The Algarve with Madeleine

We were so excited when our friend Madeleine said she would try to join us for a week or so on our trip. We sent her the itinerary and left the meeting point up to her. She chose Portugal, specifically the Algarve and Porto and we were beyond thrilled!!

We first met Madeleine in Peru when we were volunteering with an organization called Peru’s Challenge near Cusco. We lived in a house with her and 7 other people (plus Chloe, Paul and I). We all got along very well and during our remaining 11 months of travel, we saw Madeleine twice and have visited each other at our homes a few times over the last 11 years. She also loves to travel and no matter how long it’s been since we’ve seen one another, we easily fall into a groove as soon as we get together.

First day in Lagos *find picture of meeting M or from 11 years ago**

Madeleine chose an amazing place for us to stay in the Algarve. We had a little hiccup getting to Lagos (our train car was too far back and we couldn’t see the names of the stations until we were past it, so we missed our transfer station), but it meant we got to hang out in Faro for an afternoon.

We enjoyed a little wander and lunch in Faro until the train to Lagos arrived.

First saude in Lagos!

We were so happy with the location of the amazing apartment in Lagos. It was just up from the main square and had a great rooftop deck to enjoy our evening happy hour!!

Paul on the deck and the square where we could often hear buskers singing while we enjoyed a glass of wine, some cheese and crackers.

Our fantastic place in Lagos

Our first wander around town led us to the harbour, Fatima and the possibility of a cruise to see the Benagil Caves. There was room on a 2:00 boat and I paid a cash deposit, much to M’s disbelief (Fatima was on the cover of the brochure and she wrote a little note on it, saying we’d paid…). Although there was some apprehension from our friend about me being a little too quick to lay down my cash, it all worked out in the end and the cruise to the Caves was great!

Paul had spotted some beautiful looking golf courses on our train ride in, so the following day off he went to golf and Madeleine and I went kayaking in and around the grottos near Lagos.

Palmares Ocean Living and Golf in Lagos

Although there are no pictures of us in the kayaks, it was an adventure to remember. The guides were terrible – stopping sideways as we exited a cave so we were all jammed up and crashing into each other, telling us we had to stay on the right while entering a cave yet stopping on the left, pointing and telling us about something behind us so, as many tried to turn around to look, we were dangerously close to tipping, BUT, it was glorious and we had a great time!

Just after the moment Madeleine realized the pressure from the jump off the top deck caused her apple watch to fall to the bottom of the ocean. (Sorry M, I know you asked me not to talk about it again). I just thought the cold water was a shock – because it certainly was cold!