Salema to Lagos

 Oct 10 2023


Lagos accommodations: Bowen Luxury Suites

We listened to our own advice today and packed before the 8 am hotel breakfast. It was about 9 am when we began the short 17-km ride to Lagos. The air was cool and energy was up. The hills were reasonable, and the ride definitely more pleasure than pain.

We broke our paved-roads-only rule, however, and rode some gravel, which turned out to be a good choice, as it was relatively smooth (not washboard), and shaved off quite a bit of time from the paved alternative.

We stopped for a short break in Burgau to watch the surfers, then cruised past Praia da Luz, and sailed through many traffic circles into Lagos. Drivers here are considerate, and we’ve never felt unsafe, even in congested areas.

 

Money money money
(Because you want to know but are too polite to ask.)

Our hotel in Lagos is the most luxurious we’ve had. It’s also more expensive, but the city hotels are always more than those in the smaller towns. This one comes in at €99  per night, where the others are mostly around €80. Lisbon was more, at €115 per night. When we were booking accommodations, we wanted boutique-style hotels in central locations. We weren’t interested in 5-star amenities, nor did we want to slum it. We’ve been delighted with every place we’ve stayed, so far.

What has surprised both of us is the cost of food. While we had the notion that we’d be picnicking for lunch, that hasn’t worked out yet, partly because we haven’t had the energy to shop for food, and partly because we’re concerned about carrying anything perishable in this heat. Lunches have cost us typically €12-15, and dinner main courses €15-20. With the Euro at $1.63 CAD, that’s comparable to current west-coast Canada post-pandemic prices, which are appalling, really. We expected Portugal to be more reasonable than that, but I guess we’re a few years and a few million tourists too late for the good deals. Either that or we’re not shopping around enough. Regardless of price, the food is really beautiful, and we’re able enough to afford it.

Enough about money!

Old Town Lagos is full of character, with pavement of white and black cobbles like the ones we saw in Lisbon, each narrow street with its own pattern. Every second shop is meant for tourists, some with quality goods, many with the usual junk: bottle openers, coasters, fridge magnets. Every third shop sells gelato. Every fourth sells a boat tour. tomorrow we’re going on a 1-hour boat tour to see the cliffs from the ocean. Expect photos.

The wall of the old city

One of many little hubs in the maze of medieval streets. Note man with stroller.

Typical street, men with strollers. There have been lots of men with strollers.

Oh! Oh! Oh! We found Henry!!

The hoteliere, when helping to orient us to the neighbourhood, pointed out a square — “You’ll see the statue” — and I expected something classical, you know, like the guy on horseback in Lisbon. Instead, we found this:

WTF??

And we also found this:

Henry would have preferred this one, I think

Prince Henry the Navigator, also known as the Infante Dom Henrique, is pretty revered around here as a scholar and teacher who initiated Portugal’s “Age of Discovery” in the 15th Century, but given that he also got Portugal involved in the African slave trade, I’m guessing it’s a matter of time before these statues are torn down.

But we'll always have Elly the Navigator, taking on the gargantuan task of finding our way through the mangled network of streets that make up the old town of Lagos:

Who needs a TI, when you've got Elly?