ON THE ROAD 2023

  This Portugal city is large, spread out and all hills! The waterfront is flat but every building has been constructed with a level in their tool box! AND nothing is square as the floor tiles in the places are never lined up with walls etc.  This was a three night stay which was long enough. We walked up hills, down hills and through alleys and many stairs were involved too.  Our Airbnb was right in the middle of the stairway heading down where Paul is carrying our groceries.  Lisbon has a market WHICH is called Time Out. I knew it was there and searched it out. Our boat is named Time Out, so of course we had to take photos. This market is a fancy food court with wine, liquor,  gourmet foods with fancy group seating. Expensive as it is a touristy place to visit.  The internet here in our Airbnb is so fast so I am uploading/including a few extra photos in this post because why not? 😆  These tents are not used! They are quite small and in a park. ...

  These caves are absolutely outstanding. You have seen them on your computer screen without realizing it. It is a default photo on many computer screens around the world. Tourists come to the Algarve in Portugal just to see these amazing cliffs, caves and just the spectacular shoreline.  I have dozens of photos but seeing in person is amazing. We took a rib boat with about a dozen persons on board with a tour guide. Roger, our tour guide was so informative and with a great sense of humour.  The only way to see all the caves is to book a tour. This Castle is supposedly the only privately owned one left in Portugal. The family has many good government friends. 

  Alvor is six kilometers away from Portimao. We walked to it thinking taking a bus back, however we walked back too, albeit alot slower. Paul has his phone and watch tracking our steps.  We walked over 18 km! (11 miles). We were tired that night.  This is a beachfront fishing town alot smaller than Portimao. We had grilled sardines for lunch.....psst, and French Fries! It was delicious.  This town caters to the UK residents as the menus had many food items favouring them.  As we walk around the main streets you can see someone even dries their laundry on the sidewalk. I can even see the size of their bras lol! This is normal here but in our cities the By-law officer would be by.  Ok....typing this on my phone. FONT size just changed, sorry. 

  Portimao is in the region of the Algarve of Portugal.  I chose to spend six nights here because after we no longer boat we need to visit other amazing places. I felt this area would be amazing to check out and possibly stay longer in the future. It has not disappointed!. Beautiful beaches and outcroppings. The visitors here come from all over the world. The menus at the restaurants are in at least four languages 😳.   P.S. I am posting on Time Line including photos and videos. This helps me keep our days straight. 😆 🤣 

 Wow! The world's largest Gothic Cathedral and Giralda tower AND The Royal Castle Alcazar ! These are the highlights of this city. We must book tickets in advance which was a challenge for us as their web pages did not like our postal code. We booked tickets with a third party which was fine.  I have so many amazing photos of the Castle and Seville Cathedral so here is just a sample. Paul loves architecture and studied it for years.  This first batch is from the Castle. The Royal family lives here upstairs somewhere but they also reside in Madrid (and probably other "homes") I am typing this blog on my phone so forgive me. I do have typos and the photos and videos sometimes are out of order. I am looking at tiny thumbnail photos/videos trying to load onto this post. My eyes go wonky 😆.  The following photos are the Giralda Tower and the Seville Cathedral. The tower is extremely tall, no elevator, high climb in very close quarters. The view of Seville and the Cathedr...

  Our Airbnb is walkable to all these amazing sights. We arrived at 10am opening because by noon it is very hot. I have dozens of photos but seeing in person is ten times better than a photo. The details on the walls, ceiling and window openings were fabulous.     P.S. remember the post titled Time Line. I add text and photos on this too.

  We are here to see sights so we are doing our best. The cruise ships are gone so our first couple of days was crowded now it is "normal" until the next ships come into port.  Of course we walked down to the port! Paul looking at a small boat. You can see it on the starboard side of the megayacht with a fancy davit system! At the cruise port we walked around to all the shops. This bear was so cute! Last night after dinner we walked around and saw a different kind of Malaga. The beautiful lights and people are so fashionably dressed.  Pork is big here....literally.  What the pigs are fed determines the flavour. Tonight acorn pork for dinner.