two backpacks and a diaper bag

Tuesday, May 29th. Faro District. Yesterday, we went to “The end of the world” at Cape St. Vicente. We also went to Salema and Sagres. Today, we hung around Lagos old town and spent the afternoon at the beach. All these towns/cities are all a part of the Faro District.

The night before last, Arthur did not sleep very well. He woke up so many times. At one point, I was so frustrated with my lack of sleep and my inability to put him back to sleep that I had to hand Arthur over to Sean. I’m usually the one to put Arthur back to sleep, but this time, I couldn’t.

In the morning, we started our drive by visiting Salema. Illona drove, I sat in the front seat, and Sean sat in the back with Arthur. It was a welcomed change.

Salema reminded me of a coastal town that you would encounter when you’re driving up the 1 in California, but much smaller and more cozy. I liked the vibe. It felt so much more welcoming.

We parked the car and walked down to the beach. The sand was so warm. If only the sky was clear…

We got our feet wet and we spent some time walking down the beach. Afterwards, we went into a cafe right by the beach and had some coffee and small bites. At first we sat outside, but when the sun came out, it felt so hot. We were concerned for Arthur, so we moved inside instead.

On the way back to the car, we got Arthur a pair of sunglasses. The sun hitting the sand got super bright, so we thought we should protect his eyes.

From here, we had planned to drive to Sagres, but since Arthur had just fallen asleep before we got in the car, we decided to drive out a bit more further to Cape St. Vincent.

The view there was pretty. Not as nice as Lagos, I thought, but the lighthouse was nice. Before the age of exploration, this area was thought to be “the end of the world.” Now, it’s an unassuming tip of the Algarve region with several souvenir stalls outside the lighthouse.

At first we walked around the area, and then we went into the lighthouse grounds, and then we went out to look at some of the souvenirs. The prices were surprisingly reasonable for a touristy place. But then again, this place didn’t feel touristy at all.

This whole experience so far in the Algarve has felt quite relaxing and very pleasant. I didn’t even notice, but I think we bought into the slow pace of this whole region. We didn’t bother looking at the clock. When we were ready to do the next thing, we did it. Otherwise, we slowly walked and enjoyed the surroundings. I felt free and alive.

And then we went to grab something to eat about 3 km away from the lighthouse. Unfortunately, they only served sandwiches as the kitchen was closed. We were hungry so we didn’t mind the sandwiches.

After the meal, we headed to Sagres fortress where Henry the Navigator built a school that supposedly educated many famous explorers. When we got off the car, Arthur was still asleep. We had put him to sleep at the end of our late lunch.

It was super windy! When the sun was out, it was nice and warm, but when the cloud covered the sun, it was super cold. The wind was blowing in all directions. When Arthur finally woke up from his nap, I didn’t want to take him out of the stroller because it was so windy, but he was super cranky. So we tried our best to keep him as warm as possible in the carrier.

We walked around the whole fortress area. All the way to the end.

It was beautiful and peaceful. One time, as we walked down the path from the end back to the entrance, I looked around, and there was no one in sight other than the four of us. It felt like we had the whole caps to ourselves. I was surprised by the lack of crowd around, but also thankful for the solitude.

From here, we drove back to Lagos. It was only a 30-minute drive. For dinner, Illona and Sean went to go get a take-away from a recommended restaurant while I put Arthur to sleep. Apparently, the owner of the restaurant was super nice. While waiting for the food, the owner offered them sangria, and he gave them a super good bottle of wine to accompany our dinner. I told Sean that he should write about his experience in this blog. Hopefully he will one day.

Today, we decided to hang around Lagos. We explored the old town area first and then we went to the beach. But we started the day quite late.

Online, we read that Lagos was the first European town to have a slave market. The building believed to be the site for the slave market was now a museum to remind people of a very dark history.

We decided to head to the museum first. When we got there, they were about to close for lunch. They were not going to open again until 2pm.

This was a great opportunity to walk around town.

The streets of Lagos was small and narrow, with either cobblestones or small limestone walkways.

For a town filled with tourists, this place didn’t feel touristy at all. There was still plenty of room to breathe and move around and explore.

We sat down in one of the cafes on the Main Street to have some sangria. We sat outside in what we thought was a pedestrian zone since the road was quite small. However, we quickly found out that cars could still come by. Every now and then, there would be a car or motorcycle passing by.

We did some shopping after the quick break. The main drag was small but lively. Sun was shining, musicians busking. The air felt so fresh.

It was 2pm and we decided to head back to the museum.

I had expected more from the museum. It was not as informative as I had hoped. One of the exhibit told a story about an eyewitness account of the slave market process. He described how the children would be forcibly separated from their parents as they arrived at the harbor. I couldn’t imagine what that must have been like. Not only were they being treated as possessions, but they also were forced to be separated from their family. And those little children! Oh my goodness!

After the museum, we walked back to the apartment. We grabbed our beach gears and made our way to Pinhao Beach.

Beautiful.

All around the beach were these massive rock formations. And some caves connecting the various beaches.

We made ourselves comfortable on the sand and just sat there for rest of the afternoon.

It was a lazy day filled with conversations and quietly watching people.

For dinner, we went back to town, and had dinner at Casa do Prego. Great ambience, friendly service, and super good food. I’m glad our Airbnb was in a convenient location. 7 minutes for old town and 7 minutes from the beach.

I’m glad we stayed in Lagos these past few nights. The Algarve is just so beautiful. It actually reminds me a lot of California but less polished and more natural. I could totally see myself coming back here in the future.