The sun is shining and it is going to be a scorcher again. Glen is already sunburnt all over his head and arms. We head for breakfast to a Brit Restaurant we have found that serves good breakfasts (full english of course teehee). We go there as there is wifi for free as well but the speed is so slow we cant upload our blogs and we have 2 days worth already waiting to post. Oh well we know there is a good wifi signal at the airport on Friday so maybe it might have to wait until then - sorry folks we are trying.
After breaky we start our drive to the most south westerly tip of mainland Europe - Cape St Vincent. We decide to drive the old road the whole way through the towns and villages we havent seen yet. After about an hour of driving we see a sign for a small fishing village - dont even recall the name and we just head off down a windy road until we come out into a deep sea gorge with a small beach and a fishing village. It is so pretty here and the ocean is as clear and blue as anything we have seen around the world. We park the car and walk down onto the beach.
Rhonda writes "Portugal 2011" in the sand so we can get some scrapbook pics. We walk along looking at the tiny fishing boats and fishing nets and crab pots strewn all over the beach. There are few tourists down here and in the village square is a small fish market where the locals buy the fresh catch and there is a group of old, old portuguese men playing some kind of gambling game with cards and wood blocks under the shade of a tree.
This is very traditional down here and we must look very out of place in our Canadian clothes. We find a small house overlooking the beach which has 2 tables and umbrellas outside and a small menu. We sit down and order a beer from the lady owner.The menu is fish, fish, fish, fried, boiled, baked, stewed and its all just labelled "today fish". Glen is drooling so he orders her special dish which is a cast iron pot filled with a broth and it has 4 types of fish, clams, mussels and king prawns in it. We wait almost 30 minutes as we here her chopping and cooking in her kitchen. She comes out and picks some fresh herbs from teracotta pots on the deck then goes in again. The smell is amazing and after a half hour she puts the cast iron pot onto our table and leaves 2 plates and a big spoon and a small spoon. We lift the lid and the smell of herbs and garlic is unbeleivable mmmm. Glen tucks into the pot and loves it - this is right up his alley. Rhonda makes do with dipping some fresh baked bread into the garlicky broth. This is so authentic and Glen has been searching for this dish for the past 4 days now he has had it.
We leave the village and drive up the steep , steep hill back to the main highway. Next stop is a town called Sagres which is the most westerly town in Europe. The town is an old military base and there are 2 huge castles on either side of the bay which used to protect the town from Spanish pirates in the 1600's. We climb the steep cliffs above Sagres and get some great scenic photos. We then drive to one of the castles which is now derelict and in ruins. It is a shame as the Portuguese government puts no money into restoring these historic buildings. We go inside this castle and we can climb up all of the stairwells, go in all the old rooms, climb out onto the battlements and do anything we like. Some people have pulled off some of the large stones from the walls just to toss them down the cliff into the ocean below. Wow the portuguese government really needs to do something to protect its heritage. That said we get some awesome photos inside the castle and of the views looking down from the castle turrets.
We then drive to the very tip of Cape Vincent and to the edge of Europe. Again we get some stunning pics of the seascapes here it is very very lovely.
After the cape we drive half way back to our hotel and again we turn off the main highway and head to the coast. We find a tiny bay which ahs a parking lot and a restaurant and it is the place where people come to ride the surf. The waves are gigantic here and there are dozens of surfers. It is also very picturesque. We sit and have an ice cream while we watch the surfers ride the waves. Down below us there are people sunbathing on the sand and Glen points out that most of the women are topless - jeesh trust Glen to notice teeheehee. HE says he has an eye for the finer detail !! We get back in the car and head back to the hotel where we shower and dress for dinner. We head back to the town where they serve Piri Piri chicken as Glen needs another fix before he leaves Portugal. Tomorrow is our last day in Portugal although we have a full day here as we dont fly until 9pm and we have some VERY interesting things to search out !! More on that tomorrow !!!
Ciao
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