On our return to Portugal, we stopped for one night at Zambujeira do Mar. The winding and hilly road brought us to the sleepy fishing village on the west coast that also has some agriculture. However, it is tourism that keeps this town alive. After we checked in to Rosa dos Ventos we went for a walk to the sea. We didn't know what to expect, but the steep cliffs were definitely not it. There were signs that said: “Walk only along the marked trails. Unstable cliffs. Danger of falling.” We walked along the boardwalk path across the sandy landscape sprinkled with orange succulents and purple heather. The path took us to an amazing lookout over the sea with the rocky cliffs going on for miles to the north. We got a close up look at one area of the cliffs, it was shale and as slick as glass. Yup, we will definitely stick to the trails!
The surfing is supposedly good here. The only beach we saw was at the bottom of a large cliff and had dozens of steps leading down the cliff face from the road above. It looked nice and sandy, but there were not many people.
We walked into the town centre and peeked into a few shops. Nothing interested us but we were getting hungry so we stopped in at a seafood restaurant. I think they were all seafood restaurants, actually. They all had seating areas outside of the building, but every one of them was glassed in. I can only imagine how windy it must get when the wind comes in off the ocean. I ordered prawns. The waiter asked me how many prawns I would like, as they were sold by weight. I said I didn't know, so he brought me a prawn to show me how big it was. It was the size of a big lobster! I ordered only one.
The town looks fairly new. There are a few older buildings, but for the most part, all the buildings are brand spanking new with perfectly painted colourful trims and perfect little yards on perfectly straight and gridded streets.
Our guesthouse had rooms surrounding a tiled square courtyard that had a fountain and two turtles. The backyard had a garden of hydrangeas.
The next day, we headed back to Lisbon to catch our respective flights. We stayed at Lisbon's Airport Guest House which was a 15 minute walk to the airport. It had a large backyard with a clothesline, an orange tree, and a persimmon tree. We were welcome to eat as much fruit as we wanted. I needed to do some laundry as I still had 5 days in Rome before returning to London for my return flight to Canada. We walked to the airport to see if it was viable to walk with luggage the next day. It was not. However, once at the airport, we caught the metro to the pastry shop and botanical gardens that I mentioned earlier.
The following morning we took a taxi to the airport where Ed returned to Canada and I caught a flight to Rome.
