August 8th - Sintra

 Sintra - Look closely at the top of the hill, there is a Moorish castle up there dating from the 8th century

A local "watering hole", literally.... note the water source at the back between the pillars

One of many courtyards at the National Palace, a building started by the Moors and added onto by subsequent kings.  The Portuguese royals used it until the end of the 19th century.  Note the chimneys and the tile work.

The inside of the kitchen, there were probably at least 10 fires burning in here when in use, thus the need for the 2 conical chimneys to eliminate the smoke.

On the steps of of Campo Grande, the multi use "futbol" stadium

              We walked to the train station from our 4 star hotel (El Cheapo is on a streak!) and got on a train, then got off and got on another one, then finally took a long train into Sintra. Sintra looked kinda like a ratty city until you neared the castle. We took a FREE tour of the castle (Palacio Nacional) where the royal family of Portugal lived for a while. The kitchen had these 2 giant cone shaped chimneys. 

We wandered around town for a bit after that before finally having lunch at a delicious restaurant. After that we waited for the bus at the bus stop. While we were waiting, some Spanish boy scouts walked past us at the bus stop. One of them saw Ryan's Fernando Torres shirt (a player for the Spanish national team); his face lit up, and he started yelling "Espania! Espania!". Immediately, all of the boy scouts started singing a song that sounded like "yo soy Espanol" repeatedly, but I can't remember the rest of the words. We waited for ten more minutes, then gave up and started walking to the train station. While we were walking we saw the bus so we got on it. The bus passed our first stop, and it was so crowded we wouldn’t have been able to get on. We drove up the three km street till we reached the bus stop at the other castle in town. My mom saw how long the bus line for going down the hill was, and quickly decided we weren't going to go to the castle. 

After we took the trains back to Lisbon we hung out in the hotel for a while before walking to the soccer stadium across the street. In side the soccer stadium, there was a food court, grocery store, movie theatre, and more! We had a fast food dinner, then got ice cream at the grocery store before we went back to the hotel and went to bed (early as we were leaving for home in the morning).


Trevor

Sintra is a lovely, historic town located about 45 minutes from Lisbon.  Home to several castles built over the centuries, beautiful gardens and more, it is a  town that has lots more to see than we could accomplish on a crazy August Sunday.  The bus ride up the hill/mountain was interesting as the  bus was jammed with passengers, the roads were incredibly narrow, steep and  clogged with pedestrian and car traffic not to mention  parked cars which at times made passage nearly impossible.  This was not our best planning day as we got more caught up in the fact that we could go through the castle in town for free and didn't think about getting to the more impressive castle at the top of the hill while the crowds were a bit tamer in the morning.  Oh well, there is always next time!  (A mantra Tom and I used often as in nearly every place we visited, there was more to see than we had time for!)


Cathy

August 7th - Back to Lisbon

The dirt road hugged this shoreline and had an occasional overlook

The stone foundations are part of an archeological dig.  They are remnants of a Moorish seasonal fishing village from 1,000 years ago.

The Vasco de Gamma bridge crossing the Tejo River into Lisbon

Leading up to Praco do Commmercio, site of the outdoor concert

Waiting on the riverbank for the concert

The musicians were going to be housed in these colorful perches

Unfortunately, today was our last day in Salema in the Algarve. It was a great week of swimming, surfing, boating, and eating. We packed up and got out the door early, probably the quickest we’ve left yet! We started to make our way back to the beach where we had been surfing and we took a gravel road along the coast for a few miles. It was very scenic, you felt like you were on the end of the world, because the cliffs just dropped straight down into the water right at the edge of the road.

From that road, we got onto a smaller highway, which we took all of the way to our lunch spot. After lunch, we headed back onto our highway, and we began to notice trees that were missing their bark at the bottom, then we began seeing the bark in big piles on trucks and on the side of the road. After brainstorming ideas as to what the reason was behind this, my mom realized that they must be cork trees, and then looked in her guide book and saw that the region is known for its cork trees that they use to make all sorts of things.

The drive dragged on for what seemed like forever, but only 4.5 hours had passed when we got back into Lisbon. We got to take one of the bridges across their big river, and we were on it for a good 7 minutes or so. The bridge dumped us off right by our hotel, which is near the airport. We checked in and my dad returned our rental car.

Later in the night, we hopped on the subway, and took it to Bairro Alto, near the center of Lisbon. After searching around for a little bit, we came across a nice restaurant, right at opening time. We were the only ones in the restaurant, and were just leaving when it started getting filled, the story of our dinner habits this past month. The Spanish and Portuguese like to eat their dinner starting at about 9:30 until as late as 11:00! Later, we walked down to the central plaza of downtown because we heard that there was a concert going on there, but when we got there, we found out that we would have to wait 45 minutes for it to start, and it was late. We left, reluctantly, because it looked cool. They had a fireworks show planned, and the band sounded good. I considered that concert Lisbon’s version of Lollapalooza, since we’ll be missing it! Tomorrow comes Sintra and all of its castles!

Ryan

August 6 – Salema

Another cloudless day in this corner of "paradise"!

 

 The yucca plant growing next to the stairs to our apartment....enormous!

Birthday girl's pizza

Chocolate cake.....mmmmmm!

Birthday girl at dusk on the beach

            Today was my birthday! We woke up late and ate fruit and cereal while Ryan and Trevor went down to the bread truck to get some sweets for breakfast. It took them about a half hour or so and when they got back they had made up a song about the bread lady. I don’t really remember it but it was to the song of “All I do is win” and it was really funny! They bought croissants for themselves and these little almond tarts for me, they were really good!

After breakfast I opened a little gift, it was a belt. I liked the idea of a belt but I didn’t like the one my mom and Trevor chose so my mom and I went to exchange it. It was at a little local store. They had really cool belts, I chose a light brown one. They also had cool earrings, rings, bracelets and necklaces. After exchanging that gift we went to the beach. My dad and brothers had already rented an umbrella. The water felt so nice since it was really hot outside. We swam for a bit and then Trevor and I attempted to make a sand castle but the waves kept rolling in and wrecking it. Then we rented the paddle boat again and went deep. We were out really far, we jumped off a few times and then Ryan and I realized that we couldn’t “collect sand” because it was too deep. The last time we rented the boat we kept jumping off, swimming to the bottom, grabbing sand and putting it on the boat. It was really funny because we would come out of the water and say “I GOT SAND!!!” So we paddled in to the next buoy, but it was STILL too deep, so to the next one which was just right, but we only had about 15 minutes.

After we paddled in it was about time for lunch so I swam for a couple more minutes and played some paddle ball and then went back to the apartment. We had our usual for lunch, I bet you can guess it by now, so I don’t even have to mention it. But since it was my birthday we got an ice cream bar after lunch. The ice cream bars are so good I don’t know if they’re any different than the ones on America but they are delicious. After eating lunch we hung at the beach some more, playing paddle ball, swimming, tanning, etc. Ryan, Trevor, dad and I all went over to the rocks to jump but my dad said the waves were kind of dangerous so we didn’t.

There is this one “suicidal-boozer-grandma: (as Trevor puts it) and she is out at the beach tanning every day. She doesn’t even need to tan because she’s brown and leathery already, but she does it anyways.  She just lays on her lounge chair, tanning and smoking (just waiting for some cancer or another to kill her)! We left the beach around 5 and went back for happy hour and showers. For happy hour we had chips, veggies and cheese and crackers. After everyone was showered and ready for dinner we drove about a mile down the road to this little pizzeria and had pizza! There was this stray dog hanging around the restaurant begging everyone for food. He would come up to you and just sit and kind of stare at you expecting you to give him food, but nobody did. Ryan and Trevor played chess while waiting for the pizza. When it came it was really good! We each had our own (they weren’t that big). After eating Trevor and dad played chess and the rest of us sat around really bored, we had to drag them out of the chess game to leave. When we got back to the apartment it was around 9 and we were planning on going over to the bar next door for internet and video games. Before that though my family had bought a cake and sang happy birthday. It was chocolate pound cake, and it was really good. After that we went to the bar and had our time with internet and video games and then went home and to bed. It was a really good birthday!

Katie

August 5 – Surfing....again!

Suited up and ready to go!

Waiting for the "right" wave

Nice form Ryan!

Up you go Katie!

The two thrill-seekers of the family, Ryan and Katie, wanted more time on the surfboard.  Trevor, had he not come close to meeting his maker the day before, would likely have joined in.  The three of us headed over to the west coast to the surf beach Amado.  Katie and Ryan got their rental wetsuits and boards and into the pounding surf they went.  The waves were a bit stronger than yesterday and initially they were getting shredded pretty good.  After a bit they got their “surf legs” and started getting up and riding the waves a bit

It’s quite a scene at Amado.  Farther out, where the waves first start to break, are the pros.  These guys are zipping back and forth across the face of the wave and the best are doing tricks like 360’s.  Closer to the beach are the rookies who content themselves with the ‘leftovers,” or waves that have already broken and are a roiling mass of frothy whitewater.  These provide plenty of power and are good to practice on.  The better rookies are able to get up and ride these waves in to the beach.  After a few hours Ryan and Katie had their fill and we packed it in.  Surfing can quickly fatigue even the most fit.  The steady procession of waves pound at you as you fight your way out to the zone.  The difficulty is increased by having to lug a board that is bigger than you through the relentless surf.  Make the mistake of getting the board in between you and the wave and you pay by having the board slam in to you, knocking you off your feet, and you and the board are rent asunder by the churning surf.  All this becomes a small price to pay when you’re actually up and riding a wave, your inner Beach Boy smiles. 

Salema is situated on the southern coast and is protected from the winds and heavy surf.  The water temperature is quite pleasant.  Carrapateira, where Praia Amado is located, is on the west coast and appears to have constant wind and surf.  The colder water forces every surfer into a wet suit.  This disparity in two beaches that are only a 30 minute drive apart. 

Back in Salema we spent the afternoon at the beach.  We saw the same people sitting in the same spots sunning the same body parts.  It appears that many of these folks are here for the sun only and either are unaware or don’t care that grotto boat tours or surfing are quite close.  We rented the paddle boat/slide contraption again and went out only to discover that the offshore winds greatly increased as you got further out.  No wonder the rental dude said “have fun in Africa” as we shoved off.  We stayed close to shore and enjoyed splashing in the clear waters. 

The weather has been picture perfect.  Warm days with temperatures in the mid 80’s and pleasant evenings, some requiring a jacket.  I saw my first clouds in the Algarve today, three barely perceptible wisps of white in the southern sky. 

Tom

August 4 - Surf day at Carrapateira

Looking out over the backside of the beach from the surf shack

Surfs up!

Halfway into the wetsuits

This is what the beach looked like mid day, when we were trying to surf....  Not sure which was more dangerous, the waves or the number of people in the water with surf boards!

This morning Katie and I went to the bread truck, and had to wait in line for a while (it didn’t help that some grandma was trying to cut in front of us in the line). We battled it out with the grandma, then finally beat her and got our bread. We had to pack our stuff up quick, because we were leaving soon to go surfing.

We arrived at ten thirty but the class started at eleven thirty, while we were waiting we got our wet suits and put them on. Because it would be uncomfortable if you had the wet suit entirely on, we put them all the way on, then pulled the top part of our suit down over our waist. Finally everyone arrived and we got to grab our boards. The beginner boards are different than the normal surfboards because they are taller, wider, thicker, and have a grippier surface. We then had to carry the boards all the way across the beach to the spot where we would surf.

The class started off with exercises (running, swinging arms, touch your toes, etc.), then our instructor, Joao taught us the parts of the board.  Next we had to go in the water and jump waves to get used to the wet suit being wet and the water temperature.  Finally, we got to take the board in to the water and ride the waves (lying on our stomach on the board).  Then Joao taught us the steps to get up on the board and we got to go in the water and try it out! Once we had waited for a wave we liked, we would lie down on the board with our hands pressing the middle and our feet over the edge on the tail of the board.  We had to wait for the wave to push the board and while we were being pushed, we would stand up and get “tiny” to balance.

We had to take a lunch break, but after that we got to try again. I was surfing where the water was up to my knees, and on one wave I stood up and rode the wave for 9 seconds! During the lunch break, Ryan  told me that he didn’t see me stand up, so I wanted to show him I could stand up (he didn’t see me ride the board for 9 seconds), so after lunch I went deeper to find a good wave. I saw one I liked, but I laid down too early on the board,  my board turned to the side and the wave pushed me side ways. There were flags with the logo of the school that we were using in the sand. I thought it was to show swimmers that the water we were in was for beginner surfers only, but later I found out that it was dangerous outside of the area. So while the waves were pushing me side ways, I realized that the water was way over my head by a foot.  I was past the flags, and I was in a riptide and going farther out. I was barely on the board and the waves were tossing me around so I started yelling for help. Three people started coming to me, one of them thinking I was yelling "yay"! Our instructor started coming to me because some swimmer told him what was going on. He swam all the way out to me while 2 of the three people swam back in. When the instructor finally reached me, I was off the board and he was yelling at me to get on my board. His accent was so strong and my ear was so filled with water that I didn’t understand him until he forced me on to the board. Lucky for me a big wave came just after I got on the board, so it pushed me in very far in, and more after that. The water was at my shoulders when a big wave crashed on me and ripped my ankle strap off, and my surfboard went away towards the beach. The big wave had pushed me in towards the beach and the water was now at my waist so I just walked in and grabbed my surfboard.  I was really shaken up and glad to be out of the water and waves.

Apparently one of the people that came to help me had gotten stuck in the riptide also so Joao was going after him which I found out from my mom and Siobhan, the lady who thought I was yelling yay. Siobhan’s boyfriend Justin was the one in the riptide. My mom was freaking out more than Siobhan because she didn’t have her glasses on and couldn’t see what was going on. Apparently Justin had recently learned how to swim, so that scared my mom even more. Justin ended up getting saved though. After all of that, I didn’t go out much past my knees and just let the waves push me in riding the board on my tummy.

 Back at the house we had happy hour (soda, cheese and crackers), and then ordered Indian food. We had the greatest dinner and I found out that I love Indian food. After dinner Ryan, Katie, Dad and I played foosball at the bar next door before coming home and going to bed.

Trevor

August 3 – Salema and Lagos

Waiting in line at the "bread truck"

Paula, our Bom Dia rep with an incredibly happy demeanor

Our "sailing" vessel

The boys "going overboard"

The grottos

More grotto exploration

Today was started off with a great breakfast, highlighted by sweets from the local bread truck in town. The past two mornings, my parents have walked down into the main part of town to get bread and sweets from the “bread lady” (who apparently isn’t very fond of tourists), but her bread is really good! After breakfast, we hung out for a little bit in our apartment with our usual forms of entertainment, a deck of cards, a backgammon set, and the only English channel we receive here in Salema, CNN.

We then left to go into Lagos, a nearby city, which is one of the largest in the Algarve. When we arrived into town, we parked our car and walked along the marina. We were planning to do a boat trip via the company “Bom Dia”, translated to “good day” in English. As we were walking, we came across a hawker for the company (someone looking to recruit people to come on their tours) who was the nicest lady. She had a real positive attitude, was really funny, and she even let my mom take a picture of her! After purchasing our tickets for the trip, Katie discovered that she hadn’t packed her swimsuit, which was critical because we would be able to swim on the trip. So, we went on a wild goose chase around town looking for a swimsuit, and once we found a place to get one, Trevor and I spent at least 30 minutes waiting for her to pick one, it was a lot of fun.

After filling ourselves with lunch, we got back to the meeting place, and got onto the boat. We were going to be doing a grotto tour of the area. The boat was a sailboat, although we didn’t do much sailing because of the lack of wind, so for our purposes, it was more of a motorboat. Once we got out by the grottos, we started to swim and jump of the boat, which was very entertaining. We had a little motor boat tagging along the big sailboat that they used to do the grotto tours, and since there wasn’t enough room for everyone, they took three different trips. We went on the last trip, and it was amazing!

Our guide, even though he didn’t speak English very well, showed and explained to us some really cool grottos, such as the monster, the corridor, the toilet bowl and much more! Once the tour was over, we headed back into Salema to continue our beach day. We went to the beach for all of 30 minutes, then went back to our apartment for “happy hour” as my mom calls it, or let’s let the kids pig out on cheese and crackers, as I call it. Later in the night, we headed to dinner at a restaurant called Atlantico, which is right on the beach and has great views, although we had to eat inside because we apparently weren’t swank enough to sit outside. After dinner, we picked up some ice cream and ate it on the beach. Then, my dad, Trevor, and I continued our three night tradition by going to the bar at the next group of condos over, and hanging out.  My dad goes on the internet, and my brother and I play a soccer video game (something both of us have been lacking), all for a price of course. That was a great end to a day.

Ryan

August 2 – Salema, Portugal

Whitewashed villas in Salema

Surf school at Carrapateira

Newbie surfers headed out for a lesson

"The end of the earth" in Sagres

The backdrop of blue sky, perfectly balanced against whitewashed buildings with terra cotta tile roofs built into the hillside, is what one would imagine in trying to conjure up a view of the Algarve, at the southern end of Portugal.  The village of  Salema is our home for this week and it could not be any more perfect for some relaxation!  Salema is a tiny fishing village that has caught on to the idea of tourism being good for business.  This is a popular place for vacationers from Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany and the beach reflects that with the great variety of languages spoken.

One of our goals during this week was to try our hands at surfing, so we set out this morning for the village of Carrapateira, surf capitol of the Algarve and apparently of Europe.  Our timing and cash flow were off, as lessons began at 11:30 and payment is cash only.  So we will give it a try another day.  We spent a couple of hours at this incredible beach anyway, observing the experienced and newbie surfers alike.  The surf was crashing, the wind blowing and the place teeming with a more earthy crowd that we had experienced at Praia de Salema yesterday.  Hundreds of people were sporting wetsuits and  a surfboard and it was a blast to watch! The kids were disappointed to have to wait to try it themselves.

Never ones to miss out on seeing something new, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring “the end of the earth”, Portugal’s and Europe’s most southwestern point, the town of Sagres.  Henry the Navigator, Portugal’s king during the mid 15^th century and the “Age of Discovery” set up a school of navigation in this town, which is situated on the windblown, rock cliffed coast.  The views were stunning, sandstone cliffs falling into the choppy ocean, sky so blue it was stuff of imagination, sailboats bobbing and an endless horizon.  This part of the Algarve was made into a protected area about 10 years ago so development, while still happening, is greatly regulated.  The semi-arid landscape  is quite hilly, the soil a terra cotta color and the vegetation a mix of olive trees, squat evergreens and some other sort of scrub as well as cactus and other succulent plants.  As it is also very windy, so there are a few wind farms dotting the hills.

Our day wrapped up with a “take away” Indian dinner which to my surprise, the kids loved (not sure if it was the food or the fact that we were not in a restaurant at the mercy of the waiters and cooks)! 

Cathy