After my day in Sintra I left Lisbon and returned to Faro for my return flight to Leeds. I stayed another night in the Faro Lounge, which was nice and friendly, although busy and noisy as Portugal approached peak season. Here’s some more photos from Sintra, and my return flight. Next stop: Nepal in 2009.
Marc Latham’s central site is the Greenygrey (http://www.greenygrey.co.uk), and he has books available on Smashwords and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).
I left Faro for the Good Feeling hostel a little inland from Sagres and Lagos. The first afternoon I just walked inland a little, but finally reached the beach the next morning. In fact, I went to two beaches and saw a megalithic stone on a circular walk to the south. Here’s some photos:
Marc Latham’s central site is the Greenygrey (http://www.greenygrey.co.uk), and he has books available on Smashwords and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).
On the Sunday I went for a stroll inland. I enjoyed the quiet roads and strong sunshine, so continued farther than intended. I could see a town in the distance, just before the mountains that constituted the horizon (as seen in the second photo). So I carried on to Conceicao, which took a couple of hours.
Faro-Conceicao, Portugal Hike
I did that for no other reason than because I was enjoying the walk, and its position at the end of the plain provided a tempting target distance.
I had avoided the beach because it was a bus ride away from Faro, and sun cream was very expensive. I’d thought I could gradually brown, but by the time I reached Conceicao I was already burning!
The last bus back to Faro was leaving just after I arrived. I didn’t take it. I walked around the village, seeing the crowd after a church service (penultimate photo), and some mansion gardens that were closed (last photo).
I had a couple of beers in a cafe and hiked back, sheltering my face and neck from the sun as much as possible! It had been a nice day and walk, but I was left with a red face!!
Marc Latham’s central site is the Greenygrey (http://www.greenygrey.co.uk), and he has books available on Smashwords and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).
Faro, on Portugal’s Algarve, has an historic quarter, with an old fort, cathedral and statues. The statue in the last two photos is in the centre of town, near the marina.
Here’s some photos, also featuring the flowers (1st photo), swallows (3rd photo) and stork(s) (last two photos) seen in previous blogs:
Marc Latham’s central site is the Greenygrey (http://www.greenygrey.co.uk), and he has books available on Smashwords and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).
Faro’s evening air was awakened by swallows darting and chirping in their thousands. Storks flew in the same air space. The roof of the Faro Lounge hostel was a good place to view the aerial spectacle. Here’s a couple of videos of the bird bonanza.
I didn’t know much about Faro before I arrived, so I was amazed when I saw storks nesting on top of a church. I took a few photos as I thought it would be rare, but I soon saw them nesting all over the town. I took a few more photos of storks in the air and on a lamppost.
Storks Info and Photos
I later saw the storks’ migration in a documentary, and there’s a lot about it on Wikipedia. They winter in Africa, and sometimes a pair use the same nest for several years.
Marc Latham’s central site is the Greenygrey (http://www.greenygrey.co.uk), and he has books available on Smashwords and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).
On my first morning in Faro I walked around and ended up in the botanical gardens after walking past signs about poets and poo, and trees of oranges and limes. Here’s some photos:
Faro Botanical Gardens Photos
Marc Latham’s central site is the Greenygrey (http://www.greenygrey.co.uk), and he has books available on Smashwords and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).
In June 2011 I flew to Faro, Portugal with Ryanair from Leeds-Bradford airport. Flying into the Iberian sunset provided some beautiful photos from the plane, as the Earth looked like a diamond encrusted emerald dress, so this introductory Portugal-trip blog post is given over entirely to aerial photos from the outward flight.
Flying Leeds-Bradford to Faro Photos
The first four photos are of waterways and coasts glistening in the sun.
The last two photos are landing in Faro airport.
Marc Latham’s central site is the Greenygrey (http://www.greenygrey.co.uk), and he has books available on Smashwords and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).
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