Kevnjan's new adventure.

Sat. 27th. Apr. Is it really Saturday again already? We've had a great week. On Monday we went back to Lisbon to play. We'd bought a crafty €6 24 hour ticket on Sunday evening, used it to get home on the bus and still had all day Monday to roam around Lisbon on buses, trams, funicular and Metro. Great value. We put it to good use travelling all around town, mainly by trams which are museum pieces and a great way to get around. Visited the castle, high up on top of the town and just cruised around. It really is that sort of town. I recommend a visit. On Tuesday morning we took it easy, washed the van and aggravated ourselves trying to make phone calls - with little success. Left around 1pm. after a little trouble startind the van. It eventually coughed into life and we set off for the coast, in search of a beach where we could spend the night. Drove through Cascais, Estoril and onwards, eventually settling on a place called Praia Grande, a delightful spot, a little way south of Praia de Maca very quiet, no other campers around and spent three hours on the beach, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. We came off the beach around 7pm. and it was still warm. Enjoyed a quiet night and we were tempted to stay another day. We walked into Praia da Maca, about 2Ks away, had coffee and suffered more phone aggro with a phone card. Walked back and settled down to some serious sun bathing. Once again we stayed late on the beach, weather warm and sunny, and had a late dinner. Decided on an early night and turned in around 10pm. Awoke at around 12.30am to an awful din. There were cars everywhere and teenagers playing loud music and shouting to each other. It went on until around 2am. There was a full moon and the sky was clear, a million stars on view but I would rather have slept. Turned out that next day was a public holiday, April 25th. We discovered that when we went to the Post Office to post a package!! Closed!! We drove up to Praia Santa Cruz and put in some more beach time although the wind was blowing hard. Spent a much needed quiet night but woke up on Friday to clouds and cool weather. More driving was called for and we found ourselves at Sao Martim do Porto, a lovely resort with a natural bay surrounded by white sands. Trouble was it was cold and cloudy. Last night there was a gale blowing that rocked the van on its springs. Another night with little sleep. So we left and drove to Coimbra, an attractive university town, it used to be the capital of Portugal in 13th century. Spent the afternoon sight seeing and here we are. The sun's returned and the wind is easing off. Just had dinner and we're off for a walk back into town. Lots of miles this week, lots more ahead! May make it to Opporto tomorrow.

Kevnjan's new adventure.

Sun. 21st. Apr. First of all I'd like to apologise for the mistakes in Thursdays blog. It was done on the phone, with predictive script and anything can happen. Anyway, we arrived at a campsite in Lisbon on Friday afternoon, changed the beds, did the washing and were ready to go bright and early on Saturday. The site is a half hour bus ride away from the centre of town and not ideally located but the pitches are large, it's in a pleasant wooded area and the facilities are good. There are three families of what seem to be Irish tinkers camping near us with broods of unruly children, brand new caravans ahd top of the range Mercedes and Land Rover Discoveries. How do they manage that, I wonder. Anyway, we are out all day and they haven't bothered us so live and let live. We were in Lisbon city centre at 10am Saturday and located the tourist office and the bus stop for the open top tour bus. Armed with a map and our headphones off we went. The weather was perfect, sunny with a cool breeze and the city was our oyster. After a circuit of the place to get our bearings we alighted at the Belem Torre, a 16th. century fortress built at the edge of the River Tejo to repel all comers. It looks a bit like a cake, made of fancy icing. We paid our entry money and went to explore. The steps to the top were steep and narrow, Jan made it to the top but has been complaining of stiffness in her legs ever since. The views from the top were worth the climb. Next we looked at the monument to Henry the Navigator, very impressive, see picture. Returned to City Centre and Jan enjoyed some retail therapy while I enjoyed a beer. This is beer weather! Returned to van around 7pm. with sore feet and tired but happy. Sunday has been just as good, we rode the bus again and returned to Belem where we found a flea market which Jan enjoyed. Booked a 2 hour cruise up the river for the afternoon and got a totally different view of Lisbon. It's a bit of a sprawl, built over 7 hills, although the centre is fairly user friendly with trams, buses and funiculars to help with the climbing. It's a colourful city although not as striking, architecturally as I'd expected. Much of the city was destroyed in an earthquake in 1755 and rebuilt. There is a style of architecture here called, Manueline which is the work of King Manuel 1st in the early 16th century. It's very fussy and over the top and the Belem Torre is a good example of it. Not my favourite style. But you can't help liking Lisbon, it's just so laid back and easy going, just like the rest of Portugal. Tonight we had dinner on the pavement outside a nice restaurant in the centre and watched the world go by. The sun was warm and the atmosphere was relaxed. Summer's arrived for the Woodwards. More Lisbon tomorrow, can't wait.

Kevnjans new adventure.

Thurs.18th.Apr. Spent Wednesday on the beach. Once again it was a long hike from the campsite to the beach. Too far to drag the sun beds, nevertheless it was worth the inconvenience. The beach was spectacularly beautiful and deserted, I suppose because of its remote location. We were there for 6 hours and saw no more than 6 or 8 people in all that time. The weather is wonderful now, around mid 70s in old money but with a constant cooling breeze. Unfortunately the sea is a little too cold for swimming. We spent a second night on the site and headed north again in search of another spot by the beach where we could wild camp. Took a look at Porto Covo where there is an aire but it was too far from the beach and dominated by French. Took a quick look around the town, it's gorgeous, but moved on in search of something better. Found it on the coast road about midway between Porto Covo and Lines. It's right on the beach with wonderful views and all but deserted except for a young AAustrian couple here for the surfing. Watched a lovely sunset last night after eating dinner outside for the first time this year. Spent a quiet night and this morning we plan to move on a few miles. Closing in on is.bon for the weekend

Kevnjan's new adventure.

Monday, 15th. Apr. Happy birthday Julie. Well, we finally broke the chains that were binding us to Alvor, after 3 weeks. We left on Thursday and headed for a spot called Boca do Rio for a little wild camping. It's locate between Lagos and Sagres, not shown on the map as there is nothing there except a glorious beach and parking for any number of lucky campers. We did a little shopping and arrived around mid afternoon, picked our spot, right by the beach and watched the waves roll in. The sun came out and the clouds rolled away. On Friday morning we climbed the hill and walked across the clifftops to Salema, a small but perfectly formed Algarve fishing village, straight off a postcard. The walk was spectacular, the clifftops carpeted with wild flowers of all colours and the views were fabulous. It was glorious. I woke up on Saturday morning and discovered my internet connection had vanished on the phone. We spent the weekend incommunicado but were none the worse for it, no disasters befell us and we survived the weekend. Saw some snakes on the beach yesterday but they were harmless, just sunbathing like us!! The disadvantages of wild camping are really self evident, but for those of you who haven't tried it it's all about water and waste. After a few days you have too little of the former and a surfeit of the latter. Anyway, after three days of lazing on the beach we left on Monday morning in search of a Vodaphone shop to restore our service. We looked around Sagres, a lovely town, but no Vodaphone shop. We were advised by the man in the Post Office that we may need to get to Sines to find one. That's a good way up the coast, but it is time to move along a little. We took a quick diversion to see Cape St. Vincent, the most South Westerly point in Europe, very wild, with the Atlantic rushing in an hammering against the cliffs sending spray many feet into the air. We set off for Sines after lunch and enjoyed a relaxing drive through the pretty scenery of the Alentajo region. Wild flowers, everywhere you look, Portugal really is a pretty country and the population is so laid back and friendly. We'll be back for more. Suddenly Jan spotted a Vodaphone shop, really in the middle of nowhere and a young Portuguese lady solved our problems for us. So here we are, blogging at last with the phone signal tethered to the laptop. We are on an ACSI site at Vila Nova de Vilfontes, south of Sines, about to eat a dinner of prawns and salad, the sun is shining, we have a view of the sea and James Taylor is singing to us. I suppose life can get better than this but for now it will do. Now - if I can upload a couple of pictures, that would be great.

Kevnjan's new adventure.

Mon. 8th. Apr. Nothing much happening lately. We have been just relaxing and letting time slip by. We have become friendly with our neighbours on the site here at Alvor, Bob's and Sally and Bobby and Shirley. I think we have more or less committed to joining them in a trip to Morocco next January. We have been thinking about it anyway and there is safety in numbers. Could be the answer. We booked our return ferry crossing today and will be back in England on 21st. May. I can't believe that's only 6 weeks away. We're going to have to move on from here in the next few days, just waiting for a letter to arrive from England. At last the weather is picking up. We haven't had any rain for a few days and it's definitely warming up. Anyway we're likely to have a little more to report when we move on from here. Watch this space. Heard from Geert and Maria a few days ago, they're visiting Scotland this summer, sounds like just the push we need to take our long awaited trip to Scotland ourselves. Hope it's a better summer than last.