Arrived on the West Coast! Its Raining!

West Algarve
Alentejo highlights
Sintra
Lisbon
porto

Mac here.
Wheww what a crazy past few weeks. I figured it was about time I ran an update about this trip from my point of view this time.

Well we landed in Porto around Feb 17 and have been on the mainland since. Getting off the plane we were greeted by our AutoEurope rep who had our ride ready for us. For anyone who is planning on doing extended travel in Europe, this is a great way to do it. They meet you at the airport and have a brand new... ie 13kms on odometer car waiting for you.

Porto:
This was our first venture into an 'old' city. Lucky for us we happened to have booked a hotel in the heart of the 'old' city. As romantic as that sounds, it happens to be a total nightmare to drive in. Add night to that and a healthy splash on torrential downpour and funometer drops considerably. I was having chest pains. After 10 or 12 wrong turns we made it. Only to find we missed the car park by about 75 metres. No we can't back up. 2kms of left turns and we make it into the car park. Mental note: Always arrive into new cities in the daylight.
Things that people might care about Porto.
Weather: Sucked.
Cost: Pretty damn cheap.
Food: Uninspiring. We mostly ate in the standup cafes. The best things were the simplest. ie. Soups / Sandwiches. Everything else is drenched in oil.
Sights: Pretty impressive. Lots of churches and museums if you like churches and museums. The riverfront where they would ship the Port is prominent and maintains its charm. Roads and walkways are completely closed to cars which is pretty nice.
Cool things we saw: Casa de Musica (google it) Caught a rehersal of the Porto orchestra. Beaches. First sandy beach that was easily accessible. Really cool all glass emporium where you could drink coffee and watch people go by. Go to Sintra. Pretty much the coolest park and country grounds you will ever see. Some guy back in the 1700s had way too much time on his hands so he just made this crazy park of tunnels and grottos.
People: Nice.
Riding: Oh that is pretty.... WHAM... you died.
la la la click click. smile click. Off to Lisbon.

Lisbon.
Arrived in Lisbon at around 7:30pm in total downpour. Damn. I Thought Porto was bad for figuring things out. We happened to have rented an apartment on what could only be described as the smallest alley in Lisbon that happens to have a name. Think 1 block long alley way with a name. Getting somewhere in these old towns is not just go straight, turn left. Usually you have series of nerve shattering corners with people parked on the sidewalk that are all one way going the wrong way. Waiting at light... BOOM! wtf was that Lisa? 'oh this temporary fence beside us just blew apart from the wind'. Fantastic and it scratched and dented the car with less than 200kms on it. Hope that 0/0 Damage Deductable is true to word. Got in. Found the place. Nice place. oi... 4th floor and no lift. Pissing rain.
THings people might care about Lisbon.
Food: Sucks but we ate in a lot. having a hard time with the all oil meals.
Cost: Relative.
Ease to get around:Super easy.
Attractions: Super old buildings.. totally new buildings inside old buildings.. Churches museums. Funky old Trolly cars that are original that actually do more than carry tourists.
Riding: HAHAH. none... you will die.


la la la click click. smile click. Off to the Alentejo coast

The Alentejo is this rural section of land that is between the South coast and Lisbon. Its really pretty with cork trees everywhere and a very laid back atmosphere. We finally got to a place that we were able to find with no craziness. 3kms down a dirt road we arrived at the ranch. Herdadae de Matinha. (google it). We arrived... Pissing rain.
The place was very nice. As the weather was super bad though, there was a lot of time just hanging out on the grounds. The property spanned over 10 hectares (I am told a hectare is the size of a soccer field) so it was really cool to explore. We managed to borrow a couple of mtn bikes the next day and spend the day exploring the dunes and back beaches that only 4x4 and locals would know about. The next few days were spent sightseeing and hanging out. Weather was terrible. Terrible as in 170km wind that literally ripped the garage door off and hasn't been seen since.
Things people might care about.
Size: Alentejo is really big area with very small towns. Think Interior of BC.
Cost: Average. Our place was kind of spendy as it is featured as a boutique B&B with a dining experience that people from Lisbon drive 200kms for just the meal.
Sights: Major surf mecca with sprawling huge beaches.
Cool things: Took part in meal prep and had mild concerns over the fact that entire 1.5 litre bottles of olive oil were being used to cook in. Everything gets cooked in oil. Everything. Mtn biking on old Roman roads was pretty neat. Horseback riding in the forest was beautiful.
Riding: Would have been really good but the weather was too poor/dangerous.

Off to the Algrave... where expats go to die.
We arrived in Burgau...during the day (yay!). In the pissing rain :( . The algarve is pretty much the bottom 100kms or so of Portugal and a point of call for many Euros (mostly brits) who want an easy cheap vacation. Tons.... and tons of beautiful beaches. So many beaches I would be surprised to see them 'busy' outside of the main tourist towns. It's touristy though. Think Concrete seagulls and googly eyes. Kind of like hanging out at BC Ferries gift shop. oh look...more postcards and crap on a stick.
Burgau is situated on the south coast of the algarve West of Lagos. Its not much to write home about. Good location to ride out of though. Weather is finally starting to come around. Today was the first day of no wind/rain so far.
Things people might care about the Algarve
Sights: Small touristy towns, fantastic beaches and natural sights.
Food: sucks
Cost: little higher on some things. Major investment by the EU though on things like supermarket.
Getting around: need a car.
Riding: really good. EU put some major dollars into road improvement.

Okay that about covers our last 3 weeks or so. Check the picassa web gallery for pics if you want later (internet is slowwwwww here). Fingers crossed that this horrible weather is now behind us and we have the next 3 weeks or so of moderately nice weather.
Adios
Mac