Hard to imagine Lucy missing us at all when everyday is a big happy play-date!
Really enjoying the array of fresh fruit in the morning, and so ripe and sweet, had some of the best melons ever. They change the fruit and baked goods selection every day! Going to miss this.
Taking the toll road today, about 5 hours to our next destination.... not as scenic but its necessary. Only takes between 5 to 6.5 hours to drive from the north to the south of Portugal.
Did spot several area of nesting herons who decided to built their nests in one of the smaller transmission towers.....Apartments for the herons!
As we are on one of the many Toll Roads, they have great fuel food/coffee stops. Now we decided to get coffee on the go....the lady was very nice as we figured out what to order and how to drink from the oddly flat cardboard shaped lids...much like the square toilets....doesn't work so smoothly......but the offer of a straw made sense....hot coffee through a straw...guess this is my Friday morning special coffee...enjoy yours Shelly!
I love to listen to the local radio... can't understand a thing that they say... but the music is a mixture of about a third English and the rest other languages, mostly Portugese....
Well what we have saved in not having to pay for toilets in Portugal, unlike Croatia, we have made up for in Tolls!
Gone are the mountains, replaced by flat fertile land, more cork trees, more grapes and now produce. Super super windy!
Milk...we love our milk.... not so much here, same as in Croatia...it is milk you find in a tetra pack on the grocery shelf....it has a sweet taste....its hard to find "our kind of fresh milk"...Due to the summer heat, transportation logistics, short shelf life and the standard size of fridges here, this is the norm.....
So we have driven about 1650 km and saw our first mid-size pickup truck...still not a single full-size pickup!
Finally got to the coast, warm but breezy..
Our goal was to get to Vila Nova de Milfontes, its described as the quintessential Alentejo coastal town, a delight of whitewashed houses and authentic Portuguese charm..... and that it is exactly what it is.
This was the only night we had not pre-booked....it may change how we travel abroad.
What a charming, beautiful, place. We found an amazing little place, $55.00 euro, so only about $90.00 cdn. You could feel the warmth when you walked through the door, clean, cozy, and another amazing courtyard and patio.
They have it figured out here in where their outdoor living/relaxing spaces are behind closed doors. You walk along a street and the door to a place is on the sidewalk but when you walk inside, the place opens up and its amazing! This is our courtyard and there are about 10-15 places that enjoy the complex, but there are so many patios, and little courtyards that you have so much privacy and space
We asked our host for dinner recommendations, so until they opened, we took a stroll about, we had no idea how beautiful this place was... wish we had a few more days here.
So there are lots of stray cats here... like lots... they estimate about a hundred through town, but a society takes them, and fixes them, and provides shelter, food and water..
Little girl petting the cats. There were about a dozen in and around the little foot ferry.
Lots of walkways and paths along the water and into town. Its also a very popular hiking/walking area so we saw lots of back-packers checking into hostels/hotels and out and about in town.
Finally found the restaurant, tucked in a small side street. Its one of the local restaurants that are open all year, unlike the "tourist restaurants" close to the water. When we arrived there was only one other couple at a table, surrounded by tables with reserved signs. Thankfully our host warned us the portions were large, glad we listened...it was the biggest piece of cod and the handmade chips were so different, they were light and airy any slightly crispy ! So good but soooo big, its a meal for 3 at least.
The portugese menu is widely made up of shellfish, octopus and cuttlefish....in everything...soups...salads, main courses, so seeing as neither of us are fans of that, even though the desire to eat traditional is there....we may have to go more to the portugese/tourist version of eating.
When we asked to look at the wine menu, he said...No, you dont need that, I I know my customers... I will get you want you want and he did, some great local house wine, delicious!
We were not too sure about our waiter, Roz, was he indifferent, un-interested, we weren't sure. Many we have met along the way have been similar. Its similar to Croatia, it was referred to as friendly when they know you (or you have created a friendship) but not Fake-Friendly....
The restaurant soon filled up with locals, tourists, take out....many people turned away stating next available time was 9:00 pm. Turns out our waiter was just a chill Portugese guy out to enjoy life. He said, "see this bottle of water... when it's empty.. I don't worry that its empty...I just think I will get more water somewhere else....no worries...
Turned out to be a favorite memory and we will always remember this place with great Portugese memories!
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