Having read all the guide books our plan had been to head to Tavira next week to wander around and explore that part of the Algarve. In that we had some open time late last week we took the train to Tavira to check out the location of our Airbnb and the town in general. Well, we were not impressed.
To begin with Tavira was packed, filled with tourists who just seem incapable of wearing masks. We are not talking about under the noise misuse. We are taking masks nowhere to be seen. Second, the street of the town had people shoulder to shoulder, just totally packed with tourists. In the older part of the town, the quaint narrow streets, the throngs were an oozing compressed mass akin to molasses flowing through a narrow funnel. Having been in Olhao which is a beach town for a week, where people are widely dispersed, this congestion just felt damn uncomfortable. Finally, there was the price factor. Everywhere the markup was higher that Lisboa, Faro, and Olhao. If you go to a pastry shop here in Olhao or Lisboa, a pastry and an expresso are between a euro and a euro thirty. In Tavira the base price was running about three euros. The mask-less, crowded price gouging proved too much. We cancelled the Airbnb.
On Saturday we got on the train to Lagos. While we were tempted to check out Albufeira we passed on stopping there because the Portuguese government reports have indicated it was the country’s Covid-19 hotspot. The train which was supposed to take just under two hours died requiring a new train to come and pick us up. Passage was thus three and a quarter hours with an hour to wander around an unmanned train station on a warm day.
Lagos itself is large and developed. It has everything from 80 different boat tours to a fun fair with a Ferris wheel. It has modern condos but also an old walled city of sorts with narrow uncrowded streets. Because it is the end of the season the crowds are just not there. It was 80F during the day and the sky was clear. Still, all the vendors were bemoaning the cooling weather and how all the fun was leaving town. Hell, I am from Michigan by way of New Jersey, I decided I can handle being in a tourist ghost town for two weeks where the lowest daily temperature is going to be 79F and the lowest nightly temperature will be 62F.
Took forever on the Airbnb site to find a spot in Lagos. So many little nuances you have to be aware of like the use of the word cozy. Cozy is normally code for damn small. I note a variation of this has begun to creep into the entries, cozy spacious. Huh? What the hell does that mean, you get a hand knitted afghan to use in your sleeping tube? You also have to beware of listing that don’t show an exterior view. Those are the ones next to a tattoo parlor and above the methadone clinic. If there is the reference to “the full ambience of a seaside town” you can count on the smell of the fish processing plant being an ongoing part of your experience. Five minutes from the city center must be researched carefully. Is that by walking, by car or by jetpack?
Anyway, I found a four bedroom place an easy walk from the city center. It costs more than I wanted but it hit all the check boxes. Close to town. Modern appliances. Good reviews. I will keep you informed on how this goes.
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