Enga mellom fjella

Algarve siesta

I sneeze. I drink coffee. Breakfast by the beach.

My goal is to do little, almost nothing.

I've booked 4 days in Lagos in Algarve, the southern coast of Portugal. East of here one finds tourists and summer condos. West is Sagres and the legacy of Henry the Navigator whose school lead to the trade routes around Africa to Asia.

I will mostly relax.

I left A Coruña for the frontier of Spain/Portugal to break up the long trip south. I stayed in Tui, Galicia, Spain, a very old town that history has abandoned as have the modern residents. Interesting old buildings on the Portuguese route to Santiago de Compostela.

The Albergue Villa San Clemente only costs €10. The place was dark and quiet at night, by day the garden is magnificent. The manager is a gem.

I spent two nights there after a 3 hour train trip. It's possible to get in and out of Tui... just not easy to find out how. I needed the extra time to walk to Valença in Portugal to figure out how. Easy-peasy... just hop on train in Tui, pay conductor (no ticket), leave from Valença to Porto, switch to train to Lisboa. Very easy once one knows how.

I spent a couple hours in Valença before heading across the old bridge. Ate lampreia (lamprey) as it's seasonal then walked around walled, fortified old town.Valença is maintained and touristy. Tui? Vibrant but partially abandoned. Stone endures quite a bit of neglect.

Must go back. San Telmo day is the 28th of April this year... 8 days after Easter... next year? Plus, I didn't have time for tour of old cathedral. The downtown is vibrant enough to hang out in.

Revisiting Valença wouldn't hurt my feelings either.

Train to Lisboa... over 6 hours total. Walked to hostel... a bit of a mistake. Did see some of the festivities though for Liberty Day. The hostel was packed and loud, punctuated by a crash of glass as a window broke. Everyone was okay.

I was stressed as there was no room the next night and the place I wanted to stay in Évora had no bed either. So... where in the Algarve? Decided on Lagos.

The Independente in Lisboa serves a great breakfast. So, after little sleep on the top bunk of three I caught the bus that stops in front of the hostel to get to the bus station. EVA has a top notch bus, even had a stewardess and on board food and coffee. I was impressed. No problem arriving in Lagos and no problem finding the hostel. The manager, Filipa Ferreiz is wonderful.

So... today will be catching up on laundry, shaving, walking around town, planning on doing something tomorrow.

After Lagos I'll go to Évora, then back to Lisboa. Then? NORWAY.