Portugal stay #2 – Lagos
Monday
We rented a car in Lisbon and drove with Rita and Gregg down to Lagos, a city in the Algarve region of Portugal. We had an apartment right on the ocean along the southern coast.
When we got there we were awe-struck with the place. It was a beautiful 4-bedroom apartment with a large deck and lawn-patio that overlooked what is arguably the most beautiful beach on the coast. Staying with us was Alyssa’s Family: Rita & Gregg, Paul, Renata, Olivia, Elena and Judy, along with the three of us.
We stayed in the rest of the evening and enjoyed each other’s company and our new home.
Tuesday
While everybody was waking up, Paul and Gregg made the trek into town to pick up some freshly baked pastries for everybody.
After breakfast, we all went out as a group and took a walk through the old-town of Lagos, where we sight-saw for a little while, and ate lunch and a nice outdoor restaurant on the sidewalk.
From there, we got our suits on and spent some time down on our beach. The one downside of our location was that the water was cooooooold! Really cold, but not cold enough that one wouldn’t dare go into it. Instead, it was just cold enough to try it, and then regret it.
In the evening after we all cleaned up, Judy volunteered to stay home with the kids while all of the siblings went out to dinner. We ate at “Los Artistis”, a Michelin recommended restaurant . The food was just fine in my opinion, but the company was great!
Wednesday
On this day we had a plan. Each family would be in charge of a dish for dinner, and we would walk down to the local fresh fish market in the morning to source our ingredients. So when we woke up, Gregg, Paul, Renata and I walked down to the fish market to pick up our ingredients. Gregg got an octopus, I got a whole Sea Bream, and Renata got a whole Atlantic Wrekfish, (Stone bass).
The day was filled mostly with some grocery runs, and a lot of relaxation and beach time. Yessss!
Dinner prep was made into quite an event. When all was said and done, this was probably the most delicious meal of our entire stay.
After dinner. we all took a long walk along the dirt paths that line the bluffs along the coast. We ended up down on some of the beaches. These beaches are especially beautiful, because depending on the tide, you can often go from one beach to the next either by skirting the surf when it goes out, or by ducking through some tunnels in the rocks that divide the beaches. This leads you to more, secluded white-sand beaches surrounded by rocky cliffs. Beautiful!
Thursday
On Thursday we made an excursion to the nearby beach town of Selma.
Friday
We spent some time in the morning checking out the old-town in Lagos again today. We had some breakfast, then some of us went shopping, and Alyssa and I took Elena and Sawyer to the science-museum/playground.
The afternoon was filled with more relaxation and beach time.
In the evening, Judy watched the kids again while the siblings all went out to Restaurant Piri Piri, where we ordered some giant pots of “Cataplano”, a seafood stew which is the specialty of the region, and of course, the Piri Piri chicken.
Saturday
We did a 4-hour catamaran tour along the coast today. Amazing! The boat took us south past rocky cliffs, caves and grottos, down towards Ponta da Piedade where we stopped to eat lunch, swim and paddleboard, then back home.
Pizza for dinner…we’re getting a little sick of seafood 🙂
Sunday
Being our last day, we took it pretty easy this day. Everybody went off and did their own thing for a while.
Several of us did a “Grotto Tour”. This is where a local takes you along the coast in a small boat with an outboard motor and shows you through the caves and crevices of the cliffs along the coast. This was really cool because we got to see a lot of the grottos close up, as opposed to the distance we saw them from our catamaran the day before.
In the evening, we had a little plan to surprise the kids. We really wanted to know how they would react if we all decided to have cupcakes with whipped cream, but when it came time to take a bit, all of the adults simultaneously smashed the cupcakes into our faces.
Monday
Time to move on! We packed our bags and got our rental car. Off to our next destination!