Day 11 (Saturday, October 9, 2021)

Costs for the Day are in the Table below:

Woke up this morning at 7am and had a nice breakfast of French Toast with Jam and a coffee. Then I relaxed for a bit and did some research for a while on the Azores to see if there are any ferries to the islands (there are not, you have to fly but flights right now from Faro, Portugal to Ponta Delgada are $242 USD).

Later in the morning, I went for a 4.89 Mile run from downtown Lagos, past Lagos Castle and along the cliffs all the way out to Ponta da Piedade and around the point to the start of Praia de Porto Mos.

Lagos is an ancient town with thousands of years of history and has been previously occupied by the Greeks, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, and Moors. According to my understanding, Lagos Castle was constructed during the Moorish occupation but the walls and defenses went through several iterations as the occupancy changed over time and under various rulers. In 1587, the city successfully repelled in invasion by Sir Francis Drake which I thought was interesting.

From the Castle, I ran along the cliffs and beaches all the way to Ponta da Piedade

Photos from the run are above but there are many striking rock formations and little beaches along the way.

Beyond the point, there are a few more hidden little beaches with very steep access points.

Once I arrived at the tip of the beaches that lead to Porto Mos, I cut inland and headed back to downtown Lagos.

In the evening, Bi and I took a stroll around town.

We had a Mini-Panini for a snack for 1 EUR.

Then we stopped by the Igreja Matriz de Santa Maria (Saint Mary’s Church) in Lagos which was built in 1498. It was rebuilt in the 19th century after suffering a large amount of damage in the Earthquake of 1755. The high altar with Jesus on the cross is particularly beautiful and seems to glow in a multicolor light.

After the church, I wanted Bi to see the Lagos Castle but this time we went through the gate and took a look close up.

As I had mentioned previously, the layout is consistent with Islamic design since it was originally built under the Moorish occupation.

After the castle, we picked up a small bottle of port wine to taste. It is a local product of Portugal and we were interested to have a sample

We tried this one for 3.49 EUR and it was fruity and light, perfect for our stroll around town and smaller than a full sized bottle.

For dinner, we went upscale and ate at Real Portuguese Cuisine. I had the Portuguese Steak with a delicious lemon sauce and thinly sliced pan fried potatoes. Bi had the Sea Bass with a passion fruit sauce that was very unique and tasty as well. For dessert, we had the chocolate mousse which is a little more standard but was also very nice. (Cost: 61.50 EUR)