During my semester in Aberdeen, I found really cheap flights to Faro, Portugal so I took a little intermission trip two days after I came back from Spring Break. My journey in Portugal began on April 24, 2019. Alyssa and I walked to town to catch our 8:10 bus to Edinburgh airport. We made sure that we would have enough time in the airport to get our Visa check before boarding. We had about four hours to waste in the airport so we were able to have a proper sit-down lunch. I woke up feeling awful (soar throat, aches, and chills) so getting a proper meal in was essential. The flight to Faro lasted about three hours. Again, there was no one sitting next to me on the plane. The landing was quite interesting, as it felt as though we were landing in water. The beach was directly next to the runway. We did not run into any problems at passport control. We then took a quick taxi to the train station, bought our train tickets to Portimao, and then waited an hour for the train to arrive. I soon found out the public transport does not arrive on time in Portugal. The train also went so slow and would stop randomly all the time. I think this is because there was another train approaching from the other direction and because there was only one track, our train had to wait for the other train to pass. This one hour train ride took almost two hours. I was feeling sick and exhausted and honestly quite miserable. From the train station, we took a taxi to the hotel. We checked into our apartment, which was clean, huge, and modern, but we were only given one bed as opposed to the two beds that I had requested. It was almost midnight and we just wanted to sleep so Alyssa took the couch and I slept in the bed since I was sick. We would deal with this situation tomorrow morning. To top off this lovely day, the Wifi did not work in the apartment.

 

The next morning, I woke up feeling awful. My throat did not look or feel good. We went to breakfast in the hotel and it hurt to even eat. I talked to the main desk and inquired about the bed situation and they said that they would split the beds up. Before coming to Portugal, we had booked a tour to visited the Benagil Caves. The tour was supposed to be this day but we received an email that the tour was cancelled. We tried searching for other tours online but everything seemed to be booked. I asked the lady at the front desk and she called someone and scheduled us on a tour for the next day. Because our plans got mixed up from this tour cancellation, we decided to go to Lagos for the day. Our train did not leave for a while so we left the hotel to go explore Portimao beach. There was a big beach volleyball camp going on and there were sooo many Germans. The beach is quite nice and there were not many tourists. Following this, we took an Uber to the train station. The Uber driver explained the history of Portugal to us, commenting on how there is much Moorish influence in the country, evident by the architecture, and that Portugal is proud to have the oldest navy in the world. He was very interesting to talk to and I must say, him and every other person that I have interacted with in Portugal have excellent English. Not only do they speak good English, but everyone was super friendly to us.

 

The train to Lagos was only about 20 minutes. From the train station, we walked along the coastline. The water is crystal blue and there are incredible rock structures scattered throughout the water. Hiking along the coastline was certainly one of the most favorite things I have ever done. This is also the reason why Portugal is now one of my favorite countries. I loved the feeling of "off-roading" through these cliffs. While walking through the cliffs, I felt as though I was in a desert. But when looking over the cliffs, this beautiful, clear water appeared. We walked in and around the edge of the coast for about two hours. We went to some amazing look out points and got some great photos. The weather was perfect for this adventure and there were not many tourists.

 

Pizza Hut was our destination for lunch (our favorite travel food). After lunch, we took the train back to Portimao, walked back to the hotel, and soon found out that our beds had not been separated. I was about to go to reception when I saw two cleaning ladies outside the apartment. I asked if they could separate the beds but they did not speak any English. They tried giving me a new towel. It was a nice gesture but not what I wanted. I went down to reception and was able to get a new room with two beds. Once we were settled into our new room, we went to check out the outdoor and indoor pools in our hotel. The hotel is beautiful but it is a bit to chilly to go swimming. We set out to go find dinner and simply decided upon buying groceries at a supermarket instead of sitting down at a restaurant. We got bread, ham, cheese, and crackers. This was far quicker and cheaper if we would have gotten a meal at a restaurant. After dinner, we just chilled in the apartment until bedtime.

 

Out last full day in Portugal consisted of our trip to the Benagil caves. After breakfast at the hotel, we gave our bags to reception to hold while we explored more of Portimao. Our tour was not until 2:00 so we had some time to waste. I got a lovely lunch of grilled chicken, garlic bread, salad, and ice cream for 9.95 Euros. We were picked up at the hotel and were taken to the port to board the boat to Benagil. The boat was already full and all the people on board were French. The boat was also partially covered which was going to make it hard to see. I really did not enjoy this boat ride. The French people were loud and obnoxious, I was feeling a bit dizzy, and Benagil was quite a disappointment. The boat was too big so it could barely get its end into the cave. Benagil is famous for having this round hole in the roof of the cave, but I could barely see it. The boat also went so slow and I had to watch as other smaller boats zoomed past us.

Benagil Cave

 

We were dropped off at the Portimao port and then were taken to our hotel. We grabbed our bags and then took an Uber to the train station. Due to traffic, and people in front of us in line for tickets, we missed the 5:24 train. We were purchasing the tickets as the train drove off. It was really depressing. We would have to wait until the 6:34 train. This gave us time to go to SPAR to get food for dinner. We had another gourmet dinner of sandwiches, but this time in the train station. Of course the train we missed came right on time but the 6:34 train was 14 minutes late. Oh well, we played Heads Up on the train which made the time go by quickly. The train ride was only about an hour and a half. We took an Uber from the train station to the hotel. The hotel was nice and simple, just what we needed for a night of sleep.

 

We woke up at 6:00 the next morning to catch our 8:00 flight back to Aberdeen. The walk from the hotel to the airport was only 7 minutes which was really convenient. We got our Visa Check and had no problems on the flight. I really enjoyed my stay in Portugal. I would highly recommend Lagos to anyone. I would love to go back to Portugal to see other cities in the country and would love to experience some true Portuguese culture.