The Algarve

The rains finally let up enough for us to head to The Algarve region of Portugal. This area is a big tourist area, especially with the Brits. Shagging of for a few dollars return to escape the winter weather on their island. It was chilly while we were there, but much better than the weather to their north, home. We rode most of the way without rain. As we approached the mountains the weather changed and it chilled off and the mist started. Not bad though. Just that annoying mist that keep everything damp. We would be in for a few more days of unsettled weather, but the worst had past.

We arrived in Albufeira mid afternoon to a hotel we had found on Booking.com. As happens, the price at the hotel was less than advertised. We ended up saving about 20% in person. As we rounded the corner we saw a well traveled Tenere across from the hotel. It belonged to friend Chris Bright, a Brit from Bulgaria. We had brought some parts from the US that he needed to rebuild his Honda 650. Because of tariffs and shipping costs, the parts saved Chris about 40% with us bringing them along. We chatted for about an hour and he headed off to Morocco. He’s about a week ahead of us. Hopefully we will be able to catch up again for a beer and a chat.

The hotel was very centrally located. It also had a secure parking garage keeping the bike safe and out of the way of prying eyes. My bike is always properly lock with a cover over it. The infamous cloak of invisibility. I also have a motion detection alarm set for deterrence. Plus the motorcycle looks like the bike belongs to a couple of homeless vagabonds. OH! Wait a minute…

We will be spending a coupe nights here. I am in need of a back tire/tyre for or trip to Morocco. I know I wouldn’t have a problem getting one there but I know a guy who knows a guy. In the morning I rode to his shop in a fine mist. The tire was sitting in his shop so I left the bike and headed out. One of my hearing aids stopped working. I found an Audiologist who was willing to service them for $20. She promised them early afternoon. I went back to the shop to discover the tire was not the correct size. The paperwork on the tire indicated it to be correct, but it wasn’t. The owner of the shop was very apologetic. He had the tire off the bike and the new tire just slipped on. Too big. After remounting I headed off to another shop. They happened to have just the right tire for the bike in stock. They had it mounted in no time, for free. Gotta love travel. And the hearing aids? The set I had were only four months old, from Costco in the US. Portugal doesn’t even sell a model that old. They didn’t have the old parts, filters, needed to fix them. She fixed them enough so they worked though.

The next morning we set off to explore the town. We were only a couple kilometers from town. This is definitely off season as many visitors are worshipers of the God of Sun. The sun was out in force this morning but the chilly temperature kept the masses off the beach. The few in town it seems all found a place to drink. There was a big off road bicycle race happening that morning. The recent rains made for a muddy course. We arrived at the downtown area. There were a set of escalators moving people off the cliffs. They led right into the downtown area. The escalators were covered in stickers from everywhere. I had to add my “2WANDRRs” sticker to the top of the escalator. As we reached the popular downtown square we spotted a bustling couple of bars. They were packed with people enjoying the sun and the morning drinks. One was an Irish pub, Sir Harry’s Pub. It was packed with Brits. There was one empty table right on the street. It was beckoning us. Teasing us. Calling to us to sit and drink. So we did exactly that. There was a couple next to us that had flown down just for the weekend. Cheap tickets down, inexpensive lodging and inexpensive drinks. Especially the sunshine! We started chatting with them and a drink turned into three. We had a great time with them. I only wish we had exchanged names. It would have been fun to meet up with them again.

We finally decided to wander down to the waterfront for an ice cream. There is a big tunnel under an expensive waterfront hotel. It leads directly to a boardwalk on a cliff. The boardwalk overlooks the crescent-shaped beach. The day was perfect. We enjoyed the views of the golden sand under the cliffs. The sparkling blue water and sky served as the backdrop. We wandered back to the hotel and enjoyed a fantastic kebab for dinner. The next day we would be continuing on to Seville. This is one of the highlights of any tour of Spain. Stay tuned as the next post will be photo heavy.

Cheers,

2WANDRRs