We arrived in Lisbon on a packed direct flight arriving at 10:30am. We waltzed through customs and baggage claim, only to wait close to an hour for our rental car. We were on the road from Lisbon for about 3 hours, through boring and arid landscapes. Seeing the cork trees along the road was interesting. Cork is harvested every 9 years from a tree. After harvesting, numbers indicating what year the last time the cork was removed, are very visible on the trunks.
We arrived at our Air BNB apartment located on a hill in Lagos. Our host, Antonio, pointed out the features of the beautifully modern two bedroom flat, after which we went to the neighboring market and unpacked.
It was warm, so we changed and sat on the wonderful balcony with cheese and wine. Soon, we found out the door to the balcony locked behind us, and we were trapped ….. on the 4th floor balcony! Luckily, I remembered that Antonio left his phone number printed on a table. Even more luck, Bob had his phone on the balcony, took a photo of the small phone number sign, zoomed in and called Antonio. Thirty minutes later, Antonio rescued us!! How ridiculous!!
We met our first set of traveling companions for dinner at a great place in town, above a retail store. The food and service were great, and we followed up with a drink on the roof terrace of the restaurant, overlooking the church of St Anthony.
Evening view of St Anthony’s and Lagos rooftops
Night view of famous house in Lagos
Friday morning brought overcast and windy weather, so much that our boat tour of the caves and rock formations of the neighboring beaches was cancelled. Bob and I explored the several beaches and cliffs, one more beautiful than the next. Praia de Dona Ana is closest to town, followed by Praia do Camilo. On the edge of Lagos, Praia da Piedade (meaning Point of Piety), with its majestic rock formations, cliffs and lighthouse, proved captivating yet cold and windy!
We returned the car to our apartment and met the others for lunch overlooking the sea. We did a quick “Rick Steve’s walk” through Lagos stopping at Church of St Anthony to admire this beautiful baroque church lined with 18th century blue and white tiles. Prior to that, the walk took us by the ‘slave market’. Between 1444 until the mid 1700s, over 100,000 people were sold into slavery there, very sad.
A little shopping and sangria finished out the day on Friday. Later, we met up with our travel pals on our way to dinner at Arribale Restaurant. We really enjoyed our dinner at this authentic Lagos open grill restaurant. We loved the coziness of Arribale with the open flame grill, Portuguese tiled dining room with picnic style tables, all with a view of the grill master.
Sea bass from the grill
We finished up the night with a final stop at an Italian eatery off the town center, having a few Aperol spritzes, Negronis and a very small tiny beer. Saturday, we leave Lagos on our way to Albufeira with a pit stop at a winery and pottery shop. Saude’!!!