En route to Paris

Forcing ourselves to stay awake at the airport hotel.

A quick hop to Portugal awaits.

Gloria and Kosta reported a chaotic customs experience when they arrived the week before but we simply walked out of the airport in Faro with nary a glance from an official. \240Glo and Ko met us at the car rental and we were soon off to Quarteira. \240A quick shop for supplies and we headed to the beach where Rhys and Kacie were more than slightly keen to get down to the business of vacationing!

One cannot live on bread alone...

Quarteira beach.

Rhys made a frisbee friend. \240A little girl from Darby, England.

Kacie having a dip in the Atlantic.

A beach creature.

We capped the day off with dinner followed by a walk on the beach promenade and some bumper car action. \240We fought pretty hard against the jet lag all day but the flashing lights and chaos of the fair definitely helped us reach our goal of a normal local bedtime.

Karla digging into a traditional sardine feast.

The fair.

Bumper car chaos.

Posing on the Promenade.

Glo and Kacie in front of our lunch spot in Sintra.

After our lunch of Portuguese style spaghetti and meat (chunks, no sauce, very good), we decided to walk about a nearby sight known as the Convento Capuchos. \240The convent is actually a medieval Franciscan monastery located deep in the forest on the side of the mountain. \240We enjoyed an hour or two of hiking amongst the ancient buildings and forest.

Typical tiny medieval doorways.

The ceiling, doors, and window shutters were all sheathed in cork wood.

The pit toilets were carved into the stone and appeared quite functional.

A rather heavy stone door

One of the monks felt the structure was too opulent and chose to hermit in the near open.

We returned to Sintra to occupy our AirBnB rental, the Casa Rocha. \240This place was quite tidy and modern with a distinctly Portuguese look with red tile roof, white-washed walls, and exposed wood beams.

Nightcap on the veranda!

We entered the park via the Lakes entry and enjoyed an impressive, peaceful, Stanley Park like walk through giant sycamore, maple, and Beech trees.

Upon arrival we were taken aback by the immense line snaking out into the parking lot. \240Turns out the line was only for the inside tour which we had decided to forgo in order to manage time and finances. \240We had also been told the inside wasn’t worth the cost. \240As we walked into the grounds, we discovered the line stretched for 100s of meters into the castle grounds. \240We happily walked about unhindered in our exploration of the exterior!

Our AirBnB would be somewhere in the background below.

Chapel stained glass.

Adult picture time.

Lunch on the battlements.

Our second stop of the day was to the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle) via another walk amongst the Sycamore. \240This structure predates the Pena by hundreds of years and is a clear sign of the significant middle eastern influences in Portugal.

The white cliffs below the walls called the Penedo da Amizade.

We ended our day visiting Gloria’s Primo (cousin) Joao Pires, his wife Marta, 4 kids (Marta, Francisca, Rosi, Benedita, and Estuvio), and uncle Manuel. \240We had a series of performances from the kids and dinner, of course.

Adorbs...

Primitivist coral fountain at the entrance.

Less primitive Terrace of the Celestial Worlds.

Initiate Well

The Waterfall Lake

A celestial being on the Terrace of Celestial Worlds

Ko and Glo making a 3rd arch...

The main palace with chapel in the fore.

Rhys and a lavender garden.

The Chapel

Masonic symbols and Templar references all over the chapel.

A giant Gloria by the main palace.

The Quinta in all its glory.

Tailgate lunch post tour.

Ko putting on shorts to the delight of a tour bus en route.

Post-Regaleira tour we bundled into the rental cars and blitzed our way back to the Algarve. \240Gloria’s cousin Isabelle (Belle) and Ze invited us to their semi-rural compound just outside of Loule where the girls enjoyed the pool and the adults toured the grounds and had a beverage.

Ze built some orange mocktails for the girls made from oranges picked fresh from the tree.

We then enjoyed a sit-down outdoor dining experience including chorizo flambé and paella.

Figs, profiteroles, and plums for desert.

First, we needed to do some long overdue laundry.

And beach hangout in the afternoon.

Thursday was a windy day and the surf was pretty significant. \240The girls and I did some body surfing.

The adults did a bit of Promenade activity.

Then off to Med Fest in Loule.

The artists, stages, and crib numbers for orders of performance. \240We ended up seeing Os Tubaroes and Mellow Mood as the Matriz stage was close to the market where Belle and Ze have their Adego market stall.

Ze and Belle’s Adega

Ko, Belle, and Glo

Kosta discussing the festival schedule with Ze and Belle’s son Felipe and Tia Maria João (in whom’s apartment we were staying in Quarteira). \240Maria is about 4’6”.

The alleyways of the Loule Market within the Med Fest zone.

Os Tubaroes, from Cape Verde

Fire Dancers between musical performances.

Mellow Mood (Reggae). \240These guys were pretty awesome. \240Kacie and Rhys were somewhat dismayed by the quantity of smoke emitted by the crowd in all its various flavours. 😜

The venue was really unique, set against the wall of an old castilo. \240The square was small and intimate but the sound was big.

We hung out at the pool and in the shade of the grape vines.

Ko, Chris, Charles, and Jerron.

Kacie, Glo, Jerron, Charles

Belle, Karla, Sandra

Ko

Grand plans to do another night of Med Fest were eventually scuttled as Glo and Ko needed to leave the next day and Kosta was under the weather.

We headed back to the Loule market for a last beverage and goodbye to our hosts.

As the day wound down we had to say ciau to Gloria and Kosta as they headed back to Canada. \240See you in a couple weeks!

Portugal (foreground) vs Spain. A pretty high level of volleyball on display and free to stand courtside!

We then explored the market square in Quarteira before hitting the beach for the rest of the afternoon.