Lagos is located at the mouth of the Bensfrim River and the Atlantic Ocean so to access the town from the railway station we needed to cross a large footbridge...
There is a large Marina here as well as many fishing boats...
The natural beauty of this area is stunning as we discovered on a couple of long walks, the first one being a little outside town to Ponta de Piedade, where there are a series of sandstone cliffs, grottos and sea arches . The walk there was through a residential part of the town and then just pastures.
Then the pastures...
The beginning of the sandstone arches...
A beautiful sea arch that reminded us of ones at home...
The steps to the bottom were steep...
We couldn't believe this tourist was doing it in heels...
The water was so clear...
It was sandstone cliffs as far as we could see...
We stopped on the way back at a cafe with a view...
Another thing we noticed that on the way out to the point there were Stations of the Cross, each white stone with a tiled interior, we thought that on special days it may be a pilgrimage route....
It was mostly empty, except for a few sun seekers...
It was a beautiful day for a walk...
That day we walked 15 km so were tired by the time we got back to our accommodation which is located in a very old building right in the middle of town. It is owned by Isabela who met us when we arrived and then left for Lisbon so we had the place to ourselves. However, we met her neighbours and family because they were always knocking at the door. Her husband came looking for lost keys, her neighbour brought over clean clothes, and her daughter came looking for pillows. All were nice and polite as we have found everyone here in Portugal.
We cooked in a lot in a very old and small Portuguese kitchen...
But the cook did well especially with this find...
We were considering buying this but no idea how to cook it...
The Portuguese take their fish purchases very seriously...
Another day we explored the old town which is located inside the walled city...
Lagos is an ancient maritime town with more than 2000 years of history and historic centre of the Portuguese Age of Discovery , frequent home of Henry the Navigator, historical shipyard and, at one time, centre of the European slave trade. This was a fact I wasn't aware of, but learned that Lagos was the site of the first European slave market in this building....
It was built in 1444 and here slaves captured in Africa were brought to be sold and dispersed across the continent. Many Portuguese built their fortunes on this trade and Prince Henry the Navigator, as sponsor of the slave-capturing expeditions, received one fifth of their selling price. At the height of the trade demand was so high that the profit on Mauritanian slaves was 700 percent. At one point up to 10,000 slaves were being shipped from Africa every year just to meet Portuguese demand alone.
Today Lagos looks to be a tidy, prosperous town with narrow streets
Some brightly coloured houses...
Lots of places to sit and eat and drink...
Great little places to have a haircut for 5 Euros and a great conversation with the hairdresser about getting old, we are the same age, about never being able to retire, and cute grandsons who love Legos and spend too much time on the tablet...
People love to stop to talk...
And I often think that when there is no ice and snow to deal with you can always get out for a walk, no matter your age...
This is such a pleasant town that we would consider coming back for a longer stay once it got a little warmer. People are so friendly, there is everything you need here with the bonus of being such a lovely place.
What a lovely town. Parts of it remind me of Mexico. Love the rock formations!
ReplyDeleteIt was a great stop! We are staying most places four days so the time helps us get to know the place a little better.
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