Salema

After finally being totally intoxicated by the sun, we are also immersed in the wild, cold Atlantic sea where there are big rough and tumble waves that are indulged by fabulous looking bronzed creatures on surf boards who could be perfect candidates for any advert depicting health that, we have discovered, coming from all over the planet to ride the waves or anything else they can get to ride in an apparent evenings past time if some of our campsites are an accurate source of information. But alas, my dancing fingers are getting the best of me as we are enjoying our morning cup of coffee here in a coffee shop Anna has discovered which she has the uncanny knack of doing in each port we arrive in, this one, Sagres, Portugal, which is the furthest point West you can get in Europe and where the sunsets are spectacular as in a Japanese pastel painting and the warm and alternating cool evening breezes that make for extremely wonderful sleeps and lazy mornings.I'm being called by Anna to get my ass in gear as she is astride her bike, pedals reving as we make our way to our next destination, Salema.

We never did Lisbon as when we arrived at seven thirty in the morning, after me sharing my bed on our first class match box compartment with the front wheel of my bike, not my first  choice, we were totally convinced finding lodgings wouldn't be a problem, UNTIL, reality began to set in after one 'complete' after another and we sought refuge in a bike shop hoping the proprietor would be able to guide us. His advice, 'GET OUT OF LISBON!' which is very bike unfriendly and IF we did find a place to stay, the cheaper ones could be on the fourth floor, not fun to lug bikes and bags! Following his advice we found ourselves on yet another train, very bike friendly, where we found ourselves after an hour ride stopping at every small station what would turn out to be the start of our adventure in the sun, SETUBAL!

We were hungry towards 3pm and saw a sign for a menu at 7.50 euros, didn't realise then that it would be the best value so far! Chilled white wine,  salad, big plate with grilled fish, new potatoes and greens, followed by lemon mousse, then the waiter gave us a glass each of a local port wine on the house!

Spent a day cycling to  beautiful beaches near Setubal, then took a boat over to the mainland south of the port. A long ride south followed on from there through sandy flats with the surf pounding onto empty stretches of beach for miles. Days later, the land showed signs of  baked brown grass and knotted pine trees, golden brown cattle grazed on these tough prairies.

The surf was hard to swim in as there's a strong undertow but it was lovely to hear the surf  pounding all night long beyond our tent. Since then we have seen the landscape  change to forests of pines and eucalyptus giving off a heady odour in the heat of the day. Riding has been a combination of flat, rolling hills to some awfully steep climbs hoping around each corner would be the top. Each day we stop for picnics and end up at a campsite usually in enough time to set up camp, drink a beer and frolic in the exploding surf and laze about in the very fine hot sand until we make our way back to camp to shower and prepare to look for a place to eat our evening meal. We've eaten more sardines here in Portugal than we've ever eaten in our lives, they are so so amazingly good and CHEAP! 

We climb into our tents around 10:30 and sleep a cozy sleep until round bout 7! I'm up around first and prepare the teas and we laze around depending what's planned for the day. We're not looking at the kilometres covered on this trip, only curiousity of the next place down the coast that gets us moving. Today we're in Salema in a beautiful gorge surrounded by lush green shrubs and palms with the sea very close by. Tomorrow we're off to Lagos for a looksee and we'll decide then if we stay or move on eastwards.

down the road........

G&A