The Golden Coast.

Lagos, Portugal. Home of more expats than anywhere else in Western Europe. I have been here for a few days now and will end my vacation here. It is this absolutely beautiful beach town that has grotto's and 40meter cliffs that overlook the Atlantic ocean. This side of the Portuguese coast is called the Golden Coast. It is stunning.

This beach town also happens to be a rather large party town. The town itself consists of a few streets, some historical sights(like the first slave trade sight) and a few churches. I honestly walked the entire town in under an hour. But I didn't come to Lagos for the churches. Although beautiful in themselves, the coast line is what brought me here. It is filled with grotto's, caves, steep cliffs that plunge into the teal ocean and small coves filled with white sand. I have spent most of my time exploring the caves and secluded beach with a few new friends. And the nights have been spent eating great(and cheap) food and drinking masses of great(and cheap) wine.

I've met some great Scottish guys staying in the hostel and it's been loads of fun. The girls in my room are all Kiwis and we've picked up some British and Aussies along the way to round out the group of about 10. There are a few Americans here as well, mostly Texans(yay Texas!) but they are still in school(Tech) and quiet a bit younger than the rest of us. Some of the Scots have rented an apartment not far from the hostel(everything is honestly about 10 minutes away) so it's become the place to hang out at and have fun. The only thing I'm sad about is that I only have a week here. OH and my camera(the point and shoot, not the DSLR) got wet on the beach so hopefully some of my pictures are salvageable.

Last night Portugal played Turkey in the opening of the Euro Cup(futbol people) and the town came alive. The game was fantastic with Portugal making a last minute goal to clinch the victory and securing the advancement in the tournament. I have never heard such a collective roar come up from the entire town. It was fantastic. The entire town went out to celebrate afterwards with people dancing in the streets and every car and motorbike honking. People were waving the Portuguese flags and chanting something in Portuguese. Futbol is THE sport in Europe and I absolutely adore the atmosphere that it comes with it. Two of the Scottish guys play for Scotlands futbol team so it's been nice getting the 411 on futbol rules and regulations that confuse me. And one of them will play for Liverpool next season(very cool) which would be even greater if I was a Liverpool fan. ;)

Celebration ended sometime this morning. I'm about to head out to Sagres, which is this small town on the tip of Portugal. It's supposed to have some amazing views of the cliffs and ocean. I was thinking of renting a Scooter with one of the Scott's, but it's so amazingly hot right now, with no wind, that we're gonna take the bus. I'm hoping for a bit of wind to break up the heat. Breakfast this morning was brutal with the sun beating down on us. On the plus side, I have gotten a fantastic tan.

Luxury Cabs

I hardly take taxi's in Austin. I think the only time a taxi is required is when a night on the town is called for and no one wants to be DD. But usually some nice guy volunteers to be our DD for the night, so I cannot remember the last time I saw the inside of a cab back home. But in Europe, taxi's have become my new best friend. It's a pain to get to a new city and try and figure out the public transportation while lugging all of the supposed "light packing" that I managed to do. So..my new rule is to take a cab from whatever airport/bus/train station that I have manage to arrive at, to whatever hotel/hostel/bed and breakfast I'm staying at. I think its been well worth the few Euros this is costing me.

And only in Europe do I get to ride around in a Mercedes Benz SL500 and pay a cab fee. I chuckle to myself every time I get into yet another luxury vehicle that works as a taxi here. I have been in some very nice Mercedes, BMW's, Volvo's during my time here. America wouldn't dream of making the every day taxi a foreign luxury car.

I've been in Portugal for a few days now and decided to stay at a nice resort hotel in Lisbon for a few days. I was told that although Lisbon does indeed have a metro station a cab ride would cost me about 5 euros each way and that my safety would be insured. Apparently Lisbon ranks high on the list of cities with alot of petty crime. I decided the cab idea would be best. My favorite ride was the daily cab from the hotel to the center of town...all in a very sleek black S class that didn't even have a taxi sign on it. Apparently it was part of the hotel's fleet or something. The very nice cab driver spoke some English so we communicated rather well. Lots of hand gestures(on my part) and speaking slower(his part) but we managed to have some very informative discussions on Portugal politics.

Portuguese is a language that baffles me. It's a romance language and shares some similarities between the other romance languages, but it sounds a little German with a bit of French and Spanish thrown in for good measure. Needless to say I have managed to learn only a little Portuguese. The Spanish most definitely helps, BUT the Portuguese are very offended if people automatically assume they speak Spanish as well.

I enjoyed my time in Lisbon(having my own room for a few days was quiet nice) and the city of Lisbon is beautiful. A very underrated European capital. The people are friendly and the food is delicious. The pastries, oh Portuguese pastries rival the Italians. The signature pastry is this little sweet custard tart that gets sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Pure heaven.