Lisbon

Great city to spend our last few days in Portugal and there's lots to visit - castles, cathedrals, statues, squares and museums, and many places to try authentic Portuguese dishes. Lisbon has an interesting historical transportation system to move people up and down hills that are still functional today -outdoor elevator and inclined cable cars, which were very popular with tourists. Two days in Lisbon was not enough...got to come again!

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Albufeira and Sagres

Sagres
Sagres was a day-trip from Lagos. Sages sits on a rugged coast with a working harbour (fish boats). There's a large fortress at the point, which was interesting to visit. This included a walk along the cliffs and there were two spots about 100m from the edge that we we could observe the grottos below. It was awesome to see how erosion from waves, wind and rain, over thousands of years, created underwater caves. There were more young people in town, with the beach being a big attraction for the surfers.

Albufeira
Albufeira is a big attraction for tourists and is very lively at night with live music at a few nearby restaurants and bars. And there are so many restaurants/bars we wondered how they make a profit. We asked one restaurant worker and he indicated that they are so busy in July and August, and it is a struggle attracting customers at other times of the year. There are many breakfast and lunch specials, and Happy Hour has made its way to Europe. It's great for visitors at this time of year! The beaches are less crowded and the ocean water is still swimmable. The old town of Albufeira is surrounded by many resort developments and many of these people come to the old town to enjoy the beaches and many of the restaurants/bars. Just to note the strong British presence, with many restaurants serving traditional British dishes, and lots of beer and Guinness being consumed.

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Lagos

Lagos is the jewel of the Algarve, with a medieval wall on one side of the town, a fortress  and a few old churches. But it is Lagos' natural beauty that brings many visitors. There is a long sandy beach nearby, but more spectacular are the cliffs that hug the coast, with miles of trails. The views were incredible and sometimes scary as you felt you could pitch forward over the cliff and down to the beach far below! Nearby there are many resort communities and expensive homes taking advantage of the ocean views. Lagos is very popular with Brits and Europeans, and there are many restaurants, with varying menus to choose from.  We stayed 5 days, but could easily spend a few more days.

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Faro

Faro is a let-down after Tavira. It's old town is not very big and therefore not much to see. The big "thing" to see the "bone chapel" that has the bones of over 1200 monks covering the walls. This was too creepy for us and therefore skipped the exhibit. There are many restaurants and bars outside the old town to enjoy a meal and/or drink, but not much else to do, except go to the beach, which we did on our second day. Faro sits on a delta, and, like Tavira, was known for its salt ponds, which are no longer active. There are many marsh lands separating Faro from the Atlantic Ocean, and one island is connected to the mainland by a bridge. It would have been easy to catch #16 bus from our hotel, but Julie was looking forward to a 7km trek. This was not trivial since not too many visitors walk to the island from Faro, which required research on Google Maps to locate the trails.  We made the trek going through back roads that also cut through the Faro airport. We made it to the island without getting lost. The sun was bright but the ocean breeze felt like we were under shade. It was a great day, with lunch on the beach followed by a siesta!

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Tavira

We had no prior plans to visit Tavira, but a perlegrino we met insisted we go to Tavira to start our visit to the Algarve. We had not heard of this town before, and we were pleasantly surprised. Tavira sits on a body of water that is fed by the Atlantic Ocean, and besides fishing, salt production is important to its economy. This town is extremely popular with Brits and Europeans, and within 5km there are many resort communities.  There are a few historical sites in Tavira, and the beach is very popular, which is on an island that is only accessible by boat. Much to Julie's delight, the beach is long and great for walking. Much to Mario's delight there are nude sunbathers. The Imperial Hotel is in a great location and serving a wonderful breakfast, and Michele has been very helpful.

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Sevilla

We left Santiago at 4:25pm for a14+Hour bus ride to Seville. This was not a fun evening, trying to sleep on a bus that made frequent rest stops.
What an interesting town Seville is,with a magnificent cathedral, museums, old town and old bridges. We spent an enjoyable day touring the town, and stopped for an afternoon snack on prawns and chilled wine and beer. However the town is easy to get lost in, even with a map. None of the streets in the old town go straight. Even though we were close to our hotel it took 30 minutes to find it. By the third day we figured out the street patterns.
There is a Camino de Plata that starts in Sevilla and goes 1000km to Santiago and we decided to walk the first portion. The trek followed the river and after two hours we ended up in the small town of Santiponce that contains the ancient Roman city of Italica. We toured the museum filled with religious relics. Unfortunately, like most other museums, pictures are not allowed.

On the third day we visited the Spanish Palace, which was truly spectacular. It is the most beautiful building ever seen! The palace is huge and on the front-side there is a moat and boats are available for tours. On the last day we toured the city from a different direction and saw their ancient wall going through a residential area. By noon we were at the university, which is also centuries old. Across the street from the main entrance was a bar/cafe filled with students enjoying their beer and tapas. We joined in.

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Back to Santiago

"The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains" is not so! When it rains in Spain it pretty much rains every where. It was no longer fun and therefore we terminated our trek to Finisterre. This is now the second time we've ended a trek in Santiago because of poor weather conditions. We then trekked 12km back to Negreira and took the bus back to Santiago where we met Michael(from Germany) whose goal was also to go to Finisterra.  He was two days in front of us and therefore avoided some of the bad rainy days. We stayed overnight in Santiago and bought tickets to southern Spain in search of sun.

Santiago to Negreira and Vilacerio

Santiago to Negreira (23km)
We left Santiago with a forecast of rain for the next four days, but we were not discouraged. It was our goal to complete stage two of Camino de Santiago - 96km to Finisterre (the end of the earth), rain or shine. The trek went through forests and mountain villages with beautiful rivers. It was a challenge with two hills to climb up and down.  And the descent can be more physically challenging.

Negreira to Vilacerio (12km)
What a horrible morning! We began with so much optimism and within an hour of our trek the sky opened up with a downpour. The trails turned to rivers and small lakes, and the umbrella provided little protection. I felt and looked like Jean Kelly in the movie "Dancing in the Rain". We were soaked through, but we were pleasantly surprised to find a bar and albergue at the 12km point of the trek -10km short of our planned trek. At least we can dry out today and make up the distance tomorrow. I realize now why prayer on the camino is common. As pilgrims we pray for a bar or cafe when we are thirsty or hungry, and accommodations when we are exhausted. Today our prayers were answered.

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