our condo to the train station was our last day in Spain and she wanted to make the most of it and so she did. She wasn’t done. After a short train ride, we found ourselves back in the train station in Seville with 3 hours on our hands and an audience of food workers in the cafeteria. No shortage of captives here either and she did an amazing job of communicating. It was fun, but the fact that she was trying to speak Spanish to the world was appreciated by everyone on the other side of the conversation.   

Summer in Seville is hot. It is very hot, that inland-desert kind of hot. We were beginning to feel the heat coming in. Over 95 F is the norm and we were there. In the dead of summer, 110 F is nothing uncommon. Glad it was just for a few hours and fortunately, the bus to Faro, Portugal had good A/C. The short two-and-a-half-hour ride was comfortable and went by fast. As we got off the bus, we realized we had finally reached the last country in our journey and were excited but saddened. Almost two weeks ahead, but six behind us.

We weren’t sure how the combination of a train from Cadiz to Seville followed by a bus ride from Seville to Faro would go. There are a lot of moving parts to these multi-leg journeys and we had learned to put boundaries around what we try to complete in a day. So, we had gotten a room in Faro for the night rather than starting a rental car at 19:00. This 24-hour clock is not bad once you get used to it.

This stopover in Faro was our first exposure to what would become ubiquitous, the Portuguese use of cobblestone streets and cobblestone sidewalks. Rolling bags are meant for smooth pavement and cobblestones that are always ‘under repair’ would be a continual challenge throughout Portugal. As we looked and listened to other travelers, we realized, once again, we were not alone.

The limestone and basalt coast of Algarve provide the canvas and the Atlantic Ocean's waves provide the brush for painting one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world.

If you look closely, the tile appearing walk is actually cobblestones that are very uneven. These streets and sidewalks are all over Portugal.

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In the morning, we picked up the rental car and headed to the beach in Alvor. I know, we had just finished three days of R&R in Cadiz, but these two stops happened to be R&R, back-to-back. We just wanted some more pure beach time, and we got it here.

We took a day away from the beach to go to the cliffs and caves of the Algarve. Starting in Portimão, we set out into the Atlantic in a little boat to see these amazing caves. Carved in the limestone by thousands of years of surf-pounding, the caves did not disappoint. Some of the caves, larger than a house. Some were worn through with holes in the top. The boat held 14 people in two columns running bow to stern. Instead of a seat, it was more of a saddle as you straddled it. Like most lightweight boats, it rode on top of the water when under power and it pounded into the waves. Quite a ride and by the end of the day, we get that feeling you get after hours of horseback riding. But we got to see the caves.

If you look closely you'll see the five rows and two columns of saddles.

Just in front of cockpit is a bench for 4, two adults and two children.

We're inside of a cave, with a hole through the top.

I can't remember which cave exactly, but one of these caves is the most famous cave in the world. It was made famous because it is Microsoft 10's main wallpaper / background image. We've all seen it 100s of times as we turned on our computers.

When you look at the boat in the foreground, you can get a perspective of the size of these caves.

Judging from the boats that went into the caves, looks like they are all limited to around 12-15 people.

It was something to watch as our knowledgeable guide Guillermo scurried all around the RIB, and especially moving with grace over the inflatable tubes while wearing flipflop! 

Along the way Guillermo, was hilarious and entertaining. He asked "Does everyone knows Ronaldo?" Susanne took the bait and asked, “who is Ronaldo?”  We were summarily informed that Cristiano Ronaldo is the best football player ever for Portugal and in the minds of most Portuguese fans, the greatest of all time in the world. You Americans, think soccer. 

One afternoon, we joined a couple of friends who had moved to Algarve from Mariposa. It was fun visiting an expat and talking about the process of getting established in Portugal. They had us over to their house and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch of fresh salmon, salad and a glass of wine. It made us appreciate the efficiency of our governments, even the DMV eventually gets it done. It dawned on us that it is possible, that the cuts to many of the agencies in the US, could give us the same kinds of bureaucratic delays that they face in Portugal. What if there was a 12-month delay in getting your home building permit approved, or your social security started, or renewing your passport because there are not enough people to process all the applications. Or as our friends had encountered, the law requires a response to the application in 90 days and it’s already been a year with no response. They have had to sue the government of Portugal to get them to do what they are required to do by law. They are legally okay staying in Portugal, but if they travel to Spain, without having residency permits, they are considered illegals in the EU having overstayed their original visa. If they come back to the states for a visit, they can re-enter the EU, but only through Portugal. If they tried to come in through Madrid, they could be denied entry having already overstayed their visa. These are real problems and headaches that they are living through. Despite the troubles, it was fun and it was heartwarming to enjoy some time with friends and to see a kindred spirit in the middle of this trip.

The rest of the trip was beach time. No complaints here other than Malcolm complaining that the water is too cold for really swimming. What a sissy. 

On the western end of the Algarve, we saw large nest on the tops of any pole offering support. There were nests for huge birds. They are white storks. Unfortunately, this is the only picture and these are wooden.

A view from our room. Those little thatched roof umbrellas were our home during the warm sunny days. The temperatures were perfect being moderated by the cool Atlantic.

After one long day at the beach, we were walking back to our room and happened to stop at a restaurant, next to the board walk, to take a short break, or celebrate happy hour depending on your perspective. As we were sitting there, Susanne says, "That woman walking barefoot on the boardwalk is going to get splinters!" Malcolm replied, “It’s official, we have now become our parents!”

Oh yes, and back to the word(s) of the day. The two most important word sets in Portuguese. Obrigado is thank you in Portuguese. But only to a man. You use obrigada if the recipient of the praise is female. The other important phrase is ‘Bom Dia’ or good morning. These two phrases will go a long way and get a lot of smiles in Portugal as people realize that you’re trying.