From Lagos to Portimão

Again, I didn't want to get out of bed to take sunrise photos. But DW wanted to go for a morning swim in the Atlantic, and I knew that she'd go without me, if need be, so I reluctantly threw on some clothes and gathered my camera gear.

No one should ever swim alone.

We left the guest house just as João was pulling up, across the street. We gave a quick wave and continued on our way. Even though we had more than a half hour before sunrise, it was a 10 to 15-minute walk to the beach and I needed time to set up and take test photos. We couldn't be delayed by idle conversation.

The town was almost completely blanketed in darkness. only a few lights illuminated the narrow streets. As we neared the town centre, we could see a city worker sweeping the street and collecting trash. We nodded as we passed but were undeterred in our journey.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Looking out from the beach to the distant horizon, a faint haze of purples, pinks, and oranges showed the coming of the sun on the ocean. It was enough light that we could see our way safely on the boardwalk.

We traversed the sand and approached a giant outcrop of rock that towered above us. We could see a tunnel that had been bored through it and we followed, coming out the other side to a small, secluded beach, Praia dos Estudantes.

More rocky towers, and connecting two of them, the Ponte Romana, an ancient Roman bridge known as the Ponte Estudantes: the Students' Bridge. Long ago, a school was situated high on the clifftop. The bridge is all that remains.

I set up my tripod while DW stripped down to her swimsuit and went into the cool water. I made sure that I never lost sight of her, but she didn't stay in the water for long. It was invigorating and she came back to me, wide awake.

I took several photos, leading up to sunrise. Without clouds to cast colour across the sky, there were only going to be a few shots that I'd take. But the most exciting time was when the sun actually broke over the horizon and sent a large flock of birds, who had been slumbering on the clifftops, to start up in a flight that resembled a dance between the rocks.

It was a marvel to watch.

I took a few more photos after sunrise and then packed up my gear. It was time for breakfast. We returned with plenty of time to shower and dress before hitting the rooftop for another delicious breakfast, prepared by Maria and Charlotte.

We thanked our hosts for their hospitality and then returned to our room, where we collected all of our belongings and packed our bags. We were scheduled to check out at 11.

With our room in order, we left our bags and made our way to Igreja de Santo António, a 1700s church that is now a museum. We had enough time to go through the museum and then make our way back to the 3 Marias Guest House to return our keys, thank Carla for her friendship (she was in and out, throughout our stay, and always checking to see that we were comfortable). We grabbed our bags and made our way to the Lagos bus station.

DW and I find that the best mode of transportation in Portugal (honestly, anywhere) is the train system, but we were only going about 20 kilometres or so east, to the town of Portimão. There are two buses that go, and you must specify whether you're heading to the beach area or to the town centre: we were headed to the former location, as that is where we'd be staying for the next 24 hours.

DW had decided that she wanted to splurge on one hotel for our trip. For Porto, Lagos, and Lisbon, we had either booked small, independently owned hotels or an Airbnb that was owned and run by a local. For one night, she wanted something more.

(In retrospect, we found the hospitality in Lagos and Lisbon to be far superior, and the inn in Porto was also exactly what we needed.)

DW booked a room with a partial view of the beach at the Jupiter Algarve Hotel, which is a short walk from Praia da Rocha, part of a beautiful stretch of beaches that rival any in Florida, any day. We arrived a couple of hours early, but the hotel had a secure holding area for our belongings, and we decided to spend the time at one of the many restaurants along the beach.

Lunch was at Senhora Da Rocha, where I had my first-ever meal of grilled sardines. From the first time that I had ever seen anyone eat them in a YouTube travel video, I've wanted to try them, myself. They were amazing: so flavourful and so filling. I couldn't wait to try them again.

DW was less adventurous, as she's not a huge seafood fan, but she did enjoy a meal of grilled chicken.

When we returned to the hotel, we learned that we had been upgraded to a junior suite—a bigger room with a better view—and we were excited. But when we saw the room, which was on the top floor of the hotel, we couldn't believe our good luck.

The room was amazing and the view was perfect. (I'll share a view of the room when I complete a YouTube video in the future. Stay tuned.)

We changed, headed down the beach, and walked for a couple of kilometres, to Praia dos Careanos and back, basking in the afternoon's golden hour, made even more saturated by the glow of the rocky cliffs.

We returned to the hotel and decided to relax in their pool, which was considerably warmer than the Atlantic. We ran into an older Canadian couple, from British Columbia, who were cycling through the country, and we chatted until dinner time.

DW and I walked to the Portimão marina, where we saw the museum, and we decided that we would try to check it out, tomorrow, if time allowed. Our next morning was pretty busy and we had to check out of the hotel by noon, so we didn't know if it would work out.

It was dark and we didn't know where we wanted to eat in the town, so we took an Uber ride back to our hotel, checked out a take-away piri-piri chicken restaurant, grabbed some canned cocktails from a liquor store, and went back to our room, where we dined on the balcony.

While we ate, I received a notification from tomorrow's adventure spot had changed our meeting time, pushing it out by an hour and a half.

This was no good for us. As we scrambled to try to make other arrangements, we decided that the new time just didn't give us enough time to get back to the hotel, get cleaned up, and check out. And forget about going to the Portimão Museum.

Sadly, I had to notify the organizers to cancel our reservation.

What was it, you ask? Tune in tomorrow.