Portugese Chicken..

After a pretty hard partying session in Dublin, Clint and I headed back to London to regroup. Here we picked up Lisa and the next day we flew across the sea to Lisbon Portugal. Lisbon is a really old town and trying to get a sense of the history of the place is almost impossible due the numerous number of wars, takeovers, invasions etc... it seems as though the whole place changed hands every 50 or 100 years or so.. failing a good history lesson here we decided to taje it a bit easy. Lisbon is a hard place to describe - it has a lot of the same features as any city... museums, some statues of famed heroes and a central market/strip area where all the tourists go cause all menus are in English so its pretty hard avoid unless your willing to risk eating something like goals balls in tomato soup or somethin.. We hit up the local subway where you can buy a beer with your sandwich - not too sure if "Jared" knows about this diet though.. Here's a pic of Lisbon from high up.

Lisbon is full of bakeries all packed with locals smashing down fattening pastries and coffee - not like us tho :-P

They also don't mind a bit of grafitti in the old town... the place was covered in it... normally things like this would be cleaned up in a manner or weeks - but not in Portugal cause they live on Portugese time which means they are either too lazy or having a siesta to worry about it. The portugese love to say "slow... slow" and "don't worry about it..."... they are so relaxed it is unbelievable and is amazing that anything gets done around the place - which suited me fine as I wasn't in a rush to do anything too strenous..

Lagos for us was really just a stop over on the way to Lagos!

Lagos was about a 6 hour train ride from Lisbon and would rate as one of the best places I have travelled to around the world. Lagos pretty much has it all... great weather, nice beaches, cheap beer, good food and friendly locals. Although a popular destination, they have refused to over develop the place, leaving it more or less like a small seaside village for everyone to enjoy.. Every night (after a little afternoon nap of course) we headed out for a bite... each meal starts with bread, cheese, olives and ham.. mmmmm Here though - we're smashing down plates of garlic and tobasco prawns!

There's lots to do in Lagos... But one thing that grabbed our attention was the sailing trip... Well - they advertised it as a sailing trip - it kinda was - but really all they did was raise the sails... turn the motor on - and head out to the "Grottos" which is an area of coastline that has been battered by the wind and seas and over time has resulted in the formation of caves, channels and overhead bridges of rocks etc... Most of the time was spent on the boat though just enjoying the sun and taking it easy.

Unlike the rest of Europe - the beaches are quite nice in Lagos.. and very safe! There was a life guard on duty but all he did was cruise the beach picking up the locals - good boy.

Oh and here's me catching a wave - yee hah!!

The sunsets are also very nice from Lagos - by day there is not a cloud in the sky - and no wind to speak of - it is a very pleasant place to be... By night the town comes alive after the sun goes down for hours of wining and dining til the souls content.

Anyone thinking of travelling to or near Portugal really needs to head to Lagos for a few days.. If your looking for nice weather, beaches, people, food and all at very reasonable prices - then I think that this is the place for you!!! It is slightly comparable to the Greek Islands for those of you that have been there. However, don't go there if your seeking out the ultimate serve of Portugese Chicken... it was hardly to be found and my suspicions tell me that they just exported the idea to us - a bit like how we sell Fosters to the yanks and poms he he

Next Stop - Spain!!!