More of Lagos

 This is our 7th day in Lagos (pronounced “ largosh “) There are a lot of “sh” sounds in the Portuguese language.   We have 2 more days here before moving on to the other end of the Algarve district. We will take the regional train to Tavira on Wednesday. We are staying in the village of Santa Luzia, which is located 3k west of Tavira.

We are enjoying Lagos.  It is a  nice size, not too big, not too small but with all the conveniences and activities that we enjoy.  There is a great selection of restaurants and cafes both in the tourist areas and in the residential areas. If you like to walk, run, bike, swim, paddle, sail or just relax and read in a park or on the beach, this place might be for you.

Transportation to and from Lagos is great. Both buses and trains service the whole Algarve area and there is a fast train to Lisbon. The Lisbon station is conveniently close to the airport as well.

We rented a couple of ebikes for the last 3 days and made good use of them.  We rode a little over 130k exploring the area around Tavira. We visited several towns along the coast and we rode inland one day. We picked lesser used paved roads for most of the riding. The main 2 lane highway (N125) that runs the length of the Algarve has wide paved shoulders that cyclists can use. It is comfortable riding on this highway as well.

Above is photo or some cyclists who passed me when I stopped to take some photos.  There are some very steep hills. 

Above is photo of a popular surfing beach. Praia Furnas. It is located about 25 k west of Lagos on winding narrow roads. It was a very scenic ride.  

This morning we were out for an early morning walk. Being a Sunday it was quiet. Not many people were out and about. It was a nice cool clear morning. Great for photos. 

I took the next 4 photo while exploring the town.

A couple of nights ago we met up with some friends from Kaslo, Tom and Georgie, who had just completed a week long cycling trip with their daughter, Kelley.  We went to a popular Italian restaurant. Linda and I had noticed that there was a line up every night. The restaurant is run by an Italian family who makes and sell their own pasta.  It is very unassuming and authentic. The food and friendly service was great.  So was the company…

Below is a sign post in front of a restaurant in Burgau.

  

This afternoon we walked to Praia de Porto Mos, a beach located about a 20 minute walk from our condo accommodation. Our condo has a good selection of beach chairs, toys etc. in the garage for renter use. We carried a couple of small folding chairs and an umbrella to the beach and relaxed for a few hour, listing to Radio Paradise.  We had lunch at one of the restaurants (Campimar) at the beach. A nice goat cheese and walnut salad.

There are some interesting eco art installations beside the restaurant. The containers in the photo below are filled with cigarette buts, recovered from the beach.  There are two other. Pyramids contains parts of nets and items fished for the ocean and plastic and aluminum containers left on the beach.

This is a good sign.  I saw it this morning in a café