Another delightful day. This morning we biked up into the hills to the little village of São João for coffee and a croissant. Then down through São Miguel, Budens, then back to the coast to loop back to Lagos. A 38K loop.
Cycling in Portugal is very enjoyable. Cycling lanes are common. On this road, in the photo below, there is no dedicated cycling lane but it is a very popular cycling route. The road is too narrow to allow for a dedicated bike lane so instead two Blue/Green lines have been painted on the road. Cyclist ride on the right side of the road and passing cars are to remain to the left of the Blue/Green line until they are past the riders. When there is conflicting opposite direction traffic, the cars stay behind the cyclist until it is safe to pass. It seems to work very well and it helps reduce the number of number of close calls when cars pass close to the cyclists.
Golf is also a very popular sport here in the Algarve. There are numerous courses. The one in the photos below, Boavista Golf and Spa, is located on the western outskirts of Lagos. There is a large number of houses and apartments located on or close to this golf course.
It looks like that three day unlimited golf / accommodation packages ranged in in price from 193 Euros per person to 247 Euros, depending on the date.
It's nice to be back in Lagos. So far the weather has been great. mostly sunny and highs in the low 20s.
Saturday we got the bikes on the road and a nice warmup ride, about 25K west along the coast.
Yesterday we spent the afternoon walking the trail though Ponta da Piedade. This walk is one of the popular tourist activities in Lagos. For good reason.. it is accessible and scenic. The variety of trails from paved trails to boardwalk to dirt paths that meander to to the edge of the cliffs, there is something for everyone. The trail are also bike friendly. From our apartment it is a scenic 8K loop.
I have posted photos of this park several times before but it is such a nice place, so here are some more. It is especially nice at this time of year when there are fewer tourists. There is lighthouse at the tip of the point, along with a cafe and parking lot.
There is a large grocery store (Intermarché) close to our apartment. Although the prices have risen since last year, they are still quite a bit cheaper than they are in Fernie. Probably around 25% less on average. Wine is much cheaper! There is great selection of fresh produce.
We have been eating one meal out each day so far. Restaurant meals are also much less expensive than they are in Canada. Tipping is a option. When paying by credit card, you are never prompted for a tip. We occasionally tip, when serve is good but even then, only 10% or less.
Our favourite place to eat (so far) is called Sweet Temptations. The name makes it sound like it is geared to desserts only, but it isn't. There is really good variety of sandwiches, meals and salads as well as desserts. The food is always fresh with a loverly presentation. There is a good vegetarian selection as well. It is only open during the day until 7pm.
These were the first two plates we ordered to share. The top plate is a tapa with smoked salmon on cheese and avocado with a small salad. The bottom plate is a goat cheese salad with walnuts and honey dressing. With 2 glasses of wine and a large beer the price of this meal was 27 Euros. (about $40 Can)
There are beautiful flowers in bloom everywhere....
Well... after spending a good part of the winter in Fernie, we are back in Europe.
The plan is a month in Portugal, a month in Spain and a couple of weeks in Italy before returning. We decided to delay our winter trip this year so that we could stay in the EU until near the end of April and enjoy an early Spring, that (hopefully) continues when we get home.
Since we were in Fernie for half of the ski season I decided to take advantage of the super senior season's ski pass.... 99 bucks for the season was too good a deal to pass up, even though I had not skied for 8 years or more. I must say that I was a little nervous about getting back on the boards but I really enjoyed myself.
After the first day on the hill I thought... Wow! this is just like riding a bike. You never forget how to do it. I had stayed on the groomed green and blue runs. On the second day I ventured out onto some un-groomed and steeper slopes. That day did not go quite so well. A couple of crashes brought me back to reality. After that I took it easy and put in time building up some lost skill. I only skied about 10 to 12 short days, but on the last few days I was skiing some black diamond runs, albeit slower than normal and with a lot less grace.
Unfortunately, the ski conditions were not good. Fernie had lots of precipitation. But most of it was in the liquid form. In-between the heavy rain events, we had an extended period of record breaking cold weather. -35 to -40 degree temps that closed the ski hill for 3 days.
My friends started blaming the bad weather on my decision to start skiing again! Hopefully, conditions improve for the balance of the ski season, now that we left town!
Linda and I are currently in Lagos, Portugal. we have been here few of days and are getting settled. Adapting to the time change is always a challenge but biologically we are almost on Portugal time now (+7 hours to Fernie)
We had our e-bikes in storage here in Lagos. We picked them up yesterday, along with a bunch of other stuff. We had to buy a new battery for one of the bikes since one of them died last year. It is our first experience with a major "downside" of E vehicles. To replace the battery cost just under 1/3 of the original cost of the bike. (E600 C$900). If you factor in depreciation, the replacement battery represents about 2/3 of the current value of the bike. (if we are lucky?).
Regardless... you can't comfortably rides these bikes without a battery, so we had to "suck it up" and we had a REALLY nice ride today. The weather was perfect, sunny, about 22 degrees, nice coastal roads, pretty towns, lovely vistas and interesting cafes.
Below are a few recent photos and a video.
The day after we arrived, Lagos was hosting the finish of the 1st stage of the Volta ao Algarve, a professional bicycle race, similar to the Tour de France. The first leg, which was refereed to as a "200 kilometer group sprint" section, started in Portimao and ended on the main boulevard of Lagos.
We were told that the race would end around 4:30pm so shortly before 4 we wandered down to the finish area and found a spot along the fencing about 30 meters from the finish line. Cycling is very popular in all of Europe. Lots of excited people were lined the fencing along the last kilometer. After 200 kilometers of riding, ( averaging a little over 40 kph) the race was won but less than a bike length. The video does not really display how fast these riders passed in front of us.
How's this for a mobile party machine?
it's nice and quiet at this time of year
A couple of shots from our afternoon ride along the coast. These photos were taken from a residential area on the west side of Praia de Luz.
Some of the trails along the coast
This tree caught my attention. Not sure if some branches were grafted to the stump or if they grew naturally. They are evenly spaced around the perimeter of the stump. It will be interesting see what it looks like in a few years.
