We had a nice breakfast at Hotel Star Inn. We shuttled to the airport and started the journey back home. We had to take a photo at a store we saw in the Lisbon airport…a sardine store…lol!
Our trip back was uneventful and it was good to see the pups again!!
We have enjoyed reflecting upon each day. The blog allowed for time of reflection and appreciation for each wonderful day. Thank you all for following along with our adventure in Portugal and Spain.
Alvor felt like a home away from home. Regardless of where we had been on any given day, it was always comforting to return to Alvor. We departed with a smile knowing we had discovered a little slice of heaven in Portugal. We met some beautiful people, consumed some great food and had some wonderful experiences.
See you next time Alvor!
We traveled by bus to Lisbon. The ride was 3+ hours. Knowing we had limited time in Lisbon, we snapped some photos through the windows of our UBER ride when en route. We stayed at Hotel Star Inn which is located just off the Lisbon airport property (nice easy shuttle ride to the airport). We wanted an easy morning before the airport stuff began the next day.
We had a few hours to explore in Lisbon. We saw and experienced Pink Street and the Time Out Market Lisboa (awesome place with very diverse foods!). We met a very nice British couple who sat across from us at the community tables in the market. We discussed the times, family, and had some wonderful laughs! We had a delightful afternoon!
Our last full day in Alvor was the most perfect beach day possible! It was a great way to wrap up a great stay in a great place.
We rented an umbrella and a couple of chairs to enjoy hours on the beach. And finally around 4pm, it became a bit chilly and windy to continue hanging out.
We had an early dinner at 5 Quinas. Great food and they have the BEST red sangria I have ever tasted!
We did not want the day to end…but the reality of “we need to pack” happened. The packing was actually easier than packing to come over as we had a method.
My FAVORITE dish on the entire trip! I had it twice!
Hi Everyone! We have 2 days of pics to post. We are back home safely. We will get the last 2 days of our wonderful trip posted this weekend. Sorry for the delay and stay tuned.
We went on a day long tour today. We started in Silves at the Castle. Then onto Monchique (the mountain is the highest point in the Algarve), into the village for lunch and last stop was a winery, Quinta do Frances, for wine tasting.
Our guide, Fillipe, was very knowledgeable and interesting. Folks from Apex, NC (who would have thought??) and Miami, Florida were on this tour also. We had a wonderful time with these folks!
We had lunch in the village of Monchique at a restaurant recommended by our guide. Mary finally had grilled sardines. Our server was named Mary. And the cat who wanted Mary’s sardines was also named Mary. That was a whole lot of Mary at one time. And I will not even comment on the smell of the sardines (Well, maybe I will) All I’ll say is the cat never left our side until the server removed the sardine bones from our table. And one more comment: I could not look up while I ate my ham sandwich and salad as I thought I was going to puke. All it would have taken was one sardine eye staring at me—I would have been done.
We stopped along the way to photograph some storks. They are protected in Portugal and are abundant near the coastline.
We enjoyed the tour of the small winery. They only sell their wine locally or to Portuguese communities in Europe.
Graveyard in Silves.
Replica of the Silves Fort.
Cork on a tree in Monchique.
Portimao viewed from Monchique
The Village of Sacred Waters since 1495, Roman Times
Monchique is an excellent water source. Water pH is 9.5
The Queen’s chair
Roman table and chairs
Mary wanting Mary to drop a sardine.
Cacao tree
Sign for Quinta do Francês winery, offering tours and wine tastings in Silves, Algarve.
We started our day with mimosas made with freshly squeezed orange juice…love these Algarve oranges!
Had a few morning rain showers…so we delayed leaving for Lagos for a bit. Then we said, ah, who cares…rain 10 minutes then done for about 30 to an hour and repeat—lol!
We planned to hike the southernmost portion of The Fisherman’s Trail. Decided to have a nice lunch prior to the hike. Mary had Sea Bass and I had cheese and spinach cannolis in Lagos.
The we went on our hike: Fisherman’s Trail starting from the Fort in Lagos to the Ponta da Piedade area. This hike out and back was about 4 miles. Most of this section was boardwalk. The views were stunning.
We took another “let’s get a few things done and see what else we can get into” day. We had hoped for a beach lounging afternoon, but instead we had a beach /village walking afternoon. Which was wonderful! We walked 5.7 miles today! We have averaged over 5 miles/day walking.
Of course, we purchased more oranges and some strawberries…omg…the strawberries reminded me of my grandmother’s strawberries, except twice the size. So flavorful and sweet.
I MUST HAVE MORE STRAWBERRIES!! This fruitaholoc is loving life! And Mary (non-fruitaholic) is loving life too!
We ordered “take away” pizzas. We had dinner at our apartment: pizza and a bottle of our favorite Portuguese wine (QUINTA DA LAPA, DO TEJO D.O.C. Selection 2021).
Breakfast of Champions (Portuguese style): Pastel De Nata and Cafe com natas.
We had a storm come through in the wee hours of the morning. 40 mph winds from the south. White caps were everywhere…this beach, at lease what I’ve seen of it, is typically very calm. No white caps. The winds have been 17mph+ all day. The winds are currently calm.
We hung out around the village today. Mary got a hair cut by a Portuguese hair stylist named Esmeralda. She spoke no English so Mary said her translator app sure came in handy.
While Mary got her haircut, I got more steps in around the village.
We had a mid-afternoon (3pm) lunch and it was delicious. Already missing my daily awesome fruit fix—loving the oranges and grapefruit!!
Hanging out at the apartment this evening. We took a 45 minute walk on the boardwalk. The ocean was still pretty rough.
Another day of exploration! Our first stop was at the Algar Seco Cliffs. High cliffs and beautiful water make my day…I absolutely love taking pictures of this type of landscape. Our UBER driver from yesterday recommended we see this area…and he was “spot-on” with his recommendation!
We had lunch at the Boneca Bar Restaurant that is actually in the cliffs. Our lunch view was amazing. At times the waves would hit such that you could see spray coming above the cliffs in front of the restaurant. We were sparkling! We had a glass of sparkling wine and a bottle of sparkling water and in such a beautiful place…how could we not “SPARKLE”?
After a late lunch, we walked along the boardwalk for more breath-taking views. At the end of the boardwalk, we saw the beach in the village. Many folks were enjoying this area as it was a good beach day.
We explored the “touristy” area of Carvoeiro (village). Plenty of retail, restaurants and Gelato shops which of course we had a double cone!
Back to Alvor for the evening. We headed into the village to a Cuban sports, bar/cigar bar and watched the 1st 45 minutes of 2 different futebol matches on their outdoor patio. The bar was on one of the main restaurant streets in Alvor…entertaining as we also watched the foot traffic.
From Lagos we took a tour (approx 4 hours) to Sagres, Cape St Vincent (The end of the world) and stopped at Praia da Mareta. We enjoyed our time with our guide, Rui (pronounced Roy), 2 people from New Zealand and 2 people from Germany. We had a wonderful trip. Everyone spoke English so communication was easy and Rui was very funny and very personable. The cliffs at both locations were stunning to say the least! Every direction we turned left us speechless at the beauty of it all.
At Praia da Mareta we saw surfers and paragliders.
After we returned to Lagos, we stopped in at the XII Festival dos Descobrimentos (festival of discoveries) in Lagos. There were many in costume, folks dancing, and vendors with all kinds of goodies.
We returned to Alvor around 7:30pm for a nice dinner. It was another GOOD day (April 30, 2025).
Cape St Vincent from Sagres.
Cape St Vincent Lighthouse
Lunch in Lagos before the tour. It was delicious! Costa Churrasqueira and Grill.
Viva La Vita 