Portugal, Part 1

Seth had a race in July at Portimao, which is off the southern coast of Portugal. I really don't know many people that have been to Portugal, so I didn't quite know what to expect. I hesitate to post this because I feel like I'm letting out a huge secret. Portugal is GORGEOUS! It's not crowded, it's not expensive, and did I mention it's GORGEOUS???!!!!

We flew out on Sunday, July 1st. Chris (another racer) and Andrea Wadle were on our flight and we all stayed together. We flew into Lisbon and arrived early Monday morning. We spent the first day (jet lagged) and explored this city. 

 Our first stop was Prazeres Cemetery. There were tons of these above ground tombs that almost looked like small houses.

 Next, we walked to a beautiful old church

I don't recall the name, but like most churches in Europe, it was ornate and makes you wonder how on EARTH did they build this so long ago??

 Across from the church was a neat park, where I tried to replicate the statue behind me. I crack myself up

Then we squeezed on a small trolley with about 246 other passengers. It was quite a hilarious ride

 We had lunch in a square overlooking the water. I had this strawberry tomato gazpacho. YUM!

 A view of Lisbon

 I loved the colors and roofs

Sao Jorge Castle 

 After walking around ALL day long (and taking a LONG walk) to this restaurant the hotel concierge recommended) we finally sat down and enjoyed a lovely dinner.

Cataplana (fish stew in a copper baking dish) is a famous Portuguese dish. We ate SO much seafood on this trip! Food was inexpensive and delicious 

On Tuesday morning, we got some more "things to do" suggestions from this awesome hotel concierge (Andrea and I just loved him)

Pena National Castle 

This is the coolest castle I've ever seen! The exterior colors and tile were mesmerizing 

We ate a late lunch at the castle and then drove to Lagos, where we'd be staying for the remainder of our trip (it was about 3 hours away from Lisbon and 25 minutes to the track). We rented a 3 bedroom condo that was within walking distance to the beach, shops and restaurants.  

This square was right near our condo and we had a lovely dinner that night!

On Wednesday morning, Chris, Andrea, Seth and I went kayaking through the grottos. Wednesday was July 4th. It was weird not being in America on our nation's birthday

 A catamaran took us (and several other couples) out into the ocean and then we followed a guide around the grottos in our kayaks. It was SO fun!

Seth and I jumped off the roof of the boat after kayaking! The water was SO cold! This area was interesting... it would be nice and hot during the day and so cold at night! Europeans love to vacation in Lagos because of how warm it is, but the ocean was NEVER warm. EVER. I mean, it's like mountain stream cold to where it almost burns your foot if you dip it in. Vacationers and locals seemed unphased. 

That afternoon, the 3rd couple arrived (Chris and Harriet). 

I'll continue in another post. :)