6th – 8th June 2013

6^th – 8^th June 2013

Did I say something about ‘excellent weather?’  Once we left Quarteira after 7 lovely days we started to notice the cloud coming over and the temperatures dropping slightly. We decided to take a ‘lightning tour’ of Silves inland. We parked up in the large car park on the edge of the town alongside two Belgium motorhomes. The owners assured us that it was safe to overnight here if we wanted. Soon after parking up we were ‘inspected’ by a guy who turned out to be a retired salesman called Roger from Brownhills the motorhome dealers. We chatted for over an hour and he offered us some useful tips about motorhomes. He merely consolidated what we already know…when buying a motorhome buy German or a French Rapido. He also suggested going straight to Hymer in Germany for a new van. We chatted about good places to visit in Portugal and what wine to buy ( a red Alentujo reserve)….a nice friendly guy.

We took a walk around Silves, a pleasant enough town with a cathedral and fortress on the hill. Later we decided to head for the Orbitur site just outside Praia da Luz. We thought we’d chosen our spot well finding a well shaded spot close to the toilets. Then the sun went in and it became quite cold.

The next day alternated between strong hot sunshine and cold with light winds and we took a short bike ride to Luz. As the sun went in for good we realized that we should have gone for a sunnier spot out of the shade. We knew that the following day (Saturday) would be dull but were again surprised to find it quite cold. We headed for the bus stop outside the site for the 11:15 bus to Lagos. All of those waiting were dressed in fleeces and walking trousers, one guy even had a thick woolly hat on. The bus didn’t come until 11:35 and was full. Another bus was sent for which arrived 20 minutes later. It wasn’t far to Lagos but the narrow roads looked a bit risky for the bikes.

We walked around Lagos and did some shopping at one of the two Intermarche’s. Overall I was disappointed in Lagos, it has at some period in its history been a beautiful town. I just found parts of it to be a typical tourist trap with numerous bars, restaurants and market stalls selling cheap jewellery. I appreciate the need to get income from tourists but what I found so annoying was the street furnishings of signs and advertisements, each restaurant had at least  4 identical menu signs outside their premises. Each of these would be 1 x 1 metre in size. Somehow the true beauty of the town was hidden behind modern advertisements and tacky sales pitches. It was only when we were returning on the bus and we drove past the far end of the harbour that I could see some of the towns original beauty.