It has been raining all day. We have an umbrella but the streets are so narrow that any car or truck passing by can soak you to the knees (pants hanging near the register at this time). I have rented a car starting Monday so tht I can compete on a level footing with the other drivers. It reminds me of 'Rainy Night In Georgia - by Brook Benton'.
Have a listen:
Take out tonight: Chicken Korma, Steamed Rice, Potato Samosa, Garlic Naan, Peroni.
Our 1st morning of walk was 2.5 kilometers to the local supermarket to pick up some chorizo, bread, cheese and other staples. We have a Supermercado across the street but the assortment is limited and the prices a little higher. We will buy water there rather than carry gallons of water 2.5K and wine we have found at a great local store. I have downloaded Vivino to help pick wine.
Our 2nd morning of walk - up 80 steps to the crest and then a couple of kilometers on a wonderful boardwalk followed by another kilometer on a path. When we hit a large valley we turned back. We will have a second look at the valley another day with the objective to get by and to continue on for a few more klicks.
The following is a photo of the main street of Carvoeiro. We are on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors of the building with the portrait of a lady painted on its side. The top floor is our terrace (if you look closely you might be able to see a pair of my travel underware drying in the wind.) The owner of our unit also owns the main floor jewellry shop (Carol has already picked out her piece, y'all should send your orders along.)
I am waking up for the 2nd morning in our hotel room in Lisbon, a nice little place that was a useful landing spot after the flight. We were delayed two hours coming out of Toronto so the whole flight thing was pretty tough - a total of 14 hours to get from our home to this hotel room. I do not sleep on airplanes and AirTransat did not have an entertainment system - do not get me going.
These two photos are from the parkette across the street from our hotel.
Lisbon is an old city with tiny apartments. The living room for many of these aprtments is at a cafe in a park. You can see scores of residents of all ages enjoying the company of their friends at the cafe. They were being served small glasses of wine, likely 3 ounces and glasses of beer, likely 200ml. The conversation was lively, the sense of community enormous and wonderful.
We toured Lisbon by Tram yesterday. We took the famed Tram 28 from the cemetery to the castilo, getting off for lunch and a couple of walkabouts. Given our tired state we did pretty well. It is a beautiful city full of crowded, old world charm. I did not get as many photos as I would have liked but we will be back in Lisbon a couple times before we get home.
This morning we will grab an Uber to the train/bus station and catch our bus to Carvoeiro to check into our apartment. Fingers crossed that the accomodations are as good as they looked in the photographs.
For those interested in our plans for Portugal in January and February I am posting the following information:
- Booking Website: www.homeaway.ca I think that it is important that you use the Canadian site so that you consistently get Canadian dollars for the search.
- Town where I have been looking: Carvoeiro, Algarve
- Price Range: $60 - $90 per night Canadian
- The unit that I have booked: I have included this so that you can see what you get for what you give. Regardless of what price is showing on this page, I paid $83 Canadian per night. Our landlord is a PremierPartner which is similar to an AirBNB SuperHost. We stayed with a SuperHost for several months in 2017-2018 in Toronto. I suspect that SuperHosts and PremierPartners try harder.
Our Unit The unit occupies three floors - 1st, living room, kitchen, 2nd bed and bath, roof top terrace.
- Billing Details: So that you can see a sample of the final cost calculation here is the quote for our unit.
I am currently looking for a 2nd month but I am taking a couple of days off to clear what I have seen from my head.
I intend to use the flight application titled "Hopper" to plan and book airlines. They have a unique algorithm that suggest to you not only what flight to take, but when to book it to get the best rates. Speaking of flights, I have not figured out the flights (Faro or Lisbon) and how to actually get to Corvoeiro (bus, mule, train).