Adventures With Harvey

Navigators and Earthquakes

Hands up who’s heard of Prince Henry the Navigator?

OK, let’s make it a bit easier… Who’s heard of Christopher Columbus? Ah that’s better, I see a whole load of hands in the air. Well read on because later in this edition you’ll find out why Henry was arguably more critical to discovering the Americas than Señor Columbus!

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s back the truck up and pick up where we left off last time – those of you with a good memory will recall that was Tavira, Portugal, just over the border from Spain. In the end we spent 8 nights there in our little carpark under the bridge, it was just so lovely to remain in the same spot and get to know a town and surrounds. While there your author enjoyed exploring the nearby villages of Santa Luzia and Cacela Velha by bicycle (at times some destinations can be a little too far for those in the pink corner to cycle), but mainly it was relaxing, exploring, watching some sport at the local pub, or having a meal out of an evening.

There are a number of little villages on the south coast of Portugal that we visited over the coming days, a brief outline of each is proffered below:

Faro. We were warned it was not really worth a visit so we didn’t stop long, just a stroll into town and an hour or so on the little tourist train. Our advisor was correct, the place is a bit shabby however the Chapel of Bones was definitely worth a look!

Alte. Quaint little hilltop town where we stopped for a coffee and the local delicacy of pastel de nata (Anita’s current favourite thing in the world!). Very cute but we were there on a Sunday so most of the little shops were closed ☹

Albufiera. Our expectation was that this place would be a little like Benidorm, loads of British tourists holidaying on a budget and all a bit tacky. It certainly was those things however we actually enjoyed Benidorm much more, mainly because the beachfront wasn’t as nice, about 80% of bars/restaurants/shops seemed to be shut for the winter so there was no real atmosphere. Benidorm by comparison, despite being off-season as well, was buzzing when we visited and we had a couple of lovely evenings out in the town. Having said all that, the coastline is still stunningly beautiful and the marina and other areas on the waterfront are still well worth the stop.

Albufeira. Another resort town, supposedly a little like Benidorm in Spain with lots of cheap package holiday travellers. However unlike Benidorm it was mostly closed for the winter and very quiet. We had a lovely evening, starting down by the water but it was a cold blustery night and we sought out some warmth in a cosy Italian restaurant which seemed to be one of the few busy places. There were escalators up to the top of the cliff which we appreciated – we are spending a lot of time climbing hills in this part of the world! The coastline was stunningly beautiful and the marina and other areas on the waterfront well worth the stop.

Carvoiero. Beautiful! A tiny little beach flanked by a cliff on either side, picturesque eateries, shops, wine bars etc. We had hoped to take a boat ride to the Benagil Caves however, despite being a warm sunny day, it was too windy & the ocean too rough for the boats to pick people up from the beach. Not to worry, we got on our bikes and rode to the top of them, there was a gorgeous walk along the cliff-top with views looking down into the caves and also beautiful, rugged coastline.

Lagos. Hands down the best thing about this town is the Ponta da Piedade which is the headland about 3km out of town. Yet more amazing rugged coast with stunning rock formations, crashing surf, surging rock pools and the like. At one point you can walk right down to the ocean and see its power up close and personal, it was truly an awe-inspiring spot!

Sagres. Again just out of town is the Fortaleza de Sagres, a massive and imposing fortress with quite a history. Originally built by Henry the Navigator in the 15^th century, it was the headquarters for his ‘School of Navigation’ from where the various skills required for naval exploration were devised and taught. It wouldn’t be too far off the mark to say that his vision and foresight led to the ‘age of discovery’ from whence the whole world was effectively discovered. He taught/influenced/inspired such well-known names as Christopher Columbus (discovery of the Americas in 1492) and Ferdinand Magellan (led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe in 1519-22 but sadly died en route). Prince Henry was the fourth child of King Dom John I of Portugal, and having not enough to do, built the Navigation School. Perhaps his current day namesake could learn a thing or two about how to keep himself occupied!

In 1587 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the English led by Francis Drake during which time the fort was captured and partially destroyed, the rebuild occurring over the following few decades. Then in 1755 one of the largest earthquakes in history hit the area (we’ll hear more about that shortly), again destroying the fort. So what you see there today was rebuilt again in the late 18^th century and thankfully has had no further such misfortune between then and now!

Just a few km down the road is Cabo de São Vincente, the very south-western tip of Europe. Prior to the age of discovery when the Atlantic was crossed for the first time, this place was believed to be the end of the earth. It was very cool to visit the lighthouse there after having stood at the lighthouse on the very north-west tip of Africa just a few weeks earlier.

It was nice to make the turn north as it felt like we had been travelling in a westerly direction for ages, pretty much since leaving Sevilla in fact. The road between Sagres and Lisbon was one of the worst we’ve encountered, bumpy windy and steep – on a couple of occasions the road down to a little beach was so steep that we feared for the efficacy of poor Harvey’s brakes! However, the old chap did us proud and we made it to our overnight stopping place of Vila Nova de Milfontes no worries at all. We didn’t end up exploring the town or beach much, just an overnight stop, load of laundry done in the morning, and we were excitedly on our way… to Lisbon!

On 1 November 1755 a massive earthquake with epicentre in the Atlantic Ocean around 290km from Lisbon and measuring approximately 9.0 on the Richter scale hit the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. Lisbon was where by far the greatest loss of life occurred, estimates of the death toll range from 70,000-120,000 as a result of not only the earthquake but also a massive tsunami which was followed by a firestorm that destroyed what was left of the city. For this reason, very little remains that predates that disaster although there are a few remnants here and there. It was however an opportunity to redesign the city so these days the main roads are very wide and a couple of massive town squares along with, for the time, buildings with as much earthquake proofing as possible. It’s probably not quite correct to say it’s a country defined by a disaster however you often hear it mentioned and there are many reminders throughout Portugal.

Lisbon itself is a lovely city with steep, narrow streets & alleyways, yellow trams and plenty of colour. One of the main architectural features seems to be blue & white tiles which you see everywhere and many of the streets are made of cobblestones. We particularly like the historic suburb of Alfama where we visited the ‘thieves’ market’ before wandering the narrow cobbled alleyways, stopping to admire the view out over the Tagus River and also a tram ride through the historic town.

Anita is always keen to hunt out the local food specialties in a place. Apart from the aforementioned pastel de nata, which have become a daily requirement, we also discovered Ginjinha, a cherry liqueur which is served in little chocolate cups. A very nice digestif indeed. We’ve not yet managed to find a good seafood restaurant but we are still looking!

That pretty much brings us to the end of today’s update, thanks for sticking with us, keep those comments and feedback coming, we always love to hear from our friends back home and elsewhere. With much love from the Travelling Woodies, this is Adventures with Harvey signing off for another day.

Winter in Portugal is too cold for a swim but perfect for a bare foot beach walk! This little place is called Carvoeiro

Sunday roast to farewell our local for the last week, the Black Anchor in Tavira

maybe I'm unusual but I find it interesting the way the different styles of cemetery vary from country to country

Capela dos Ossos de Faro, also known as the Bone Chapel - the entire interior is constructed of skulls and other bones. Kind of cool and creepy at the same time!

Anita has a new admirer

the Albufeira beach front at dusk

houseboats lined up at the Albufeira marina

it's not every day that a replica ship from the 16th century sails past while you're stopped for coffee!

looking down from above at one of the Algarve's most popular tourist attractions, the Benagil Caves, unfortunately the weather was too rough for a boat trip that day