Day 29 (Wednesday, October 27, 2021)

Costs for the Day are in the Table below:

Today I woke up at 7am and went for my morning run and calisthenics workout. Here is what I did:

Ran 1.28 Miles (0.64Miles there and back), 4 sets of 10 pullups to chest level or getting as high above the bar as possible, 4 sets of 8 dips from the pullup bar going as low as possible, 3 sets of 8 straight leg raises while hanging from the bar, 100 pushups (30/20/15/10/10/10/5), 1 minute straight arm Planks with dips in the last 15 seconds – Left / Right/ Regular, 3 sets of 10 second Side Holds from the bars, 50 inverted rows (30/10/10), and then attempted hand stands for about 5-10 minutes.

Then we did some errands around town but some of the shops were closed since October 27th is Lagos Day. Each area of the Algarve has it’s own special day and this is the one for Lagos. I tried to find out more about it online but information is scarce. The bank was closed as well as Vodafone but the grocery stores and other shops and restaurants were still open.

Bi had left her bike at a friends so I jogged over while she rode my bike (Distance: 1km). Then we both biked from there to Pingo Doce for some groceries. (Cost: 51.61 EUR) We loaded up two backpacks full of groceries and then biked to Praia dos Estudiantes which has a tunnel to the Ponte Romana de Lagos or The Roman Bridge. Our friend had said that the area under the bridge is a good place to snorkel and it is on the way home (kind of) so we wanted to check the clarity of the water today which is easy to see from the clifftop. Unfortunately, the water was choppy and the visibility was poor so no snorkeling would be possible.

However, we did see a nearly exact replica in Lagos harbor of the Nao Victoria. The Victoria or Nao Victoria was part of the famous 1519 Spanish expedition led by the Ferdinand Magellan that circumnavigated the Globe. The expedition was much more fascinating than what I learned in history class. It began with 5 ships and 265 men but the Victoria was the only ship to complete the voyage and returned with only 18 men! In Patagonia there was a fierce mutiny involving the men and also some of the captains. Two of the revolting captains were executed and hung on gallows on the shore. Another of the mutineer captains, Juan de Catagena was marooned on an island to die.

In the Phillipines, Magellan was successful in converting some of the local islanders and chiefs to Christianity and to swear fealty to Spain. However, one of the chiefs, Datu Lapulapu, refused. When Magellan tried to force his submission, the chief overpowered Magellan and his men and killed Magellan. To make matters worse, some of soldiers who survived the battle and returned to Cebu where Magellan had formed a friendship with the Rajah or chief, were betrayed and poisoned at a banquet the Rajah held for them.

Pilot João Carvalho, who survived the trap, became the leader of the expedition which by then consisted of only two ships the Victoria and the Trinidad. In Borneo, the Trinidad became damaged so Joao stayed behind with that ship and 52 men. Juan Sebastián Elcano became captain of the Victoria and continued for the remainder of the expedition completing the voyage back to Spain in September, 1522. Fun fact: Elcano was actually one of the mutineers earlier on in the expedition but was spared by Magellan.

The Nao Victoria – Replica of the Ship that circumnavigated the Globe

In the evening Bi cooked a salmon salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, cashews, and raisins with Sangria. It was fantastic!

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