Digital Diary - Road Trip Through Portugal and Spain - The Algarve

I drove from the Caminito del Rey back to Seville for the night. My GPS took me through the most narrow, windy city streets that eventually dead-ended and then had to BACK UP the way I had come without crashing. It was ridiculously nerve-wracking. Plus, my rental car had all of these little bells and whistles (literally) that were constantly going off for various reasons - if I didn't pull the parking brake when I was in Park, if I went more than 3 mph over the speed limit, if I stopped and opened my door (which I had to do to reach the parking lot and toll booth buttons and to get my order from a drive-thru), and of course, when I got too close to anything. So it was screaming at me non-stop while I was trying to navigate my way out of the mess my GPS had gotten me into. Oh, and if I had music playing, I couldn't adjust the temperature, so that was annoying too. Anyway, I finally found parking and unwound at my hotel for the night and then continued on my way back to the Portuguese coast. There was rain in the forecast and everybody was so upset on my behalf, that I was going to the Algarve and it was going to be raining,...but I went anyway. It ended up being absolutely beautiful. Some clouds rolled over and it would be cloudy for a bit, but then the sun would come out and it was warm and just lovely. Plus, it was a weekday, so I think that between that and the forecast, it wasn't nearly as crowded as it would have been if I'd stopped on my way east. 

None of these photos really do the scale of the place much justice.  

I even spotted some poppies in different colors than I've ever seen before!

That night, the storm rolled in and it was raining sideways with crazy wind. After breakfast the next morning, I started back north towards Lisbon, driving through the interior of Portugal and it was lovely. It reminded me a little of Texas Hill Country with big, beautiful trees, green hills, and cows. Eventually, the rain cleared and the sun even came out for a little while. I came upon another, even more epic field of Lupine. 

Before I knew it, I was back in Lisbon for my flight the following day. I got some Kebab, took a bath, and then tried to sleep...though there were so crazy loud people outside making that more difficult than it should have been. My rental car return and flights went off without a hitch and Brian's parents picked me up from the airport when I got back. I had the best time - I'm already looking forward to going back and exploring more! But first, I've got a trip to the south of France and the Alps next month that I'm excited for. I'll see you then!