aulop

The blue screen
It finally happened, while on a day trip to Portimao, I turned on my phone and got the dreaded blue screen of death.
Tried everything I could think of to make it work, and no.
Took it to repair shop and they made the official diagnosis, my phone is officially an unattractive paperweight.
I backed up some stuff and have paper printouts of others (airplane tickets).

Tip: Back up all your important stuff and have paper printouts of important documents just in case you can't have online access

aulop

Carvoeiro and Portimao
We took a day trip to Carvoeiro and Portimão.

Carvoeiro is a small town nestled on a cliff.
Around Carvoeiro there are small coves that can be accessed through stairs.
While the town is photogenic and interesting for a day, we found it too small for long stays and a car is an absolute necessity.

Portimão is a city with a nice flat waterfront area in the old town.
Portimão has a bus terminal with local and intercity busses , there's also a train station.
Lots of restaurants and tourist oriented stores, local cave cruises,etc.
Praia da Rocha ( beach) probably the most iconic beach in Portugal is in Portimão.
The area around the beach is very tourist oriented, most buildings are tourist rentals.
In the old town we stopped at Casa Inglesa pastry shop to get the local almond sweets, made of almond paste shaped and colored to look like miniature fruits, fish,etc.

It was there that my phone stopped working.


Carvoeiro beach


Carvoeiro town, notice the steepness


Carvoeiro stairs to local cove


Praia da Rocha, Portimão

Praia da Rocha and the rocks that give it it's name

Praia da Rocha

KarenWoo

I always, always bring paper printouts of important documents, such as airline reservations, hotel confirmations, car rental confirmations, etc. I don't trust technology completely. You never know when your phone will die, when you can't get a signal, etc. I remember when we flew home from Ljubljana the agent at the check-in counter specifically asked to see our paper reservation. She didn't want to see our online reservation. I bring a soft-cover 3-ring binder with me to keep these documents organized.

aulop

Market day
Once a week , farmers and other vendors
gather for Market day.
Surrounded by apartment buildings we found by chance on one of our walks.
Prices are better than in the supermarket and some items are only available at the market.
The selection of fruits, olives, cheeses and sausages is quite good.


Market day

Meats and cheeses

Fruits and veggies

Seedlings for the veggies garden

Garlic anyone?

Even codfish is sold at the market

Melnq8

That's alot of garlic!

aulop

Vilamoura

Our base is around Vilamoura, we choose it because it is flat, making it good for walking. It has lots of tourist apartments, hotels, restaurants (Portuguese, British, Indian, Italian etc) casino, it's beachfront but it's mostly known for the marina.

There are tourist companies for boat cruises to Benagil caves, watersports, land excursions, car rentals, etc.

Public bus is very limited, theres a local hourly bus (green line) and the Vamus bus for longer trips, the nearest train is in Loulé.
We used taxis often however some buildings don't have street numbers, instead they have names, making it confusing for us and the taxi drivers ( we solved the issue by naming landmarks like restaurants, supermarkets, etc).

There isn't a visible boundary between Vilamoura and the next village, so some of what I mention maybe on the next village and not in Vilamoura.

Most important to us is the English speaking medical care. It's a private clinic, we didn't need to use them but their site lists medical insurance providers.
https://www.grupohpa.com/en/units/al...-de-vilamoura/

We enjoy the Vilamoura area for the intended purpose of our trip (snowbird escape from the winter) but all the tourist oriented amenities that we enjoy maybe too touristy for others.


Vilamoura marina

Tivoli hotel and marina

Vilamoura marina

Restaurant patios on the marina

Marina road has a variety of restaurants and bars

If you want a liquid lunch, it's available

View of Vilamoura Beach from stone pier.

aulop

The walk
As our trip is coming to an end we decided to take one last walk.
We stayed out all day and it was an unusual day weather wise, clouds, rain, wind and beautiful sunshine on a blue sky.
We walked from Vilamoura eastward to Faro and turned back just after Vila do Lobo.

First tracks - anyone that skis understands the reference

Fisherman marina, Vilamoura in the background

Before going out to sea the fisherman pray to Nossa Senhora

Anchor ar fisherman harbor

Cat house at fisherman marina

Almost beside the fisherman marina is the fish market selling the catch of the day

Exercise machines by the beach, didn't see anyone using them

Date palms along the beach

I call this one the 3 sisters. Lots of people stopped to take photos.

The beach is mostly sandy

A few areas have pebbles

Scallop shell. We saw them occasionally

Vale do Lobo is a beachfront golf resort

Restaurants at Vale do Lobo

Vale do Lobo restaurant

Vale do Lobo bar

Vale do Lobo

Vale do Lobo golf

Vale do Lobo golf

Around Vale do Lobo we saw the cliffs.
They ranged in color with yellow and brown but are mostly orangy redish depending on the sunlight.


Algarve cliffs

Cliffs

Cliffs

Cliffs

Cliffs

Cliffs

KarenWoo

Wow!!! Those red cliffs are stunning! I am enjoying your photos and report about the Algarve. So, how long in total were you in Portugal?

aulop

KarenWoo
Thanks for the compliments.
We will have a total of 3 months once we leave.
We're about to go to Lisbon for our flight in a few days.
I'll probably post about my airport experience after I get home, once I get settled, but I might get distracted with the planing of my next trip.

aulop

Raizes vegetarian restaurant.
We found a vegetarian restaurant at the opposite end of Quarteira.
Raizes has indoor and outdoor eating areas.
We tried it at the end of our trip and enjoyed it.



Raizes vegetarian restaurant

Raizes menu, they also have bowls and plate of the day

Plate of the day, vegetable cakes with tomato rice and salad , very enjoyable dish.

Black bean burger with sweet potato, the burger was a little dry

Raizes restaurant

Sberg

Thanks for all the great information. Headed to Lagos in a few weeks. Can't wait!