When we arrived, I was able to get on a two hour boat cruise, and we were situated not far of the coast. I did not take a picture of the boat, but it was a large sailboat that held approximately thirty people. We were allowed to jump off the boat and swim in the water, which was a little bit chilly at first but it eventually got warmer. The water was VERY clear, and you could see all the little fishes swimming below you in the water. Also, they provided us with a tour of the grottos of Lagos, which are small, picturesque caves formed in cliffs found on the shore.
A view from the boat of the cliffs.
After the cruise, my friends and I were bused back to the hotel, which was situated next to one of the best beaches that I have ever visited. It is called "Praia Dona Ana", and it is surrounded by cliffs and even has its own cliff in the water from which you can jump! I was adventurous again, and jumped from it two times (It was only about 10 feet).
That night, we headed to the city center in hopes of having a spectacular dinner, and Lagos did not disappoint. We dined at a restaurant named "El Pescador", where I had a plate of excellent grilled pork, french fries, and vegetables. When we were finished, the guide for the travel group we were with announced that it was her birthday and paid for everyone's meal! I was very excited and thankful for such a wonderful gesture.
On Saturday, we woke up early with a fun-filled day in front of us. The first part of the day, we went to Ponta da Piedade to check out the cliffs. Again, I was in awe of the serene expanse that was laid in front of us. Here are a few pictures:
As rewarding it was to see this area, to get down to sea level, there were several sets of staircases that we had to climb back up when we were finished. Here is one of many of those delightful staircases. On the positive side, I did get my exercise in for the day!
After that, we headed to Meia Praia, which is an expansive, natural beach. We spent about five hours there, and during that time, I managed to avoid getting a sunburn! However, there were a few unfortunate ones in my group that did have the luck I did.
Meia Praia. Praia means beach in Portuguese, which is similar to the Spanish word (playa).
During the afternoon, we went to a restaurant located on the beach called Bahia. There, I tried the salmon sandwich and loved it!
Yummy! It had capers, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, salmon, and a cream cheese spread for a condiment.
One thing that I had learned about Portugal, at least that was common in Lagos, was that there's a sauce called Piri-Piri, and you add it to different kinds of fish to enhance the flavor. This sounds as if it is a good idea, but it had to be one of the hottest sauces I have ever experienced! That is a huge statement coming from me since I am not one to shy away from hot sauce.
One dash of this will send you to drink all the water in the world!
We returned to the hotel after the beach and prepared to watch the sunset at Cape St. Vincent, which was once believed to be the end of the world before America was discovered! When we arrived, we were immediately struck by high wind gusts and beautiful scenery of ocean cliffs with waves crashing into them.
My friend, Macy, enjoying the spectacular views.
The lighthouse
Many, many tourists!
The sun was almost down at this point.
Seeing the sun disappear gave me goosebumps, especially when everyone cheered. It made me realize that there are such beautiful things in life that we take for granted every day, and that if we just stopped and enjoyed life more for the little things, our lives would be just even more enjoyable.
We then headed back to Lagos for dinner once again, and this time we were able to go to a world-renown restaurant called the Nah Nah Bah. The name may seem strange, but the cuisine was casual and contained the best burger I have ever had. It is called the "Toucan Burger" and this is how the restaurant described it: "Bigger and better than ever with tasty home seasoned grilled beef patty, pineapple, tomato, onion, lettuce, bacon, Swiss cheese, and tomato relish". It made me nervous to see pineapple and bacon paired, but I forgot about the unique combination as soon as I took my first bite. I forgot to mention that this burger is rated as one of the top 50 burgers in the WORLD! I am definitely fortunate to have experienced this.
That night and the next day, I was able to explore the center of Lagos, and it was such a cute village. The only significant event was Macy and I were able to try this restaurant on Sunday afternoon, in which I am unable to remember the official name of it, but it is called "the Blue Door" by the locals. The food was absolutely delicious, and was well worth the one hour wait in line. During our wait, we talked to these two Portuguese women from Lisbon, and they were very friendly and funny. The strange thing about this encounter was that they spoke English very well, but knew very little Spanish. I found this to be common for the people who worked and lived in Portugal, and after some research I learned that Portuguese-Spanish relations are civil, yet not as friendly as one would hope for sharing borders.
Below are the remainder of the photos that I took.
Our hotel room with my gigantic water (1.5 liters) in the background.
Kickboxing in the middle of the market
Igreja Santa Maria. This is one of the two still functioning Catholic churches in Lagos. Igreja means church, and the word in Spanish is la iglesia (Can you see the similarity but how it is different at the same time?)
Mercado de Escravos: The Slave Market building. It is was one of the first in Europe. This was such a depressing place to see because I thought about how many people were subjected to the inhumanity of slavery. However, it is important for people to learn about the past so it is not repeated.
Getting excited to eat at the Blue Door. The people seated next to us thought that we were funny taking these pictures.
A round of cheese for spreading on bread. Delicious!
Huge bowl of vegetable soup
Prawns omelette with french fries. Prawns are tiny shrimp (I had to ask because nobody from Illinois knows that much about seafood).
I was sad to leave Lagos, but I am very happy to be given this opportunity. This weekend, I am going to a traditional Spanish bullfight in Granada. I am not sure whether I will like it or not, but I believe that this is perfect for learning about the Spanish culture more. I was told to bring a white handkerchief to wave and a hat to block the sun, but not much else. We shall see how everything goes the next time I write.
¡Hasta luego a todos!
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