Being ambitious budget travelers that we are, the next morning in Portugal we decided to walk to the market and get food to make dinner that evening. The weather was a bit iffy at first but as soon as we got outside, the rain clouds parted and it looked as if it was going to be another beautifully sunny day. I, being the intrepid outdoorsy person that I am, navigated us successfully to the market where we stared at dead fish for a good 20 minutes trying to decide what to buy. In the end we played it safe and got some whitefish that we suspected to be sole, as well as some other things, though the market wasn't that big. We then made our way back to the hostel, stopping at a pharmacy and a thrift store. These visits had very specific purposes; Ken hadn't worn sunscreen the previous day and was in desperate need of some aloe, and the girls had been reminded from the previous day that sand gets everywhere if there isn't a protective towel or other such thing to sit on. Laura and Casey bought fashionable little beach rugs to sit on and keep the sand away.
While searching for aloe, Ken told us a funny story about one of his friends from home. Apparently, he had also been badly sunburned at one point, and called out to his mom asking where the aloe-y was (pronounced aloe+y or aloeeee). For the rest of the week we made it our inside joke.. I cant count how many times we said "mom! where's the aloey!" I still almost say aloey every time I use the word now. curses.
The trip was an especially successful one because we determined that Laura's ATM card was now fully functional- she had forgotten her pin, but a couple of tries with some help and we figured it out. There is nothing quite as scary as the prospect of being stuck traveling with no money.
We returned to the hostel, Maria and Caitie joined us after sleeping in a bit. We spent the afternoon wandering around Lagos; it was a bit to cold to lay out on the beach all day. We went first to the old fort which at first glance didn't amount to much. It was closed so we kept wandering and did a lot of people watching. Apparently, the youth of Portugal were also on spring break, so they were having a massive beach party complete with games and very loud music. Though we were a bit daunted, we were rewarded for wandering past them because we found some beautiful secluded beach areas with not very many people. We played in the waves and tried to explore some interesting looking caves, but the tide was a bit high. Instead, Laura and I satisfied our adventurous sides by doing a bit of spontaneous rock climbing in dresses (apparently pretty dangerous on these cliffs... falling rocks are common).
We then got some mojito's and made our way back to the hostel. The sun came out and Ken put on copious amounts of sunscreen. I guess he learned his lesson! Sammy and I popped into a little art museum and saw some cool pinholes of Lagos, then she bought her own beach rug at a neat pottery shop. When we returned to the hostel, we started cooking dinner by firing up the grill, which proved to be more challenging than we thought. Laura an ken managed to get it lit while the rest of us prepared some pesto pasta, a salad, bread, chicken, and our fish with garlic and lemon. The final product was quite delicious, and it is always really fun to cook in a hostel. We were just finishing up our meal when another girl from a large group of (I think) German students came over to us and informed us that we had been using their olive oil and vinegar. We were, of course, mortified, and felt horrible about it. We offered to buy them some more, but of course they didn't need and entire bottle of olive oil. Instead, we gave them a bottle of wine, which seemed to satisfy them as they drank the whole thing! We hoped we didn't come off as annoying and rude Americans, but she was friendly and talked to us later. Ken then made us a highly caloric but DELICIOUS desert of cream cheese, nutella, and apples which we totally gorged ourselves on. Totally stuffed, we contented ourselves with playing "idiot" and listening to stand up comedy on Ken's Ipod.
When it was around bedtime, Sammy, Laura, Ken and I spontaneously decided we wanted to go out, so we went to Joe's bar where we had a certificate promising us free shots. We got there and drank a few Sex on the Beaches and sat and chatted. We really enjoyed the place, and it was complete with its own Jug bathroom! We even ran into the bartender who had served us all the beer and wine we could drink the night before! We then went to a different bar where it was a bit more dancer friendly. We didnt stay long, as apparently there were creepy men eyeing us according to our bodyguard Ken. We got home and promptly fell asleep.
While searching for aloe, Ken told us a funny story about one of his friends from home. Apparently, he had also been badly sunburned at one point, and called out to his mom asking where the aloe-y was (pronounced aloe+y or aloeeee). For the rest of the week we made it our inside joke.. I cant count how many times we said "mom! where's the aloey!" I still almost say aloey every time I use the word now. curses.
The trip was an especially successful one because we determined that Laura's ATM card was now fully functional- she had forgotten her pin, but a couple of tries with some help and we figured it out. There is nothing quite as scary as the prospect of being stuck traveling with no money.
We returned to the hostel, Maria and Caitie joined us after sleeping in a bit. We spent the afternoon wandering around Lagos; it was a bit to cold to lay out on the beach all day. We went first to the old fort which at first glance didn't amount to much. It was closed so we kept wandering and did a lot of people watching. Apparently, the youth of Portugal were also on spring break, so they were having a massive beach party complete with games and very loud music. Though we were a bit daunted, we were rewarded for wandering past them because we found some beautiful secluded beach areas with not very many people. We played in the waves and tried to explore some interesting looking caves, but the tide was a bit high. Instead, Laura and I satisfied our adventurous sides by doing a bit of spontaneous rock climbing in dresses (apparently pretty dangerous on these cliffs... falling rocks are common).
We then got some mojito's and made our way back to the hostel. The sun came out and Ken put on copious amounts of sunscreen. I guess he learned his lesson! Sammy and I popped into a little art museum and saw some cool pinholes of Lagos, then she bought her own beach rug at a neat pottery shop. When we returned to the hostel, we started cooking dinner by firing up the grill, which proved to be more challenging than we thought. Laura an ken managed to get it lit while the rest of us prepared some pesto pasta, a salad, bread, chicken, and our fish with garlic and lemon. The final product was quite delicious, and it is always really fun to cook in a hostel. We were just finishing up our meal when another girl from a large group of (I think) German students came over to us and informed us that we had been using their olive oil and vinegar. We were, of course, mortified, and felt horrible about it. We offered to buy them some more, but of course they didn't need and entire bottle of olive oil. Instead, we gave them a bottle of wine, which seemed to satisfy them as they drank the whole thing! We hoped we didn't come off as annoying and rude Americans, but she was friendly and talked to us later. Ken then made us a highly caloric but DELICIOUS desert of cream cheese, nutella, and apples which we totally gorged ourselves on. Totally stuffed, we contented ourselves with playing "idiot" and listening to stand up comedy on Ken's Ipod.
When it was around bedtime, Sammy, Laura, Ken and I spontaneously decided we wanted to go out, so we went to Joe's bar where we had a certificate promising us free shots. We got there and drank a few Sex on the Beaches and sat and chatted. We really enjoyed the place, and it was complete with its own Jug bathroom! We even ran into the bartender who had served us all the beer and wine we could drink the night before! We then went to a different bar where it was a bit more dancer friendly. We didnt stay long, as apparently there were creepy men eyeing us according to our bodyguard Ken. We got home and promptly fell asleep.
