Salema >> Huelva >>and on to Seville
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| Revolucion Bridge April 25 |
We headed out from Lisbon over the April 25 Bridge and toward the Algrave region. The Algarve is Portugal’s version of the French Riveria with Lagos being the boating centre and Faro the place everyone flies into.
We chose Salema, partly because of advice that had said how it was off the beaten path and we had found a good place to stay there.
Well as it turned out the place to stay had gotten a whole lot more popular and pricey so we inquired in town and found another apartment, 2 bedroom with kitchen, balcony, etc. for 45E a night, stay as long as we want.
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| Sole for her |
So we grabbed showers, headed for the beach, showered again then went out for supper the first night at AL BOIA and had a great breast of chicken in port sauce with mushrooms which was excellent and then later enjoyed the remainder of a bottle of Monte De Almonte we had taste tested at a wine store in Lisbon, a Tinto reserva wine 2009, which was excellent.
Then the next morning we got up, and went to the beach for the whole day, then went out for supper, this time Sandra had a whole ‘Sole’ fish and I had duck. Both were excellent. Finally the third day we decided we should look around a bit so we drove to Punta Sagres which
Portugal’s beer is named after.
Sagres and the fort were where Prince Henry the navigator chose to train all the mariners who would be responsible for leading the discovery of the naval route to India which made Portugal a major power in the mid- 1400’s.
We checked out Punta Figueira which has its own tiny little beach, which appears to be more of a clothing optional place. No signs other than the lack of beachware. I think we’d have ordered a pair of 7-up’s if there had been a café there., er.. I mean a couple of Cokes.
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| 3 Canadians on Bikes |
We’d use the kitchen for making breakfast each morning and sitting out on the sun drenched balcony before it got overly hot. It got too hot by 8:00 am, then we’d go to the beach, then siesta, then repeat again. Portugal is a very difficult place to……….. leave.
Finally on the 4th day we spent the morning at the beach, shower, and head out just before noon and go to Lagos where Marc Antoine from Quebec City flags us down as Canadians. We exchange travel stories and places to see and stay, swap email addresses and moto shipping info, and we are off to Huelva Spain, where Christopher Columbus sailed to the America’s in 1492. There at the foot of a monastery is a dock where replica’s of his 3 ships are floating. An excellent showpiece. When we went to pay to get in we presented the good old VISA card and found out their VISA reader was down, so we got free tickets to the exhibit!
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| Columbus' Boats in Huelva |
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| Sandra on the Santa Maria |
After spending a couple of hours there and finding that Huelva was this huge shipping port and very hot we decided we’d head out to Seville where Pat and Belinda had told us about a place they stayed and actually stored their motorcycle for a year.
We got in after ¾ hr of roasting driving in the heat and checked in, turned on the AC, found cold pop and chilled for most of the evening. Unable to find a restaurant open we walked up the street where our saviour was believe it or not, Burger King. First N. American type food in 1 month. It was very good too!
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| There apparently were more clothing optional beaches in Columbus' time |
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The workhorse taking a
well deserved break in the 35C shade |
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