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| OUR HIRE CAR |
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| LIGHTHOUSE AT CABO DE SAO VICENTE |
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| FORTALEZ DE BELICHE |
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| RUINED CONVENT NEAR MONCHIQUE |
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| FOIA SUMMIT |
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| LOULE CENTRE |
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| FLOAT REFLECTING CURRENT POLITICAL EVENTS |
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| GREAT CARNIVAL COSTUMES |
We passed Lagoa, Portimau, Lagos, Vila de Bispo and Sagres before reaching our target for the day - Cabo de Sao Vicente with its lighthouse above impressive cliffs. This is effectively the 'Land's End' of Portugal. We took a stroll around the lighthouse compound and ate our picnic by some sculptures of sea life before commencing our return journey.
We stopped at the remains of the ruined Fortaleza de Beliche nearby, and followed some metal poles that led us down the cliffs to the sea. We also took a look at the facade of Fortalez de Sagres, but didn't go inside.
We finally got back to the hotel at 5.30pm, and happily found a parking space just near the entrance. Supper comprised a medley of pasta, sausage, cheese and vegetables.
Friday's weather was predicted to be the best of the week - perfect for climbing Foia, at 902m the highest mountain in the Algarve. We drove to the village of Monchique, north-west of Albufeira, and parked the car. I had printed a map of the area before leaving the UK, so armed with this and a compass we headed upwards.
We soon reached a derelict convent where a man who seemed to be gardening outside ushered us in to take a look. The roof looked pretty dodgy and we weren't convinced the site was all that safe. Nevertheless it was an interesting aside and we gave the man €1. He, in turn, offered us an orange out of a big bucket.
As we continued our walk I became concerned that the route was not quite in the direction my compass said it should be, but since we were still ascending I didn't worry too much. Eventually we came to a point where I could properly establish our location. We were in the wrong place, but getting back onto the correct path was easy and took only about 15 minutes.
We could see the antennae that identified Foia ahead of us and in a short while we were sitting on a pile of rocks by the summit eating our lunch. Although a little hazy, the vista to the south from our viewpoint was amazing. It was pleasantly warm and we had certainly chosen the right day to do this.
It had taken us about two hours to ascend Foia, but our walk back to the car was much quicker, in part because we followed the correct route this time.
The following day's drive was to see a carnival at Loule. Even before we left the UK, Rubi had discovered that we would be visiting Portugal during the carnival season (Mardi Gras being on Tuesday 28th), and she spotted a poster advertising the Loule event as soon as we arrived at the hotel.
Loule was but a short drive away. We parked at the edge of the town and walked into the centre. The carnival parade would not start until 3.00pm, but it was clear that a huge amount of effort and expense had gone into preparations, with banners, a stage, lights, TV cameras and even a drone with a camera overhead. Police and security men were everywhere, but everyone was well behaved.
We found a pleasant park nearby to enjoy lunch and give our ears a brief rest from the loud music booming out the speakers. By the time we returned, the centre was filled with people in fancy dress and the floats were beginning to arrive. The carnival procession was behind barriers that we had to pay €2 to pass through, but the spectacle was well worth it. The floats were incredibly well designed and really amusing. We particularly liked the one showing a caricature of Putin blowing Donald Trump out of a cannon towards figures of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
There were lots of people in costume playing musical instruments or dancing on and around the floats. Some of the girls were extremely scantily clad and a few topless, but naturally I averted my eyes.
The procession was slow moving and it took over an hour to pass, but all the floats were so good that we didn't want to miss a single one. We eventually headed back to the car at about 4.30pm for an unhurried drive back to the hotel. The day had been great fun.