Today was a free day, unless you signed up for one of the extra excursions. Here, in Lagos, it consisted of a day boat trip up the coast to some caves. We opted out. No need to test Loni’s seasick patches, and we’ve seen plenty of rugged coastline, albeit from shore. We decided to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast with all the Germans, and just walk about town. For some reason, there was cave-like lighting in our hallway, and I had a lot of trouble just finding the cardkey slot when we came back from eating.
We decided to walk into town, and the shortest route was to cut through the back of the property beyond the pool areas. I liked all the peninsula and lagoon styling of the pool area. We had a second story room in the “main” portion of the hotel. The lounge, however, was just below us on the first floor right where the waterway goes to the building. Just don’t try to go to sleep before 11:00! The Germans loved this pool area. It’s empty now only because this is fairly early in the morning.
In the opposite direction from where I’m taking that pic lies a road, the sand dunes, then the beach. The roadway was our walking path into town which is at least a mile away.
Behind Loni is the path that crosses the tracks and leads to the dunes and the beach. That’s the Atlantic back there (below), not the Med. We’re basically looking SSE, with Gibraltar and Spain to the left (east), and the open Atlantic to the right.
This was a beautiful beach, but maybe May 1 is a little too early for swimming, as nobody was around.
On the way into town you cross a footbridge over the canal that services the sailboat harbors. Loni is waving.
There is little industry in the far south of Portugal, not even fishing. Lagos really doesn’t have much reason for existing beyond the tourist trade. There are boats to take you up the coast (like our tour extra) and of course the promenades are geared towards the sale of endless schlock.
We wandered only the old part of the town and never got close to the high rises that were visible in previous shots. Like everywhere else in Portugal, the mosaic streets predominate.
Poking around, we found a bit of whimsy that gave Loni some ideas to take home.
We were scouting possibilities for dinner, but lunch was also needed. We found “The Garden” which proved to be just the thing. It was run by a family of South Africans from Durbin, who had transplanted to Portugal. Dad was hanging a hammock while the kids were picking loquats from the garden trees. Very laid back. Waitress from Mozambique. Dining a la U.N.
We had the usual bread and olives, some pate and cheese, two different salads, and a warm apple crumble for dessert. Beer for me and aqua for Loni. I think we sat there for two hours just enjoying the peace and quiet.
With not much of historical note to see, we just headed back down the streets and retraced our steps back to the hotel.
Unfortunately, once you leave the old town area, the rest of the walk back to the hotel is in full sun through mostly desolate areas. We were hot and fried by the time we got back, so we just flaked out and read and napped. Loni’s Fitbit showed it was 6,000 steps each way to and from town. That’s enough. When it came time to have dinner, we just couldn’t face the walk back in, and we decided to give the hotel a shot as there was nothing else nearby. The main dining room, where we had breakfast each morning, was a complete zoo with all the German families in full roar, no good tables left, and a pretty mediocre menu. We were pretty discouraged until the hostess told us there was a separate facility in an adjacent room, with a different menu. We followed her through the mob and a couple of doors into a much smaller venue which – blissfully – was serenely quiet. We were only the third couple in there, but after we ordered there was a steady stream of folks from our group and a few Germans. This turned out to be a lucky and wonderful surprise. The food was great! After the usual couvert items, Loni started with a crispy walnut-crusted goat cheese with marmalade and rocket lettuce. I had a coconut-lobster vichyssoise. Yum to both. For mains, Loni had roasted cod in an almond sauce while I had delicious roasted octopus with garlic. Both came with spinach and potatoes on the side. Dessert was a mango panacotta. Despite the service being slow due to having only two waiters for what was turning into a substantial crowd, we were grinning and giggling through the whole meal, and enjoyed the view from our window seat. Thank goodness we didn’t settle for the cafeteria, but why is this place kept such a secret? Not advertised anywhere. A great end to the day. Sorry, I didn’t have my camera with me as we were expecting to eat in the main restaurant.
No comments:
Post a Comment