Lagos

Lagos is a relatively small beach town on the southern coast of Portugal, and it is a common stop for tourists in Portugal's Algarve region. The area is famous for its beautiful cliffs, dramatic rock formations, and clear water.

We arrived in Lagos on Sunday afternoon after taking the train from Lisbon. On the train, we met a nice Scottish woman, Liz, who told me a bit about my family history and gave me some recommendations for Lagos.

This post will be more brief, because inherently, this was more of a relaxing beach stop than a culturally rich city. In short, we went to the beach, went to dinner, slept, and then went to the beach again. Perfect. (Pictures of the beautiful southern coast of Portugal here.)

The beach I really liked was Praia da Dona Ana, pictured below. I went both days and found it very relaxing. At the top of the stairs above the beach, a little stand sold fresh peaches, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and banana milkshakes.

Liz recommended a restaurant called Adega da Marina, which was definitely a local joint. It was pretty much all Portuguese people, and the seating was like a German beer hall. Also, the food was delicious and very cheap. For €9.80, I got salad, olives, bread, delicious roasted chicken, potatoes, a fruit salad, and a small jug of Portuguese table wine. If there is one theme to Portugal, it is that almost everything will exceed your expectations for the money.

We stayed in a guesthouse that was really just a woman's home, but everything was really nice and we had full use of the kitchen. We shared the house with two Slovakian medical students who were quite friendly.

After going to the beach for a couple hours on the morning of our second day in Lagos, we walked back to our guesthouse, got our bags, and jumped on the bus to Sevilla.

At the bus station, before we boarded, Nathan and I met a Canadian couple, Jean-Sebastien ("JS") and Rebecca, who live in Quebec. We ended up splitting a cab with them to get to our hotel last night, and we had a great time with them in Sevilla today. We saw some sites and ate one of the best lunches of my life (pics in a day or two). Hanging out with great Canadians is becoming a common theme of my trips. In Australia last summer, Jen and I spent three days with Mike & Lora from Ontario. Later in that trip, we met up with Mike again in Sydney, and Nathan and I are planning to meet up with JS and Rebecca in Morocco in a couple days. They are also big foodies, so during our discussion of Top Chef and other food-related shows, I told them they need to come visit Jen and me in SF soon.

So in short, (1) Lagos we beautiful, but really the album speaks for itself, and (2) try to meet Canadians when traveling abroad. They're a blast.

Sevilla has been great so far, and I like it far more than Madrid. Today we saw the largest cathedral in the world (by volume), toured one of southern Spain's great Moorish fortresses, and saw a flamenco dance. We also ate tapas for the second and third times in the last two days. I've already selected a lot of pictures for Picasa, and I will write up a post in the next day or two. ¡Ciao!

- R