July 7, 2014
 
SAGRES to LAGOS to FARO by bus - 120km
FARO to MERTOLA by rental car - 126km
Casa da Tia Amalia €35/$48 double, ensuite, without breakfast
 

10 Day Car Rental, €17.65 ($24) per Day

After three weeks in beach towns, we booked a car so we could explore little Portuguese towns inland, off the beaten path. We didn't get the low season rental rate but booked now because the prices will be twice as much in peak season at the end of July. 

So today, we headed back down the Algarve coast to Faro to pick up our reserved rental car at the airport. We took the 10:25am bus to Lagos. It was a pretty 2 hour drive and the seats were comfortable. The bus pulled off the main road into small towns along the way, turning a 30 km ride into a two hour trip. In Lagos, we caught the 12:45 bus to Faro (70km).
 
The bus station in Faro is a convenient 5 minute walk from the train station so we decided to get train-tickets to Lisbon for the 17th. Dave stayed with the luggage at the stop for the airport bus while I b-lined to the train station . I got my 50% senior discount on my train ticket, (we paid €22 for Dave and €11 for my 2nd class ticket).

The airport bus that was standing there when I left was still there when I returned. 

Our bus tickets from Lagos entitled us to free passage to airport with the same ticket. All went pretty smooth there. We walked to parking lot P4 and easily found a kiosk with about 4 desks representing different car-rental companies. While Dave took care of the rental particulars, I started a conversation with a Dutch lady from Drente (a Dutch province) and traveling with her husband and 3 young children. Mostly they are interested in spending time at different beaches. The car will allow them to access more secluded beaches. She recalled with big grin on her face how her husband proposed to her 16 years ago in Portugal. 

I was delighted when Dave came out with the keys to cute little lime green car. Dave got us dialed in on the Google turn-by-turn directions on his cell phone and off we went. It was 4pm and we had at least 4 more hours of daylight. 
 
 
Tiny Castle Town in Northern Algarve

We could feel the temperature rising the further inland we got. 
  
Our first stop was the village of Salir, still in the Algarve province. We followed the signs along the ever narrower cobblestone street up and up to the "Castela". Little of the castle remains today, a bit of the wall is left. Still it's a lovely village to spend an hour or so. We found a bench overlooking the red tile roofs and seemingly freshly whitewashed homes and church, where we had our picnic. We hiked around the narrow streets in this lovely town. 

Many of the small homes had blooming vines draped over walls and colorful potted plants. 

We filled our water bottles from the fontes, traditional water taps renown for pure water. 
 

Half the World's Cork Comes from Portugal

Soon we found ourselves driving through hilly terrain, many with freshly stripped cork trees. A first for us both. We were surprised to learn that cork, basically the cork oaks bark, regenerates every 9 to 12 years and that a cork tree lives for 200 years. We noticed trucks piled high with tubes of cork.

We pulled over to take a closer look at the trees. Later we consulted wiki for more details:
 
Portugal produces approximately 50% of cork harvested annually worldwide
 
Cork is bark tissue that is harvested primary from Quercus suber (the Cork Oak) and is used in a variety of products, the most common of which is for wine stoppers. 
 
Cork is traditionally stripped from the trunks every nine years, with the first two harvests generally producing lower quality cork. The trees live 200 years.

The cork is stacked in piles in the forest or in yards at a factory, and traditionally, left to dry, after which it can be loaded onto a truck and shipped to a processor
 
 
Stone Watchtowers Really Were Windmills

We crossed from the Agarve north to the Alentejo region of Portugal.
  
We continued and did a bit of off-roading when we spotted round stone buildings on distant hill tops. We were not sure but suspected they were remnants of windmills. That was later confirmed at the tourist office in Mertola.


Mértola, an Ancient Castle Town
 
Mertola is beautiful castle town built on a rocky spur, with castle walls being its highest point. 
 
We used to booking.com's phone app to choose a "wonderful" rated budget place to stay. We crossed the smaller of the two rivers first, the Oeiras river. Then crossed the Guadiana River to get to our hotel Casa da Tia Amalia which had fantastic view across the river of old town Mertola and Castle Mertola.

The English speaking owner showed us around the warm and cozy guesthouse and gave us room choices from dorm beds to private double rooms. There was only one other guest staying. He pulled out a town tourist map and highlighted where we should visit while in Mertola. We save that for the morning..

We went to town to discover that most restaurants were closed because it was Monday. We picked one of the only ones open. Food was disappointing to say the least.....