Last day, Impressions, thoughts about the trip

Here it is October 25th and I am just now doing the final entry for this trip. Perhaps that will be okay since time will have allowed my impressions to gel and I'll have some perspective on the trip. It is always hard to say good bye and have the trip end. We are like a little family during the 11 days we are traveling together. I feel like I am in a bubble, a very happy bubble where cares and worries stay on the outside of the bubble. I can't do anything about them so I can just stay in the present and enjoy each day of the trip as it comes with every day holding unexpected surprises and pleasures. It is not as hard to say goodbye to this group because I know we will be seeing them again. 

We have breakfast together in the hotel dining room. It is packed with tour bus groups when we go in but then clears out. It is a fabulous breakfast. Philipp sits with Dave and me so we have one last chance to visit with him. He is going to see if he can arrange for the bus to come a little later since none of us are going home today. He tells us later that it will come at 3:00. We walk around a little and have lunch with Kathy and John, Susan, and Trisha. Of course, I enjoyed seeing Philipp again. I also enjoyed getting to know Luis Pagado, one of our Portuguese leaders. He is a smart, articulate, knowledgable person who knows his history of Portugal and presented it well to us. 

He so obviously loves his country and wanted to share it with us. 

The ride back to Lisbon takes about three hours. I enjoy my final looks at the landscape we have just passed through on our bikes. I have learned so much about Portugal and would recommend coming here to anyone. The people are very friendly, the food delicious, lots of English is spoken, cost is economical compared to other Western European countries, and it has such a rich history.

We have a final dinner at our favorite little restaurant near our hotel, As Velhas (meaning "two old women"). We are a group of 8 - Kathy and John, Dave and me, Sarah and Thomas, Susan, and Trisha. The proprietress is friendly and attentive and comes by our table frequently. In response to our questions, she tells us the history of this restaurant which has been in her family for several generations. It is a very nice time and a good way to end the trip. 

I will say goodbye for now. It has been a wonderful time.

Last day - Cycle to the "end of the world" - Cape Sagres, Cabo San Vicente Lighthouse

We have a 44 km day today, our last of the trip. It is a steep uphill out of the village where we stayed last night. We are still in the Algarve. We do a "lollipop" loop ride at Vila do Bispo to the beach and stop for coffee. We are all feeling nostalgic for the end of the trip. We have travelled like a little family together for 11 days and it is sad to leave our little cocoon. 

We stop at a big ceramics place and then ride to Cape st. Vincent, the southernwestern most point in Europe, the "end of the world," when the world was thought to be flat. It features a lighthouse and a fortress, and is a wild and windswept place with beautiful views of the ocean, and big cliffs. We see a lone fisherman high up on a cliff casting out a very long line into the ocean. One wouldn't guess that this desolate, forbidding place was the site of two of the most significant events in maritime history. What happened here six centuries ago led to the discovery of the world as we know it today. Until the 1400s no sailors dared venture beyond this point but the 1400s saw the world opened up to discovery, exploration, and settlement. All this was due mainly to Portugal's scholarly Prince Henry the Navigator (1377-1440). Prince Henry established a navigation and seamanship school near Cape St. Vincent, probably the world's first research and training institute. Men like Magellan, de Gama, Diaz, and Cabral learned their seamanship skills here before setting out on their exploration outages to unknown parts of the world. 

There are quite a few hills on today's ride and we go through a 2 km awful gravel area. I am glad to be on the e-bike with its front suspension and wider tires. I don't think I could have done it on a regular road bike. We arrive at our hotel on the water in Sagres and turn in our trusty bikes. We have ridden 640 kilometers or 400 miles. Our hotel is very nice, memmo Baleeira, a four star hotel right on the water. It was redone just a few years ago and is modern and sleek. We are always glad when everyone comes in safe and sound. I think we just had one flat tire at the very beginning of the ride.

We go to lunch at a fish place nearby and then to the indoor pool where the water is a little warmer than the outdoor pool. We meet at 6:00 for a white elephant exchange the leaders have organized. They have shopped throughout the trip for little gifts.which they have wrapped in fancy newspaper wrapping paper. Each person took a number, traded gifts, etc. it was silly and fun. Our last dinner tonight is at a restaurant nearby - mar Vista. I sit next to Luis who tells me a poignant story about his 14 year old daughter who has juvenile diabetes. Luis and his family have not been able to afford a pump which would make life so much easiest for them and for his daughter. A doctor and nurse were on the last Porrugal trip. At dinner, they were just talking about general health issues and when diabetes came up, Luis said he had personal experience with that and told about his daughter. The next morning, the couple said they were buying a pump for his daughter! He is so appreciative.

 It is always sad to have the trip end yet I ready to be off bike. Breakfast tomorrow will be our last meeting together. It has been a wonderful interesting trip.

                                            Getting ready to go

                                                     Pottery shop

                                       The "end of the world" - Cape St. Vincent

                                            Lighthouse at Cape St. Vincent

                                                We made it!! 640 kilometers 

Bicycle the Costa Vicenta National Park - beaches, sand dunes, and surfers

Today we are in the Algarve district of Portugal. Our ride today is 77 km. As we cycle through the Costa Vicente National Park, the scenery keeps changing. There are more and more eucalyptus trees while pine and acorn trees lessen. We stop for lunch in Igreja Nova/Aljezur. Terrain today is rolling hills some of which are quite steep so once again I am glad to be on the e-bike. I could do these hills but appreciate arriving at our destination not totally wiped out. It is a long downhill ride to our hotel/village.

Our hotel for tonight is actually a village that was abandoned and turned into a hotel. Only seven residents still remain in the village. The Pedralva Village was a pile of ruins. It used to have up to 100 villagers. Someone bought the whole village with the idea of turning it into a hotel and spent two years tracking down 220 owners and their heirs who now lived in Portugal, Germany, England and France. It took two more years to rebuild the village, keeping the original design as much as possible. It opened in 2009. How interesting is this!? We each have a house completely equipped with a kitchen. The bedroom is upstairs. (See pictures.) The village is on the side of a mountain so the streets are narrow and winding and go up.

Our leader, Surfer Luis, leads a yoga session by the pool. The evening is lovely and we all appreciate doing some stretching. Surfer Luis, the nickname we have given him since two of our leaders are named Luis. Apparently, Luis is a very common Portuguese name. Surfer Luis is a lot of fun and has an infectious laugh. He was in the Seoul Olympics in surfing. He continues to be very fit and the women in our group are having their pictures taken with him. He tells us that yoga has been his salvation in dealing with various injuries. He isn't as intellectual or knowledgeable about history as the other Luis and Philipp, but he is a nice counterpoint to their more serious natures.

We have dinner at the hotel. I am thankful that most of our meals on this trip have been served family style so you can take just what you want. There is always too much food. We have chicken for the first time with Piti Piti sauce on the side. I try just a small amount and it is so spicy hot that my mouth explodes! No more of that for me. Glad they served it on the side. I enjoy a nice visit with Philipp at dinner. We talk about future ideas for trips among other things.

                                               Linda with Philipp

                                               Our yoga session with our leader Luis

                                The winding streets of Pedralva Village

Bicycle the coast of Portugal; in Costa National Park

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAI!!

The Southwest Alentejo and Vicente Coast National Park is the finest preserved stretch of European coastline, covering over 100 km, from Porto Covo in the Alentejo, to Burgau in the Algarve. The landscape is marked by steep cliffs. Many bird species live here including the white stork. This is the only place in Portugal, and one of the last places in Europe, where otters can be seen. The beaches, popular among surfers, are the finest in the country.

What a lovely day we have today. It continues to be warm and sunny though in the 80s not 90s. We have a relatively short day, 52 km, so there isn't a big rush to get going. We ride a kilometer or two inland from the ocean so don't actually see it until kilometer 20 when suddenly we come to the ocean in the city of Villanova de Milfontes. We enjoy the view and stop here for picnic supplies, then ride on to kilometer 35 where there is a very beautiful beach. We take our stuff down to the beach and have a grand picnic. I love these kinds of picnics. Everyone brings something and we eat a little of this and a little of that.

 

We take off shoes and socks and walk in the water which is quite cold. We write write Kai's name in the sand and make a little video to send to Kai for his birthday. We ride 15 more kilometers to our hotel. This part seems long. I am tired and ready to be done. Our hotel is a Rural Turisme hotel out in the country. It is absolutely gorgeous. There are little two room cases spread out over the property, a beautiful swimming pool area and a lanai to sit and enjoy a drink. 

We have a cooking lesson at 4:00 with a chef in the lanai area and make apple pie, coconut pie and chocolate mousse. We participate in making the desserts. What fun!! We have never had a cooking lesson on our bike trips. The chef doesn't speak English so Luis translates. 

We have our briefing in the lanai area and watch the beautiful sunset. Dinner is in the hotel in an intimate dining room. Food is delicious and we are served the three desserts we made in the afternoon. They are beautifully presented.

                              View of ocean in city of Vilanova Milfontes

                                        Our picnic on the beach 

   

                                             Our hotel casa

                                              Making desserts. Here is the apple tart

                                          Birthday message for Kai

                                                Hotel swimming pool

                                                  Beautiful sunset

                       Our three desserts

Cycle to Porto Covo, next to Sines, birthplace of Vasco Da Gama

Weather starts out cool and overcast this morning. I appreciate the cooler temperatures for riding. We get started about 9:00 for our 63 km ride to Porto Covo on the Atlantic coast. I am on the e-bike again and appreciate the boost up the hills in the early part of the ride. Eventually, we go downhill and that I can do on my own. I am feeling more comfortable on the e-bike and managing the handling of it a little better on land. It is still clumsy and awkward though. I am aware of the weight of it even when riding. I try to go up the hills as far as I can before turning on the motor but, because of the weight of the bike, I believe the boost is really necessary. Kathy said she agrees. It's just part of it. I get so I am not so reluctant to turn on the motor and use it when I need to to maintain a smooth cadence. 

The landscape has changed. We ride through forested land which is welcome after the arid terrain we have been riding the past few days. We stop for coffee but actually have two scoops of gelato. A delicious snack! We arrive in Porto Covo about 2:00 and immediately go to lunch. This is a small, quiet beach town off the tourist route. The buildings are mostly white with blue trim. After lunch we ride on a road along the ocean to take in the beautiful views. It reminds us of Monterey. Our room tonight is in a typical beach hotel. We actually have a small apartment and can see the ocean from our window. Dinner is on our own tonight.

We can see the harbor city of Sines in the near distance. It is the birthplace of Vasco da Gama who discovered a maritime route to India. Sines is now a big industrial city.

Our hotel tonight is not fancy but is a typical beach hotel. We actually have a little apartment with a living room, kitchenette and bedroom. Lots of space to spread our stuff out.

At our briefing tonight, the leaders surprise Sari with champagne and a chocolate cake for her birthday. We sit out by the pool on a very nice evening. Dinner is on our own tonight and we join up with Kathy, John, Trisha, Tall Luis and Philipp and go to a little local spot where most of us have fish for dinner. 

                                   Seaside town of  Porto Covo

                                                 The Atlantic Ocean

                                              The e-bike I have been sharing with Kathy

                                           Sunset on a lovely evening

                                                A champagne toast for Sari's birthday

Ride to coast and picnic lunch; 50th anniversary celebration

The day sheet for today is all wrong because everything is changed. We do an out and back ride to the beach at Carvalhal for a delicious picnic lunch organized by our leaders. We sample local cheeses and Tall Luis grills local sausages in a grappa grill. It is a small ceramic dish which is filled with grappa and lit to grill the sausages. (See picture.)  Isn't that a good use for grappa? It is a beautiful beach, almost empty today on a Monday. The water is cold. I do enjoy putting my feet in. Susan and Dave throw the football on the beach. 

I ride the e-bike all day. It's really great! It was very windy coming back and rained a little. It would have taken me much much longer to get back and I would have been exhausted. As it is, I get back with time to relax, shower and have a few minutes to myself. It only rained a few minutes but it felt great! The cloud cover made it a bit cooler which I appreciate. We ride a total.of 70km today.

What a magical special evening we have! We meet on the patio area outside of our rooms for a port wine tasting before dinner. Philipp talks about port and we sample a white port, a tawny port and a ruby port. He toasts to Dave and me for our 50th anniversary and I tell about how we met and pass around some pictures from our wedding album. Jim and Sari sing two songs for Dave and me with Jim on the ukulele of course. We have dinner at the hotel and the food is really good. We seem to have the whole place to ourselves which is nice. A selection of desserts is served buffet style. 

As we are finishing dinner, Philipp says they have a surprise for us and introduces two fado singers! The woman sings and the man plays the accordion. Tall Luis tells a little bit about fado singing. Explains that there are two types, Lisbon style and Corimbra style. These singers do the Lisbon style. What fun! Fado singing is traditionally sat yearning singing but as time has gone on there are happy songs too. This is "party" fado. At one point Small Luis gets up and does a duet with the woman. Then, Jeanne Evans does a dance with Small Luis. Finally, they play a slow song we can all dance to. I dance with Philipp as well as Dave. I had told Philipp I hadn't yet heard any fado singing and the leaders went to considerable lengths to arrange this! It was a wonderful, wonderful evening! 

Unfortunately, it was too dark to take pictures of the fado singers.

                                          Sausages on the grappa grill

                                                  The Atlantic Ocean

                                                 Our picnic lunch

                                                 Port wine tasting (and some other things, too!)

                                     Philipp telling us about port

Cycle from Èvora to Central Alentejo

Alentejo was a region of large estates. The living conditions of the seasonal,workers were extremely difficult. This sociology-economic situation agitated the peasant masses in the region starting in the 1940s. The conflicts escalated for the next two decades. A woman, Catarina Eufémia, became a martyr for the cause when she tried to negotiate a modest wage increase and was shot to death. 

I take one look at the day sheet for today's ride including the elevation profile and know I need to get as early a start as possible. It is going to be a 89 km day. Also, it is already hot when we leave and will only get hotter. There are more trees and green landscape than on previous days, a welcome change since I am a little tired of the dry, parched, brown land with occasional cork trees. This is a hilly ride with two short but monster hills. 

We stop at 25 k at a cafe where we had a delicious pastry, folhados, made by tall Luis'wife. Yum!  We ride through the village where Luis lives, Viana do Alentejo. A marathon is going on and the village streets are closed to through traffic. However, Luis talks to the police who agree to let us through. Kathy and I switch bikes at 45 k after the first big hill and downhill. The e-bike saved me a lot of time and energy today. It would have taken me much longer and I would have been really tired. The e-bike is quite amazing! You are still cycling and you can pedal as hard as you want to. There are plenty of gears to shift into. You have to pedal to turn the motor on.

Lunch was ready for us at 52 k point which was nice . We didn't have to wait to order and then have a long lunch. We are staying at a former farm out in the country now called Monte das Faias. We find there is no soap, no shampoo, and no hair dryers in our rooms. There is one for all of us. When someone asks about soap, they are told that there isn't any. Our room and bathroom pretty new and just fine but there is very little light. Kathy has moldy shower curtain. The manager is responsive to our complaints and the next day Kathy's shower curtain has been replaced and we have soap and shampoo in our rooms. The government apparently subsidizes turning former farms like this into hotels. We seem to have the place to ourselves. There is a swimming pool which I don't use but others do. Breakfast turns our to be surprisingly nice with a good variety of breakfast items. 

A shuttle takes us to dinner in nearby Grandola. Dinner is delicious but it is very warm in the restaurant and I am so tired I can hardly make it through dinner. This is last dinner for Joanne and Blunt who will be leaving in the morning. They have been a delightful couple to have on the trip, friends of Billy's.

I am in bed within 15 minutes of getting back home.