Turns out that when you are back home, your ability to write a post drastically shrinks. It's been a month since we've been back from Portugal, and yet, this one has been sitting in my draft for quite some time now.
Week 2 of the Portgual visit, we made a 3-hour drive to Algarve-Albufeira of Faro District. It is a beautiful coastal region for its beautiful beaches and cliffs, becoming a popular summer destination over the years. Our Airbnb was in Albufeira, but we explored Lagoa and Monchique during our 1-week stay.
Something that Nan, my brother-in-law, wanted to do was see the Benegail Cave. A typical way to visit is usually on boats, but you don't actually get to set your feet in the cave, so with Nan's insistence, we went with the kayak route. This decision ended up being a fantastic experience. The weather was very pleasant (in the 60s) and despite the initial chill, the ocean temperature didn't feel cold. Not a kid-friendly activity, so the girls got their beach time with their grandma nearby.
Kayak Tour
Grandma and Richard hung out with the kids on the beach while I kayak tour took place. We booked the tour with Kayak Adventures Lagos - Kayak Trips led by Bruno and his wife, Ana. Born and raised in this area, they were informative, often times humorous, and guided us safely. Despite only kayaking a couple of times before, I didn't feel nervous at all. There is also a paddle board option as well. The tour took about 2 hours. Burno takes pictures throughout the tour and will share the original size/quality electronically within 48 hours. There are many boat tour options as well, but if you really want to check out the cave in person, I highly recommend the kayak option as the boats can't actually land in the cave.
Boat tour
We did do a boat tour as well to see the coastline and the unique cliffs that make this area popular. This one was a much shorter tour, only lasting about 45 minutes, but we got to experience the thrill of choppy waves and high-speed ride. Zoe absolutely loved it, while Zaylee just tolerated it. There were many beautiful beaches simply tucked away like a part of a movie scene, but supposedly they all get completely filled up during summertime.
There is absolutely no shortage of viewpoints, so I highly recommend checking a few places out. The pictures you see were taken from Ponta da Piedade. At this particular place, you can take steep steps down to get to the ocean - I did not do that because I was wearing the wrong shoes and also felt off balance with Zaylee being carried in front of me, but according to my MIL, it was a neat experience and lots of leg workout.
Downtown Algarve is quite urbanized and tourism is quite evident by the endless restaurants and bars catering to Americans (think burgers, pizza, and etc.). Of course, we had none of that because we are foodies and determined to eat local food, but we did enjoy walking around the empty beach and another viewpoint. There are certainly benefits to visiting a country during the down (tourist) season - it was much more pleasant to walk around.
The rest of the photos are a random collection that captured some moments of our time in Algarve. Being an avid Aldi shopper in the states, I was eager to check out the Aldi in Europe and didn't disappoint at all. The selections were so much more interesting and the variety of seafood they sold was incredible. I especially loved the ability to get freshly squeezed orange juice!
Some of the restaurants we went to and loved are:
Foz do Banho (in Monchique, we stopped by at this place on our way back to Azeitao)
Copos and Petiscos
O Perceve Mariscos - home-cooking style restaurant
There are so many photos and experiences to share, but I'll have to stop myself so it doesn't turn into a novel. Hope this gives you a good glimpse of what southern Portugal has to offer!
