When we were flying in we had excellent views of the turquoise blue lagoon below. As the tide comes in and out at certain times of the day some of these areas are completely dried up but at other times will be completely covered with water.
Once we landed and got checked into our hotel we quickly changed into shorts and short sleeves because the temp was around 73 degrees. It felt so great to finally have some sunshine and warmth on our skin! We were staying right near the center square and marina area in Faro, here are some views from the hotel...
After finding lunch we bought tickets to go out on a boat cruise through the lagoons that we flew over on the way in and to have some free time at 2 islands. Turns out the larger boat we were supposed to go on had some problems so we ended up on a little dingy raft type boat. There was about 8 people total and we got the bench seat towards the back to ourselves, so it turned out just fine. It felt great to be on the water in Portugal!
After about a 20 minute ride through the lagoons we arrived at our first island. Once here we were given some time to get off the boat and wander around a bit. The water was quite chilly but that didn't stop us from getting our feet wet and walking in the sand, it was so pretty!
Below is a picture of the boat we rode on...
The second island was actually a tiny fishing village. Once we were there Brian and I found a little bar to have some drinks. This was the first time we realized how cheap things were in Portugal compared to the UK, our two beers were only 3 Euro!
While we were enjoying our drinks in the sun I noticed that at a couple of the other tables people were eating some strange and interesting looking things...similar to a bean? We weren't sure... Brian gave me some money to go up to the bar and ask the guy what they were and to have some. His English was a bit tough understand, he told me the name twice although I still didn't catch it. I did understand though that the bean looking things were free when you drink there! So I got a little dish of them and even know we had no clue what they were we gave them a shot! When you put them in your mouth there is an outer casing that comes off and you spit out. They were kind of a cross between a bean and an olive, and we thought they were really good! Looked them up later and they are actually called, lupins.
After the boat brought us back in we did some wandering around the town center, Faro is not very big so everything is within walking distance which was nice. Eventually we found neat little wine bar to have another drink at. It was really unique sitting outside at a wine barrel table along one of Portugal's very old streets. Here is also where I tried my first glass of Portuguese famous "green wine." Again I couldn't understand the waiter that well but thought I'd try it out. Turns out it is not actually green in color but gets it's name from the Vinho Verde region in Portugal. It is a semi-sparkling wine and the term green also comes from the fact that is consumed while young, one to two years after its release. I really liked the citrus crisp and refreshing taste, I ended up having a few glasses of this during our trip!
Seafood is popular in Portugal and for dinner we found a restaurant that had an amazing fish pasta (it was more like soup) to share. The picture below doesn't really give you the idea how big it was but it was huge! So delicious...
The next morning the sun was shining once again and we set out for more exploring of the tiny streets...
So many old tiled walls, cool doors and lots and lots of cobblestone...
Even some pretty awesome graffiti down a few streets...
Such old and unique architecture...
And orange trees...
And also trains that run right next to the water...
Our favorite thing about Faro was that there wasn't a ton of touristy things to run around and try to see. We enjoyed just relaxing and not being on any time schedule trying to fit things in. In the afternoon we found a great restaurant near the square to sit outside and people watch. Yes of course more drinks were involved too, this time some delicious gin cocktails and another of our favorites, a cheese and meat board!
That night we noticed people lining the streets near the square looking like something was about to happen so we hung around to watch. Turns out it was actually a Good Friday parade, which ended up being a bit gothic. There were horses followed by one man beating a drum, then people holding candles surrounding a fake casket. Then came Mary followed by two other figures which were too creepy to take pictures of. Even though it was a bit different it was still interesting to see this event taking place.
The next morning we left on the train for Lisbon (separate blog on that part of the trip). Something I haven't mentioned yet is the hairdryer situation that I have encountered while traveling around Europe. I don't have a travel one because it would just take up space in my bag and also require a converter in some places, etc. So I usually just rely on whatever is provided. The picture below shows what I normally have to work with...typically they resemble a vacuum cleaner more then a hairdryer and have funny names like Shaver 2000 and Comfort 2000! They also don't dry worth a darn...Luckily I have fine hair or I'd be there for days, oh well!
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