Weekend Trip: Lagos, Portugal

Our friends the Martens went to Lagos a few weeks ago and said it was beautiful and full of unique adventures that kids would enjoy. We took their recommendation and found that it was even more amazing than we expected! Also a shout-out to our friend Jeff, who gets a tear in his eye when he talks about the Algarve. Now we know why.

We found out that Friday was a national holiday - we didn't bother asking which one, we just rented a car, threw clothes in suitcases, and off we went! I wish I had taken pictures of the landscape as we drove through Southern Spain and Portugal - it reminded us of Southern California during green season. Rolling hills covered with trees, occasional vineyards, stark whitewashed homes with red tile roofs dotting the land on one side, the bright blue sea on the other. Gorgeous!

First stop: The Christopher Columbus Museum in Palos de la Frontera. This is the site where Columbus took his crew and set sail for what he thought would be Asia. We did some reading and watched a kids' movie about Columbus before we left and learned some fascinating things about him! Such persistence and confidence in himself - he was denied and scorned by countless people but knew what he was born to do and wouldn't take no for an answer.

*Note: the commonly-held belief (still taught in some schools!) that Europeans in Columbus' day believed the world was flat is not true. Everyone knew the world was round hundreds of years before Columbus. (This misconception comes from Washington Irving's 19th century story of Columbus). The big deal about Columbus was that in his quest to find a better water route to Asia than sailing around Africa, he ventured out into the unknown. No one had ever sailed West past the tip of Portugal before (well, Lief Erickson had, but no one knew about him until later). Think of Western Ocean navigation for them as what Space Exploration is to us. Completely uncharted, unknown, and extremely risky. 

We climbed aboard the replicas of Columbus' three ships, and couldn't believe how small they were!! Look at Erik and the kids in the bow of this boat - that is exactly to scale!! (The Santa Maria was captained by Columbus, and it was bigger - I think that photo is the Pinta)

So interesting to see how they lived for weeks and weeks, sleeping and eating and bodily-functioning in such cramped quarters

The most hilarious part of the day was that as we entered the Museum, the guard told us our admission was free. "Why?" we asked. "Because of the holiday," he answered. "Oh, right! The kids didn't have school today - that's why we came. So what holiday is it, by the way? A saint's day, or a political holiday?" The guard looked at us strangely. "It's Columbus Day!" We were there on the exact spot where Columbus set sail, on the anniversary that he landed in the Americas... by chance! 

We arrived at our hotel in Lagos, checked in, and needed food FAST!! All we had eaten all day were apples and British Digestibles biscuits!

Terrible quality picture, but we read a recommendation for an American restaurant that had been voted one of the top 50 Burger Joints in the world. It did not disappoint!! Can you see that burger in front of Erik?? It was DELICIOUS - we went back again the next night. Both times it was full of partying American college students - we didn't hear a word of Portuguese.

Waking up fresh the next morning...

The view from our hotel window

Erik and I woke up and went on a run along this incredible coast. We returned home to the kids saying "You guys have GOT to see this!!!" Got dressed, ate a quick breakfast and brought everyone back to hike. Erik suffered through his fear of heights and we held tight to the kids' hands - there were no guard rails.

Hiking down to the water. The kids counted 198 stairs.

Waiting for a boat to take us around the rock formations and cliffs

Look at the water!!! We thought there must be an artificial green light under there, but the glow was because the tunnel goes through to sunlight on the other side, and the water plants have iridescent qualities.

Some cave ceilings we so low, we had to duck to get in!

Our boat driver spoke just a little English, but was so friendly and pointed out all the interesting features in the rock. And took our picture for us.

Sophie cracked me up - she wanted to be right out on the front tip of the boat. Her fearlessness takes me by surprise sometimes!

Next, on to "The End of the World," the most SouthWesterly tip of Europe, in Sagres, Portugal. Prince Henry the Navigator (1364-1460) built a fortress, a church and a Navigation school here, and his studies prepared the way for the Spanish and Portuguese to discover the New World.

No guard rail, and the Portuguese fishermen just cast their lines off the tops of these cliffs. It is a sheer, high cliff, and that rock is crumbly! 

We walked all around the fortress in the sun to the point of exhaustion. Seeing that vast expanse of ocean and having just been aboard Columbus' ships gave us a new sense of respect for the bravery of those sailors. To think of sailing out into the unknown like that... what drives some people to risk their lives in pursuit of exploration? I pray I don't find out some day with that little boy pictured above. He's got "explorer" in his blood.

Spider (or Krishna?) shadows

The 14th century fortress

The chapel where they prayed for safe voyages

"What should we do next?" The kids voted for "no more old stuff," so we went to the Lagos Zoo. It was actually a really great place! 

We watched the White Gibbons for a long time. Stone made friends with this guy across the moat.

We had heard from our friend Ali that many buildings in Portugal are covered with tiles. They are so beautiful!! And look at the patterns in the cobblestones. We had never seen anything like it! This is Sophie on her way to a Gelato Shop.

Last, on to Silves for the Archeological Museum and Silves Castle

The Archeological Museum had a small but impressive collection of objects found nearby, dating from the Paleolithic Era. As in, rocks banged on with other rocks to make them into rudimentary tools by Cave Men. We saw artifacts from that Era all the way up through the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and on to the Roman Empire and the Visigoths, then the Muslim Moors and finally the Catholics. The layers of history are just staggering.

A long, uphill walk through a sleepy little town

To the top of a hill to see the 11th Century castle! Built by Muslim Moors on Roman foundations

Sophie kept saying "I really wish Elsa (her dear friend at home) were here. She would love this castle."

The red bricks were made from local red soil - reminded us of Southern Utah, although the surrounding landscape was very green.

Stone wanted to stay by this knight. He wasn't ready to leave yet, so I told him we'd take this photo and remember it forever

The view from the castle wall

Walking back through the wall out of Silves... and into the rental car for the drive home.