Albufeira, Faro District, PortugalAlbufeira's Praias in the Sunshine
Good morning Sunshine
It is unbelievable – this
morning the sun shines and we have sun on the balcony and it’s warm enough for
coffee outside, it’s so beautiful – That is how we envisioned our vacation to
be.
We are delayed
As the TV didn’t work, we
checked with our host and he said he will come and have a look at it, as we
still had the washing machine running (we couldn’t do it last night, as there
was no water) – we were enjoying the sunshine on our balcony and had a late
start to a relaxing day
Praia Sao Rafael / Praia dos
Arrifes
We decided to go to the beach today
to explore the beautiful Algarve cliffs, get in some sun, views and the
wonderful yellow sand. Today’s goal was Praia Sao Rafael: driving through some
cool neighbourhoods and there was a big parking lot and we are heading down to
a dream beach. The sand here is so beautiful clean, yellow and soft – and as it
is so early in the season not a lot of people around.
We love the beaches here in the
Algarve, and there is always something for both of us to do: Gine can walk
endlessly on top of the cliffs, along to the next beach, checking out some
caves, enjoying the views – it’s a lot of fun and Paul can lie down in the warm
sand and suntan (his favorite hobby). He even attempted to go in the water –
but didn’t went fully in so far. What’s cool we brought the walkie talkies
along so we can be in contact when Gine is heading off in to somewhere.
In the afternoon some clouds
came up so we went for a bit a walk and then also drove over to the Praia dos
Arrifes: the one Gine visited earlier on foot and said to Paul, we have to go
there and visit so you can see the cool sea stacks. It was funny at the end of
the paved parking lot is a circle and Gine said to Paul go down and Paul said
where because if you don’t know it, you can’t see the street from inside the
car. There is also a super cool sign: Did you know that you shouldn’t go over
the cliff with your car, because if you do you will pay a fine (I wonder how
many actually survive it to pay there fine).
Back on the strip
We decided to go back to the
strip: today we walked all the way to the end, and we discovered one thing:
there is one bar after the next and even it was barely 6 pm, you could see
people singing, drinking and hanging out. The other thing is that here are a
lot of smokers nearly everywhere and in every bar, so we found a bit a more
quiet place with no smokers, but decided not to come here tomorrow.
What – Sun again?? Are we on
vacation?
Yes, it’s another beautiful
morning of sunshine – with coffee and breakfast on the balcony in the warm
sunshine. Looks like we will have another gorgeous vacation day.
Into Albufeira
As it is still early, we decided
to head into Albufeira. Once there we discovered that parking there is not that
easy – as we did not want to go into a parking garage and pay – we did another
circle to a side street and see there we found a parking spot. From there we
ventured to the Miradouro do Pau de Bandeira: it’s the viewpoint in the
town – it’s cute as there is also a dolphin made of scrap metal perfect for
taking pictures, also you can see the big beach of Albufeira: Praia de
Albufeira and Praia dos Pescadores. As we are fairly high up, we expected
to have to walk down: no such things – here everything is set up for tourists:
2 big outdoor escalators are going down to the beach. We walk a bit along in
the super cool wind and then through some of the pedestrian streets with lots
and lots of restaurants and giftshops. Paul said I would like to have some
shorts so we found some for Gine đŸ˜Š.
As it is: once upon a time
Albufeira was a small fishing village: near the beach of the fisherman (praia
dos Pescadores) is a stone sculpture to remind you that it was not always a
tourist spot. Once we had enough, we took the cool escalators back up and went
to the beach.
Praia do Castelo
There are so many beaches here,
so Gine said today we go to this one: and it is another gorgeous beach with
lots of cliffs. Paul set up and made sure to keep an eye on the towels, as well
today he went in fully for a dip in the water (no proof all we have is Paul’s
word) and Gine went on to explore a bit: out to the Ponte do Castelo for a nice
view (by the way there is a post here saying that this is a good photo-spot –
really people can’t figure that out by themselves!!!)and then via small narrow
winding paths as well climbing over rocks first to the Praia da Fraternidad:
which was super cool and from there through a rock arch onto the Praia da Mare
das Porcas, around some rocks to the Praia da Coelha. Back through the wet sand
around the rock and with some way finding back to Paul. Then we needed to relax
a bit – I mean we are on vacation, correct?
We did interrupt the relaxing walking
the length of the beach checking out the rocks, put our feet in the water and
collect some shells – only to find out it’s a good time to relax some more. We
had a real relaxing day – now we are tired because we relaxed too much – can
that be?? Ok I may should mention we got a bit sunburned today!!
Albufeira shopping mall
We decided to go shopping and as
along the beach you only find either expensive boutiques or tourist shops, we
decided to go to the Mall. Good choice – we had fun. This delayed our plans for
the day, so we will adjust.
Let’s hope we will have some
more wonderful days like today as we venture along the coastline.
2025-05-22