Well Lagos is a beach resort town after all. We didn’t really loaf but it was a slower paced day which started off with breakfast in the hotel. Apparently breakfasts are commonly included when staying at Portuguese hotels – not so in Spain. And it was an OK breakfast – a couple of cereals, a wide range of different breads and rolls, nicely sliced fresh fruit and tomatoes (always tomatoes), quince paste cut into wedges, cold cuts and pre-sliced cheese, coffee, tea and juices.
Loitering in the morning
After catching up with some Internet “stuff” using the hotel’s pretty dodgy lobby-area wi-fi, we headed into historic Lagos and found a cafe with much better, as it turned out, free wi-fi. We enjoyed a cup coffee, sardines on toast for – you guessed it, Sue – and Len’s first Portuguese tart, as we whiled away an hour or so enjoying the odd linguistic discussion with our server.
Then it was time for loitering through the shops, into a couple of churches and in the small slave market. The first church was the lovely, intimate Santa Maria, and the second was St Anthony’s (Igreja de Santo António), which is a designated national monument. It was both a museum and church. The museum part was a bit of an odd jumble covering 50 rooms, one contained miniature, though not necessarily historically relevant as far as we could tell, furniture made by a local carpenter. Another had gorgeous miniature – large doll sized – costumes from the 16th-17th centuries, all made by the one person. Sue in particular enjoyed that. But the piece de la resistance was the church itself – baroque extraordinaire, with every conceivable wall, ceiling, window highly decorated. There was an arch-shaped array of flesh coloured cherubs, surrounded by wood carvings, on the wall behind the altar. The lower walls were covered with blue-and-white 18th-century azulejo tiles. We would love to have photographed it but this church was one of the very few places that didn’t allow any photography. Most churches and museums have allowed non-flash photography.
After a light snack of a fresh tuna salad back at our wi-fi cafe, a hunt for an ATM, and an icecream for Len, it was onto …
Loafing in the afternoon
Most of the afternoon was spent on a motorised sailing boat on the bay. We saw dolphins, went on a small motor-boat in small groups at a time to explore the coves below Lagos’ cliffs, and generally rested our feet. A very pleasant two hours or so.
Dining differently
Once again Cyra came up trumps with a surprising suggestion for dinner … A burger place called Nah Nah Bah. It’s apparently listed on the top 50 burger joints in the world – and they WERE good. Sue’s chicken breast burger was juicy and had a tangy, but not overly hot, peri peri sauce. By asking them to hold the cheese and eating only the bottom half of the bun, Sue’s skin held up. Len had their award-winning beef Toucan burger.
We finished up the evening with a little bit of shopping and a walk back to the hotel, arriving just in time to see a few group members piling out of a taxi … We enjoyed our walk though and Sue’s blisters are – she hopes – on their way out.
Three-words
LEN: Poms, Sealegs, Sunshine
SUE: Sun, Sea, Sailing
and the stills…
and the videos…
At the Lagos municipal fish market
View of a grotto, from small motor-boat
I think you were unlucky with your breakfasts situation in Spain. I spent 7 wks in Spain earlier this year and only once, in Salamanca, did I not have breakfast in the hotel. This was a small, upstairs hotel in an old building and apparently, putting in a kitchen was too difficult. As for the quality, well thats another story, but the coffee was always good, although the locals always thought it odd that I didn’t want cafe con leche (too milky for my taste).
Sorry David, I should have been clearer. I was tired. I should have said “included in the room rate”. We understand it’s more normally included in the room rate in Portugal, and that’s certainly what we’re finding, but it may just be our hotels.
You had sardines on toast and a portuguese tart? (Or separately, you did, that is.) This makes me so happy so happy. Love you, miss you. x
P.S. The murals are fantastic. Rival Melbourne’s, almost.
Separately yes … And today we hope to go to the home of the Portuguese tart, Belem. We’ll be reporting.
Glad you liked them Hannah … There was one that at first looked like an emu but it wasn’t in the end.
Great photos! Pity about the ubiquitous tomatoes otherwise the food looks delicious…. Take care of those feet and Happy Fathers Day to Len!
Thanks Mary … Yes, Len is getting to eat a LOT of tomatoes! Food is generally good. Feet slowly getting better…just as well!
I had tuna salad as a regular dish while in Spain – you grow to love it, hey? Loved the grotto photos.
Thanks Jenny. Yes it’s a healthy alternative isn’t it, when you want to cut down the meat overload. Like the French Nicoise. I’ve had it a few times too.
A 50 room museum sounds rather large but maybe they were small rooms – an interesting church. Glad to hear Sue’s skin is standing up to the vagaries of the Mediterranean diet and her feet to the cobblestones. Sun still shining here too and wattles blooming as well as the blossom trees. Love all your pictures.
Happy Father’s Day to Len – is it celebrated in Portugal/Spain?
Thanks Mum … I think Father’s Day is probably celebrated in June here like it is I the USA … It certainly wasn’t in evidence here yesterday.