Bus Tour

THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND, ROUND AND ROUND, ROUND AND ROUND. THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND, ALL THROUGH THE ALGARVE. :)


October 25th

We were at the bus stop by 8:10am. Shortly thereafter, we were sitting on a nice tour bus bound for the entire western region of the Algarve.

After picking up some more people, we made our first stop. Just a quick 5 minutes for a picture overlooking the castle in Silves. The town was one of my favorite places we visited this day and not just because it was named after me. (My original last name closely resembles it). But because it was so cute! I loved the narrow streets and old castle. The beautiful cathedral was breathtaking and I even liked the fruit & vegetables market. We were allowed to stay for 1 hour.
Just outside the entrance to the market was a bunch of old crates filled with various wines and an old man sitting on a turned over empty one. He didn't speak English so I did the best Portuguese I could muster. Even though I could read the unmistable cost of the items (2 euros...or 4 euros) I wanted to know which wines were the best. I would point to a bottle and look at him. As authentic as possible, I would ask, "muite bom? He would squint his face and wave his dark wrinkled hand back and forth as if to say "it's alright..." Next I picked up a bottle and judged for myself by sticking my finger up underneath the bottle. It has been my experience that the better tasting wines have bottles that reach way up underneath. I don't know why???
He noticed my selection and gave me his approval. The last bottle I purchased I did so only because of the label. The old man let me know it wasn't going to be all that great, but I tried to explain that the label says "Silves". I pointed to myself and said "Silva." He seemed to understand. I gave the man 13 euros for three bottles of red wine and smiled. "Obreegada!"

Next we drove up the to the "Top of the World"...at least that's what they called it, because it is the highest point in the Algarve. It was a beautiful scene, but very windy. We didn't stay there long. Some people even stayed on the bus. I don't know why because just beyond the tiny gift shop was a wine cellar. Our guide had assured us before arriving that we would be able to taste a few on this stop. I was looking forward to it since I had not tried any Portuguese wine yet. However, Megan needed to use the restroom badly. While I was gone, they had finished our group! I muscled my way through the other bus tour group and chose to taste the port. Where do you think port wine came from..."Portugal!" Dah. I had to try theirs. It was wonderful! I bought 1 small bottle.

Another half hour on the bus and it was lunchtime. The food was pre-ordered and the only thing left to do was pick out a table. The tables were set for 4, so I had to scrunch in. I learned that there is no drinking age in Portugal. Our meal was very nice and included wine and a shot of something (I never did figure out what it was). Our waiter asked if Kaytee would be having a shot. What?!? OMGosh, no way! But she wanted to try it. I lightened up and thought...well, techniqually it is legal. I'm not breaking any laws in letting her try it. Besides, she'll hate it! Okay. Go for it.
But then I tasted it. It was sweet and didn't taste like alcohol at all. Just great. Now she'll love it. But I was wrong. She didn't really like it at all. She thought it tasted like syrup and put it down.

Lagos! I liked this little coastal town almost as much as Silves. Lots of shopping. All the streets are like this. In fact, better. It would have nice to spend more than 1 hour here. We felt very rushed.



If memory serves, our next stop was to the "End of the World." I'm sure you can figure out why...
This place was windier than the last! It's also called St. Vincent. I think because there was once a church here, but half of it eroded and fell off into the ocean. There isn't any building structure to speak of, so we didn't stay to long.


Our last stop took us to the small little town of Sagres.

Of course there was lots of history to be told, but all I remember is that the guide believed it was home to the UGLIEST church he had ever seen. Sorry- I didn't get a picture. The church looked very much like something modern you would easily find here in America. Slap a coat of beige paint on the concrete beast and I would have said..."hey, lookie there...now it's kinda purty!" hick hick

After taking everyone back to there original starting points, we arrived back at ours. 12 hours later, I was beat. It was the longest day in Portugal.