Day 19 (Sunday, October 17, 2021)
Costs for the Day are in the Table below:
Today I slept in until 8:30am and then had a breakfast of yogurt and granola.
Some of my goals in retirement are to improve my surfing and rock climbing skills, learn martial arts, and learn a foreign language. So far, I have made some progress on surfing but none in the other areas. So, I did some research on rock climbing and martial arts in the area.
Rock Climbing: There are no rock climbing gyms in Lagos and the closest outdoor climbing areas are Sagres and Rocha da Pena. The Crag is the best place to check out the climbing routes.
Sagres climbing is located 33km or a 36 min drive away from Lagos on cliffs that drop away to the sea. The climbing there is located in a national park area where climbing is apparently illegal. However, it looks like there are multiple climbing guides that take people there. I am not sure if a special license is required. Most of the routes are sport climbing and the climbing grades are rated according to the French system and start at FR 5a which is equivalent to the Yosemite Decimal System YDS 5.7. That is the easiest route in Sagres but most of the routes are FR 6a/ YDS 5.10a go up in difficulty from there. There are also some Deep Water Solo routes also known as Psicobloc Routes in Sagres. These are routes that are over the water so you climb without a rope and, if you fall, you drop into the water. So, you need a boat for these routes.
Rocha da Pena is located a little over an hour drive (84km) away from Lagos. There are about 126 routes there that appear to be all Sport Routes starting at FR 4a/ YDS 5.4 and going up from there. There are a good number of easy to moderate difficulty routes. So, this seems like the best place to practice initially.
Martial Arts: I took Judo classes in my youth and Muay Thai in Australia, but have not done anything in the last 10 months or so. I am interesting in doing more Muay Thai and Brazilian Jui Jitsu. It looks like there are 2 Karate dojos, a Judo dojo, a Bujinkan dojo, and an MMA dojo. It’s not very clear if all of them are still actually operational so I contacted the MMA dojo to find out their hours and fees.
Language: The Portuguese Host Language (PLA) courses (formerly known as Portuguese for Speakers of Other Languages (PFOL) or Portuguese for All (PPT)), created within the scope of Ordinance No. 183/2020, published on 5th August, aim to respond to migrant’s needs concerning Portuguese language learning.
PLA courses are certified and aimed at adults, aged 18 or over, whose native language is not Portuguese and/or who do not have basic, intermediate or advanced skills in Portuguese language according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
These courses are promoted by the public schools, through the General-Directorate of Schools (DGEstE), by the directly and participated management centers network of the Employment and Vocational Training Institute (IEFP, I.P.) and also by the Qualifica Centers network.
In Lagos, there are two locations that offer these classes:
Escola Secundária Júlio Dantas
Address: Largo Prof Egas Moniz, Apartado 302 8601-904, Lagos
Phone: 282 770 990
E-mail – aejuliodantas@centroqualifica.gov.pt – info@aejd.pt
Site – http://www.aejd.pt
IEFP – Serviço de Emprego de Lagos
Address: R. Teixeira Gomes, Lt. 1-C 8600-587
Phone: 282 146 850
Email: se.lagos@iefp.pt
There is also an Online Platform for Portuguese (https://pptonline.acm.gov.pt/). This platform provides content for the acquisition of European Portuguese by adult speakers of other languages. Although this Platform does not confer you any type of certification it is a tool that allows the user to develop listening, reading and writing skills.
After doing my research, Bi mentioned that Australia is now open for travel. So we booked flights for December 27th from Faro, Portugal to Sydney, Australia. Cost: 123k Miles on United and 181.40 USD for 2 people total.
