Where: Salema, Portugal
When: August 28-31, 2012
With: Dave
To end our incredible road trip through Portugal, it was high-time we had some serious relaxation. Where better than on the beach? And our destination was well-known to the Brits, but relatively unknown to us Americans: the Algarve, on the southern coast of Portugal.
We woke up much earlier than was desirable on this vacation (6am) to start the drive south towards the coast. Watching the sun rise over the rolling hills of Portugal was an excellent way to say goodbye to the highways that treated us so well over the last 10 days. An occasional castle on top of a hill was like the perfect send off.
We knew we had hit the bottom of the country, where the cheesy signs and British tourists let us know we had arrived at our final destination.
When: August 28-31, 2012
With: Dave
To end our incredible road trip through Portugal, it was high-time we had some serious relaxation. Where better than on the beach? And our destination was well-known to the Brits, but relatively unknown to us Americans: the Algarve, on the southern coast of Portugal.
We woke up much earlier than was desirable on this vacation (6am) to start the drive south towards the coast. Watching the sun rise over the rolling hills of Portugal was an excellent way to say goodbye to the highways that treated us so well over the last 10 days. An occasional castle on top of a hill was like the perfect send off.
We knew we had hit the bottom of the country, where the cheesy signs and British tourists let us know we had arrived at our final destination.
We then said our farewell to our little rental car that chugged along so well throughout the journey. No accidents and only one roll down a hill - success! From the car rental at the Faro airport, we took a cab to our final destination of Salema. Salema is nearly the last town all the way west on the southern coast. It has a population of next to nothing (about 500 people) and was the perfect sleepy little beach town we needed. Our hotel was located up on top of a hill overlooking the water, with a balcony made to enjoy the views, day and night.
It was the perfect beach town for us, with only 10 restaurants, 2 bars, and a lot of beach. The traffic was nothing. Lunch everyday involved icy cold beers just off the beach. And dinner involved incredibly fresh seafood. Our favorite restaurant was called Restaurane O Lourenco and was a tiny mom-and-pop just up the road from the beach. Each night, they served the catch of the day and many of the patrons were locals. We ended up going for dinner two nights in a row.
The beach itself was stunning. Blue water, high cliffs and relatively few tourists. Every morning, I secured a chair and palapa right in the first row of this little clump (the little cabana man saved me a good spot every day). We just sat, tanned, swam, read, lazed, and napped for 3 days straight. There were activities in the area, hikes and sites...we kept saying "maybe we'll go later", but later never really happened.
Two really happy people enjoying their last couple Portuguese days.
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