Lisbon and Cascais by train

Heading away from Lagos felt quite sad really. We'd enjoyed our time there and got into the local "groove" quite well, enjoying chatting to the many Americans that had moved in for 10 years and the local folks who tended to the many visitors. However, the wonderful 90 day Brexit limit forced us to head on, and prepare to get the ferry back.

On the way up towards Lisbon, we enjoyed seeing the storks who were busy nesting in the power transmission line pylons. This one only had a few, many were way busier:

We had booked a hotel to the west of Lisbon but on the train line into the city. We needed to cross the big toll bridge so we joined the queue to pay:

and then got promptly confused / lost in the many exits, despite the built in nav system and Google maps on the phone. We ended up going back across the bridge....  Luckily, the toll fee was small so we headed north again, carefully picked the exit and made it to the Hotel Solar Palmerios to find it was wonderfully quiet, despite being next to the main road.  The room was big if a bit tired, the staff and breakfast were excellent as was the parking. Happy to use it again. See their website link for more information.

In need of sustenance, we wandered into the nearby village, gawped at the the lovely tiled buildings:

and enjoyed great food in a newly opened restaurant. Just what was needed after the bridge escapades.

We'd purposefully booked a place close to the Cascais to Lisbon train line. Our first proper excursion was to Lisbon where we happily wandered around enjoying the views:

only to discover we were already running a "straight up" store in the city:

The local shop keepers had a great English sense of humour though:

and the city, bathed in sunlight, showed off all of the beautiful buildings and plazas to their best:

Yes, it is a beautiful place:

even if some of the sales advertising is seriously strange:

One of the iconic things about Lisbon are the trams. they have some old ones to trap the tourists:

and plenty of slightly newer ones that are the backbone of the service:

After a very happy day walking around Lisbon, we opted to head west the following day, to Cascais. We boarded the train and were amazed to find that Donald Trump (only looking a bit less orange) was sitting opposite us:

The expression gave him away although during the train trip he managed to stay awake. Cascais was lovely. Great weather, great place:

In the park, the little lake had one or two turtles that were fighting for space on the rocks to get out of the water:

They sometimes looked like a synchronised not-swimming team:

The local two legged wildlife was unimpressed:

but we found that we had yet another business enterprise here. Our cannabis empire was doing well:

The wander around the town and marina was great. Lovely buildings, lovely weather:

lovely place. We will come back sometime. Has to be done.

Lagos life

Sad as we were to leave the lovely Puerto Banus apartment, it had to be done. Our plan was to head to Portugal, with a stop on the way in  a rather lovely Hilton hotel. When we booked it, we expected a typical Doubletree standard  hotel, which is always fine. This was way better than expected, great rooms, lovely staff. If you are in the area have a look at hotel weblink and consider staying there. We wish we'd booked more than the one night.

The following day we headed over the border, after topping up with fuel that was getting ever more expensive - thank you Mr Trump. Spanish diesel was still cheaper then Portuguese though. We'd booked an apartment in Lagos for a week and were very much looking forward to exploring the area. We had visited briefly last year to meet up with another Nordhavn 47 owner who was overwintering in the marina there. As we had plenty of time to spare before the check-in, we made a little detour and stopped off at Vila Real de Santo Antonio, just over the border into Portugal.

Wandering around the town we were impressed / confused in equal measure by the sculptures dotted around the place:

This one was kind of advertising the shop behind:

We needed a coffee stop and when in Portugal, you have to go native:

The first of many to come we hoped. 

It was a good stop off, sunny as you can see and we walked around the main square and town area, soaking up the Sunday vibe from the locals and what seemed to be way too many UK visitors as well. There is one huge unappealing motorhome site (basically a gravel car park) that was full to the brim. Popular place to overwinter it seems.

Arriving at the apartment in Lagos was a pleasant surprise. Very comfortable place, excellent car park underneath it, well kitted out too. A short walk from the marina and town centre, comfortable and apart from a chilly kitchen, very cosy. We plan to use it again in future.

The bikes were busy once more, taking us to a lovely beach on the west side of the town:

with some beach art too:

On the way back we stumbled upon a rather special café come bistro kind of place. We cycled to it because it had an excellent on-line set of reviews and they were so right.  A nice outside seating area:

excellent brunch type food (the shakshuka eggs were outstanding), friendly service and good coffee too. Have a look at this Sunrays kitchen weblink to get an idea of what is on offer.  The crew looked suitably happy:

We forced ourselves to another visit later in the week under the mistaken belief that the cycle ride there and back would burn off any calories consumed. 

On Sunday in the town centre we bumped into one of those odd religious processions that seems to feature not only the clergy but local scout / guide equivalents, some strange effigies and any other local group that wants to be represented:

Carrying of the cross was well depicted:

and the town turned out en-masse as per this little video clip:

Bike trips to the east were along a mix of gravel tracks:

and rather nice pathways through the local golf course although avoiding the buggies driven by homicidal golfers was tricky:

By foot, the walk in to town was via the marina:

We liked the town centre and harbour area, spoiled only by the number of stalls advertising tourist boat trips and similar. Still lovely though:

In the spotlessly tidy town centre were a few odd statues once more:

and the regulation sports equipment shop majoring on Cristiano Ronaldo. They are ubiquitous. No idea what they will do when he retires. We happily walked, cycled, ate and drank our way around the area. Loved it and some of the people we chatted to as well. the area seemed to have become a haven for Americans who wanted to take advantage of 10 years in a low tax environment. If we could, we might be tempted too. Brexit prevents that. Great place to live.