Our train arrived at Faro later than expected. We quickly rented a car and made our way to Lagos where had an apartment booked. We made it at around 8:30PM.

Now I'm going to preface this next part by saying that we are not picky about where we stay on vacation. We generally just need a bed, some level of temperature control and hot water. When we checked in, we were charged 20 Euros extra because we got there at 8:30PM and after 7PM is supposedly considered a late checkin. We paid it without a fuss and got into the apartment only to see that there was no water. We managed to catch the property manager who came by and turned on the main water supply. It appears that the owner had turned the water off 🤷🏻‍♀️.

We went out to dinner and on returning, noticed that there was no hot water and the apartment was freezing. We tried reaching the property manager with no success and kept trying until late the next morning. Now truly annoyed, we booked a hotel and just left. We will be filing for a chargeback on this apartment. Apparently, this is a fairly common thing in Lagos.

Anyway, we refused to sour the rest of our vacation. The apartment bed was horrible and I ended up with some pretty bad lower back pain. The new hotel we booked was good though. The guy at the reception pointed me to a pharmacy where I picked up Lidocaine patches (that Sarah swears by) and I had hot water! The hotel was also located right on the shore of the most beautiful beach "Praia Dona Ana".

We visited tons of beaches with amazing sand stacks including Praia Dona Ana, Praia do Camilo and Ponta da Piedade in Lagos. We also visited Praia de Coelho and Praia de Carvalho in Albuferia.

We stayed in the Algarve for only 2 days which may sound less. However, we walked a lot and managed to do so much because the water was cold and choppy making it hard to be a beach bum. Due to this, we also couldn't go to the Benigal caves. However, we did walk a 1.5km walk on the Praia de Marinha in Lagao and see beautiful sandstacks and the caves from above. We may have to come back for a boat tour next time.

On our last day, we visited an old fishing village Salema, stopped by the town of Sagre and checked out the view of the southwestern tip of Europe (Cabo de Sao vincente). Here, we saw some people fishing from the edge of this super high cliff with a really long line. Just watching them made me nauseous.

When we were getting ready to leave the Cabo, we noticed a car getting towed and asked the couple who were waiting for a while if they needed a ride. They were visiting from Ontario and traveling for two months. They had already been waiting for a few hours and needed to go to Albuferia. We were headed to Lagos that was halfway there. So we gave them a ride and got to know some really nice people in exchange 😊.

Now for the delicious food. We found some really good coffee roasters in Lagos for our morning fix (Black and White coffee roasters and Sound coffee roasters) and a lovely bakery for fresh pao (Padaria Central).

And then for dinner, we indulged in the local fresh seafood. I tried Cataplana (a fish soupy dish that is made of fish available on a particular day) at Restaurant Reis. We had burgers and tacos at Nah Nah Bah, one of the top 50 places to have burgers in the world, and had fresh seafood at Ah Brigada. Every meal was fresh, healthy and delicious. I also tried Couvert which is a mix of small dishes like olives and other pickings that you do not know of in advance. And then there were the desserts. My favorite was this thing called a mofflata. It tasted like flan but was as airy as a meringue. Definitely something I will be experimenting with in the future.

As we looked for meals, we were surprised at the number of Indian restaurants in the area that were super highly rated. Not something we tried or were expecting but super interesting nonetheless.

And lastly, while the art in Lisbon was awesome, the murals in the Algarve were positively brilliant and everywhere. Here are some samples of the thoughtful wall art (ignoring the graffiti).

I am writing this post on my way to Seville in Spain. The Algarve coast trip was short, but despite my still slightly achy back, it was positively lovely. And it was nice to be in a place where everyone pronounced my last name correctly 🤣. I am super excited about Spain and what it has to offer next. Until then, bbye!