It’s hard to believe that we’re nearing the two-month mark in Portugal, which means we’ll be leaving Lagos shortly. Some highlights from our final few days.
We really wanted to get an Advent calendar for the boys this year, since it’s something we really haven’t been able to do with them in the past. It wasn’t hard in Portugal. They’re all over the place here.
Our Euro-African Journey (So Far...)
Lori and I toyed with getting one for ourselves, but it was easier to just get a chocolate bar (though a calendar would have lasted a lot longer).
A few days ago, we were walking through the main plaza where they were getting things together for the town’s Christmas market. One thing in particular caught the boys’ eyes: a big pile of ice skates.
We returned to the Christmas market today to find a small rink in full swing.
“How can that be?,” I thought. No refrigeration or machinery to keep the floor cold. A new technology, perhaps?
Nope. Turns out, it’s a sort of soft plastic surface made to mimic ice. Noe was the first to pick up on it when he discovered an exposed corner that we all could touch.
A kiddie ferris wheel caught Riley’s eye. We initially weren’t going to bother with any rides…until we learned that everything was free today.
Riley needed a buddy, but the cabins were kid-sized. Noe took one look at the thing and declined, citing safety concerns (a carryover from our time in Mexico, I guess). A similar-aged Portuguese boy had a free seat in his cabin, so Riley agreed to join him.
They both sat there for the duration of the ride without saying a word. After seven weeks in Portugal, I think Riley’s finally come to terms with not always having a common language to communicate in. But hasn’t stopped him from hangin’. He’s been a pretty good sport about it.
The day finally arrived to send off Riley’s letter to Santa. And wouldn’t you know, they just happen to have a direct dropbox straight to the North Pole. Riley was beyond excited.
Noe declined to send a letter this year. We assumed the reason was related to him getting too old for this sort of thing.
When pressed, he told us there were two reasons: That Santa already knows what he wants, and that he already has what he would ask Santa for (getting to spend Christmas with his family (his words, not mine)).
We didn’t know the story behind these chimneys until our last couple of weeks in Portugal.
Most houses in the Algarve seem to have these, and apparently they are not functional chimneys but purely decorative (though I could be wrong).
Traditionally, they served as a symbol of the owner’s wealth and social status. The more intricate the design, the wealthier the family was perceived to be, due to the increased time and skill required for construction.
Back to the Christmas market in the evening for more festive fun.
There was a large structure in the corner that Lori had been curious about. We walked around the front and found a sled hill. Still free, of course. There was only one other kid, so Noe and Riley jumped right in.
Lori and I thought the boys might think it was a bit lame, but the boys had a blast. Who would have thought sliding down a plastic slide on a plastic sled could be so much fun.
Noe saw this book in a used book store and had to have it.
Pretty sure I didn’t read “A Tale of Two Cities” until high school. It didn’t take him long to read it cover to cover—perhaps longer to recount to me everything that happened.
On our second-to-last night in Lagos, we finally got our piri-piri chicken fix. I wish we had found this place earlier.
After 20 years, piri-piri chicken is still one of my favorite dishes from my time living in Mozambique, but not easy to find outside of Portugal and its former colonies.
We took advantage of the warm and sunny weather on our last full day in Lagos to walk the entire length of the boardwalks (and back) along Lago’s 5km-long Meia Praia. Along the way, we waved to the train that we’ll be on this time tomorrow.
No dogs allowed on most of the beaches in Lagos (only service dogs)—an alien concept after five years in Mexico.
This beach seems to go on forever. We hear the water feels very nice in the summer months. Here in early December, it feels frigid to us.
Group selfie at our turn-around point.
Here, we ran into an older Northern European guy who had biked from Albufeira this morning, some 30 miles away.
He had mistakenly thought he could find secondary roads between the two towns (avoiding the main highway), but ended up finding himself bushwhacking most of the way.
He also apparently didn’t have a smart phone or GPS, as he asked us which way town was, and we pointed him in the direction of all the buildings. Interesting guy.
On the way back, we stopped to explore this interesting abandoned structure that looked as if someone at some point long ago had repurposed a disused medieval walled structure into some sort of a residence.
Postcards from Lagos. We’ll see how long these take.
We stopped by the supermarket to stock up on a few snacks and lunch items for the train journey the next day. While there, we came across this crazy machine.
It took us a second to figure it out, but basically you put a pineapple in the door and for €3.49 it peels and slices it for you. Where were these in Mexico!!!?
