The Algarve

It is 4:30 in the morning. I have been awake since 3:30. My head hurts and I can't sleep. Jet lag. Over the past three weeks my brain and body somehow adjusted rather easily to a 9 hour time shift between Oregon and Spain. Now back, in Oregon, the shift back isn't going as smoothly. So, here I am, awake at this ungodly hour and it seems like a good time to try to figure out why I was unable to post more than one chimney photo to my blog in the last week of our trip. I left off in Sevilla, which now seems ages ago, so what came next...

The Algarve. Portugal's south coast.

Little white villages, climbing up beachside cliffs. The Algarve is all about kicking back, eating great fresh fish, walking on the beach, looking at the stars and exploring. It was a good change of pace from cities, museums and palaces.

 

 

After taking a bus from Sevilla, we rented a car and set out to explore a bit of the Algarve on our own. Besides its beauty and quaint charm, the area has history. Driving out from Selema, where we were staying, to Sagres and Cape St. Vincent, we were headed to " the end of the world"— the southwestern point of the European continent. Back in the 1300's, for Europeans, this was the literal end of the known world and the point from which eventually the great Portugese explorers would venture out into the unknown. It was here that Prince Henry the Navigator established his school of navigation and dreamed of a sea route to the treasures of India. The drama of the cliffs and vast expanse of ocean can still stir the imagination as you stand at the Cape Vincent lighthouse and walk around the point at the Fortress at Sagres.

 

 

Well, my posting problem seems have been resolved. Perhaps it was simply an inadequate wifi connection in Portugal that was holding things up.

I have more to share—the rest of The Algarve and Lisbon—I have a fear that if I don't record all this while it is fresh in my mind I will forget it! This blog has become my travel journal, so it is actually mostly for myself that I am posting. If you don't mind reading and viewing my vacation photos, I am happy for your company. If you've tired of the whole thing I'll be back to fabric and such in a few days!

And now, coffee and breakfast. It is still way too early, but Ray, my fellow traveler, is awake as well, and has made coffee. We will stumble through the day and hope our inner clocks are rewinding...

 

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