Portugal Trip - Lagos
Cafe do Mar Restaurante Bar
We drove and talked for 2 and a half hours from Lisbon to Lagos. Chris picked out and led us to a restaurant with great food and perfect views of the ocean. We sat down and ordered and I kept commenting on how perfect the temperature was. It was such great atmosphere. I ordered a sandwich and sweet potato fries and loved both. Chris and Scott ordered burgers - complete with corn which Scott couldn’t quite keep inside his bun. Elisha got a big salad.
After lunch we walked down the stairs to get our feet on the sand and explored the beaches connected by tunnels.
The Dona Ana Beach
After lunch we headed back into the town to check into our apartment, where we changed into our bathing suits and headed back to the car eager to find a beach. We decided to try Dona Ana Beach — the largest of the Ponta da Piedade coastline and ‘one of the finest beaches of the Algrave’. Scott and Chris braved the FREEZING cold water, but Elisha and I only went up to our ankles. The turquoise water was beautiful and it was fun to walk by the water’s edge looking for shells and enjoying the warmth.
We sat on our towels and had great conversations about marriage and each of our kids - which was so fun. It was nice to have a day to relax and talk after a busy day in Lisbon. We ended up moving our towels up a couple of times as the sun slowly went down but then relented and headed back to the car.
Ponta de Piedade Viewpoint
After our time on the beach we got into the car and headed west to the Ponta da Piedade Viewpoint which offers great views down on the dramatic rock formations offshore. This area was a ‘must-do’ as we researched the Algave Coast. We wandered around the top of the bluff to take pictures for awhile as the sun fell into the ocean. Love that sillouette picture of Chris — of course he’s holding his video camera!
So cool to see the jagged coastline from above. Then we walked down the stairs to the water level and even climbed over the walkway down onto the sand for a better look at the formations up close. Because it was low tide we could walk through the tunnels and play on the rocks. It was pretty incredible. Definitely a great way to end the day.
Instead of head back to our hotel to change we decided to just grab dinner on our way back. Elisha’s brother gave us a recommendation of a restaurant in town that they had loved while living here. When we were seated Elisha mentioned her brother and sister by name and the owner, a woman, was so excited she gave Elisha a hug. Portuguese food is 95% seafood — all kinds of interesting things like octupus rice, and barnacles. Yikes. So Chris and Scott ordered steak - this time Portuguese Style, which meant it came with a sunny side up egg on top. And Elisha and I ordered chicken breast. We’re just not very adventurous. Haha We were tempted to change our fries to small round potatoes since we had liked them so much the night before but the owner convinced us to stay with the fries telling us all about the little old woman who came in to peel potatoes all day for homemade fries. Ok, ok! Our meal was good but pretty bland since our chicken and fries came with no sauce. I ordered my second soda of the trip and was again disappointed. Fanta in Portugal does NOT taste like Fanta in Germany. A little too flat for me. After dinner we headed back to our 2 bedroom apartment to shower and hang out.