To the Old World

If leaving Barcelona was bittersweet, leaving Lisbon for me, was not. I was ready to hit the road, upon recomendation from two friends, to Lagos in the Algarave of Southern Portugal.

My expectations were high. I was hoping for an escape from the cities I had seen so far, ready for some hot weather, and a break from the ordeal of travelling. The plan was to take some R&R for a few days.

When traveling, the lows can seem like unscalable, cold, dark canyons. This makes the highs feel like you are soaring like an eagle, in beautiful blue skies, on an warm updraft, without any effort at all. No matter what you do, how hard you try... to plan, to feel comfortable where you are at... things just don´t work out. On the other hand, things do tend to work out, at least for me. When they do work out, there is no rhyme or reason, just blind luck or circumstance.

Concerning our arrival and concenquential stay in Lagos -- where I was looking for a shimmer of a good experience -- I found a vein of pure gold, blinding me with the reflection of the hot, yellow sun. It began the second we stepped off the train from Lisbon with the view of the Atlantic in the background. As usual, we had no real idea of how to get where we wanted to go, but we had something that travellers have, call it luck if you want.

A man asks us when we exit our first train from Lisbon, `Lagos?´ we nod, he hands us a map. Once on the next train we were certian would take us to our destination, the man reappears and wants to know if we have accomidation. We did have a reservation, somewhere. After checking out the rest of the passengers on the train, the man returns (determining us to be good tourist prey) and asks us the same quesion, then gives us his deal. It was too good to pass up, so we miss out on our 10€ deposit and head with this new man.

Manuel. Of all the people I have met, there is a special place in my memories for him. He took us in, Dan and myself, and made it his mission that Lagos would be something to remember. If you ever, ever go to Lagos (which you must) please ask me for his number. As far as accomidating us, he did -- in spectacular fashion for backpackers. It is so nice, and refreshing, to learn about a place you are visiting -- in english no less -- from someone who really appreciates people and the world.

Being from the USA, you are sometimes apprehensive to state your home, not for shame -- for I love the states -- but for how people will accept and treat you (blame this on whatever you want). Manuel and Marie his wife, just like chatting it up with us. They travel the world themselves... through the people that pass through their apartments. Manuel, that man. Like I said before, having good accomidation makes things much better... this was just the beginning.

Our roomates for the first couple days were two Canadian ladies. We enjoyed their company to the fullest. We talked in english, reflected on our travel experiences, playied cribbage and hung out at the beach and roof of our apartment. A very appreciated and fun time, I assure you.

Lagos is a town of 40,000 in the offseason, 400,000 during the summer. Luckily we were here during the off season. This does not mean that Lagos is not a place to behold, just that there are less people and things are cheaper.

The landscapes and beaches are amazing. Pillars of limestone petruding from the surf fill the seascape. The weather, windy but warm. The people, english, portuguese, canadians, americans, italians, germans, spanish, french, tourists -- and everyone is happy, friendly and speaks english.

We have found lots to do, relax on the beach, swim in the fridged water of the Atlantic, browse the small shops, bike around, take lots of pictures, go boating, and surfing. The place is amazing. My travel guide book says you will come for two days and stay two weeks. Well, we planned four days and will spent two weeks, not too far off.

Our departure from Barcelona was bittersweet. We were fortunate to have had a great experience, but were ready for new adventure. The train from Barcelona to Madrid was a breeze. With a short lay over we were again prepared for another night train experience. Upon being shown our sleeping compartment, we were delighted to find we only had to share with one other guy, who spoke enlish, was 20, and from Seattle. The trip wasn´t too bad, besides the beds being too short (they always are) and the hot temperature of the cabin (this seems to be a re-occuring theme on trains) and we made it to Lisbon the next morning.

We had all sorts of time to dispose of as our apartment would not be ready until noon. We strolled around with our packs in the central square (see above), got some eats and proceeded to find our place. The first few hours in a new city, trying to figure out things, always prove to be the most stressful. We were supposed to meet our landlord at noon and found the place, after a fast paced hike in the warm Portugal weather, sometime around 13:00 -- not bad if you ask me. The problem was, we could have shown up at 15:00 and been fine. They were still trying to get things in order from the last resident. It is custom for the renters to have a look at the place before the deal is done. As they were cleaning, we set our packs down, stuck our heads in and though it looked fine. So we went to a cafe with a spectacular view of Lisbon, had a coffee, and returned to settle in.

Let me describe the apartment. It was something around 100 sq. ft. of living space. We had assumed when we looked in that there would be another room around the corner from the kitchen, or something like that... not the case. Have a look (the 'bed' is where the shot is taken):

We couldn´t be upset, when you backpack europe on a tight budget, you cannot be picky. We had a futon with separating cushions, a bathroom you could almost turn around in, a kitchen for one person, and the best part -- a wash machine. So thus we resided for four days.

The sites of Lisbon were worth seeing, however we had our fill of this city during our time there. We stayed in a historic part of town, the only place that the huge earthquake in the 1700´s didnt level. The apartment was below the castle of Sao Jorges, built in the 6th Century, and an impressive site at the end of the day with the last rays of sunlight.

We decided to hike to the Tower of Belem, the symbol of Lisbon and another historic site. On a map without direction or scale, this distance looks small from our apartment. When you make it to Lisbon and get your tourist map, remember, from the Castle of Sao Jorges to the Tower of Belem and back we figured to be 10-12 miles. Still worth it however, because the Monastery of Jerónimos is right across the street along with the Portugal Mariner Statue.

This hike also includes a great view of the Lisbon Bridge and Statue of Jesus, both worth seeing.

One other highlight of Lisbon was a bakery near us, which produced the most wonderful smells, not to mention great tasting sandwiches and pasteries. If you could only scratch and sniff this picture!

Well, that is a lot, and enough of Lisbon. The people here are as nice as you can expect from a 2 million+ people city. We had enough of the big city and were ready to head south to the smaller towns of the Algarave.