Wrong Lane? Yep, that’s what we did. We thought there were no tolls riding west to east across Lisbon. Nope! That’s only for some toll roads. Just the wrong lane let us to a toll road. Being confused riders as is normal for us, we had the wrong lane and didn’t pick up the ticket. Still not thinking we even needed one we came to a ticket booth after six kilometers. “Ingresso por favor”, (Ticket please). Us, with massive shoulder shrugs, “English?”. We realized we should have received a ticket for the tollway six kilometers ago. We then attempted to explain we just got on the Tollway. We a big shrug of kindness and his biggest welcoming smile, he shook his head NO. Then the toll came up on the automated machine, €53. FUCK! That was an expensive mistake. That’s 53 espressos. The crime. Onward with a smile, but no pastries in the immediate future.
We got off the toll road on the other side of the river. Then we meandered down the empty back roads leading to the coast. This is the off season and many places are closed. The tourists are gone. But the uncluttered beauty of the coast remains. We had booked a hotel in the village of Vila Nova de Milfontes. The hotel room boasts a hot tub and views of the sea for only €42 a night. We reserve a room for 2 nights to spend the next exploring and riding around the area. We knew some rain was moving into the area. By the first night we realized it was going to be worse than first thought. A tropical depression had formed off the coast of Africa. It was going to do a northern 180 and hammer the coast of Portugal. Being from the south eastern portion of the US we are well versed in these systems. They become hurricanes in the warm waters of the Atlantic in the summer. I watched the all too familiar counter clockwise rotation around an unorganized eye. I know this was going to be a few days of rain and wind. Please hotel person, may we stay a few extra nights? Of course! It’s the off season.
We made the best of the non-rain days. We rode south down the coast. We tried to stay on little roads hugging the coast. Many ended as sand and a beach, or a dead end. It was fantastic! But at the end of the roads were sandy beaches surrounded by rocky cliffs. The sea was angry. Waves crashed into the craggy rocks below. They sent spray high into the air with the thunder of Thor. At times like this a picture can’t compare to the memory of your mind. After a couple pictures you must just stand in awe of the power of Mother Nature.
We returned to our hotel after a brief stop at an Aldi’s grocery store. We picked up enough supplies to keep us feed for the next three days as the storm pummeled the coast. By Thursday the winds and rain should subside and we will be on our way again.
Cheers,
2WANDRRs
2WANDRRs 
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