Algarve and lots of Photos

This post will be mostly pictures. I have a desire to communicate the beauty of this country, but words aren’t enough. Hard to believe, huh? When I describe a narrow cobblestone street with bougainvillea draped over ancient doors, it just doesn’t do it justice.

I’ve always loved flowers. This place has flowers everywhere. Even the weeds are pretty flowers.

The lighting is also hard to describe in words. How do you explain it?

The moon! Have you ever tried to take a photo of a huge moon looming on the horizon? It almost always looks like a dot.

I had fun with posing the moon on my husband’s nose and in his mouth… he’s so patient.

Vast beaches are another tough thing to portray in a photo. I try to get different angles and closer to the ground, but it never looks as good.

One thing I managed to capture was the stunning caves of the Algarve. We went on a boat tour. I chose a smaller boat because I heard it could fit in more of the caves then regular boats. Our captain loved making us gasp as he charged into a cavern carried on the surf.

The light coming in from various holes was stunning.

One of the caves was actually a tunnel and we came out on the other side.

We really saw his mastery at work in the Benigal Cave. This world-famous cave is absolutely amazing. It’s the only tour Joe actually asked for. It is huge and has an enormous hole in its roof. A beach is on the inside and seems in photos like a peaceful bit of sand. Far from it! It was absolute mayhem. The people on the beach had mostly arrived by kayak. 

A team of guys inside the cave helped them escape… barely. The whole time our captain kept our boat (like a Zodiac) hovering inside the surf—never going forward or backward. When I say inside the surf, I mean we were sitting on the cresting waves. Pictures can’t show that, but I will never forget it!

Another thing difficult to describe is the agony of climbing 148 steps to our room after a long day. We stop over and over again, gasping and laughing at each other. And that’s just from the town square.

We have to descend our hill, climb another hill, and descend a long stretch of stairs to get to the beach. We figured out a way to get to the town from the beach without climbing an extra flight of stairs. Unfortunately, today we mistimed it and the tide came in, blocking our path in front of the castle. Up the stairs we went.

These old cities are like a maze of alleys and stairs.