Got the car eventually. We waited 90 minutes in the queue but then they ended up being very helpful. We’d hired a car that was unfortunately too small for the needs of our voluminous suitcases. We now have a Peugeot SUV with an extremely capacious boot.
Craig did a sterling job of getting us South, two hours on the toll road after 15 hairy minutes escaping Lisbon. The car comes with a built in toll transponder, which makes life so much easier than our toll dramas in Italy.
By the time we were looking for somewhere to eat a late lunch, it was after three. Unfortunately and somewhat bizarrely, restaurants down here close in the afternoon, usually between three and seven. We ended up eating in a little uninspiring tourist filled cafe in the middle of an anonymous wee town. By the time we were done, it was time to check into our Airbnb.
The person Rita has been dealing with from airbnb has been extremely attentive, with many multi page emails and WhatsApp messages. There are helpful hints and recommendations for restaurants, etc but also extensive lists of do’s and don’ts. It’s nice to have the use of a whole house but sometimes I pine for the simple days of motels.
The house is in an enormous complex on the coast. There’s no view but it has its own pool, and it’s just a five minute walk to the beach. We settled in and then walked down the road to an Italian restaurant that was highly recommended.
We had planned a big walk today, an early start to beat the heat would have been sensible however it was not to be and it was late morning by the time we set out, Well, we are on holiday after all. It’s a famous walk called The Seven Hanging Valleys, basically walking along the cliff tops along the coast. It was hot and dry and it was quite busy. I’ll attach my Strava map tomorrow if I remember.
It was around six kilometers which we did in a couple of hours, with lots of stops for photos.
We had a swim at the last beach, the water was chilly which was very welcome. It was supposed to be one of the hundred top beaches in the world which seemed a little generous although it looked more impressive looking back from where I was out at sea, the warm orange cliffs are pretty stunning.
After the swim we Ubered back to where we’d parked our car at the start of the walk, and had lunch at a clifftop bistro looking out to sea. I had my obligatory once every holiday toasted club sandwich and it was an excellent example of the genre. A great simple lunch in the heat.
Home for a nap and then dinner at another restaurant down at the beach, sitting at a table outside. Lovely. We’ve noticed a habit at restaurants in Portugal, when you turn up and say you’d like a table for four and you don’t have a booking, their immediate response is always to say no, but sometimes they will then look around at the tables, look at their list of bookings, frown, look at their watch, and then look around at the tables again, and finally say, yes they can fit you in after all, but only outside, or inside as the case may be. If you walk off before they’ve gone through this rigmarole, they get quite offended. It’s quite strange but we’ve seen it too many times for it not to be a thing. Not sure what it’s in aid of, though?