Shifting Gears

It was 24/7 family, friends and fun in the US, Greece and Lisbon so we were pretty tired as we boarded our budget-travel EVA bus headed for The Algarve - once again, just the two of us. We picked up our rental car in Faro (and our required international drivers permit - express posted from Australia) and began exploring southern Iberia. It was our first time driving a manual car in about 15 years and the hills of the Algarve gave us a workout. Hopefully it was more shifting gears than grinding the transmission . . . but . . . hmmmmm, maybe not so much.

Our home for the first part of the stay was in Mexilhoeira Grande, Portugal. The town is quite small with only a few shops and restaurants but really has everything you need. We even managed the barber with good results from hand gestures. The gardens and pool at the “Casa” were completely relaxing with a lot of thought put into the landscaping, including milkweed to attract monarch butterflies fluttering overhead. It was hard to resist the urge to just stay put all day and nap by the pool.

In the evenings, we would wander down to A Curva, the recommended (and very affordable) restaurant for a dinner of whatever was fresh that day. The culinary highlight was an oven-roasted, melt-in-your-mouth polvo (octopus). Carla the owner/chef/hostess/maitre d’ gave us the rundown of braising and oven roasting for the amazing result. She also started every dinner with welcoming double-cheeked kisses and ended them with grateful warm hugs. Customer service at its finest.

We were continually impressed with the beauty and friendliness of southern Portugal. Our tiny Mitsubishi took us on mixed-up-GPS-guided-adventures with some arguments over which way to turn or what is the “third exit” from the roundabout, but eventually cool heads prevailed, and we landed in some amazing spots passing wind turbines and solar panels along the way. Odiecexe, nestled in the side of a mountain and river valley, was particularly beautiful as was Salema, tucked right near the end of Europe.

And then there were the beaches. Good hiking and crystal-clear water. Amazing and always a highlight.

As we were driving out of Mexilhoeira Grande, we had that same conversation we’d had in a number of places before — if we’d have known how at-home we’d feel, we’d have stayed a lot longer. But more gear grinding and roundabout arguments were waiting.

Next stop - Malaga...

Lesson learned: When choosing where to stay in a city, research current news, road projects, construction zones . . . anything to give you the most insight — especially if you are going to be driving in and out of a home base every day. Our neighbourhood in Malaga was mired between road works projects that had us spending more time trying to find ways in and out than the actual travel time to a beach or historic site! A new subway line is going in that is a long-needed piece of infrastructure, but in our first-world-problem, tourist-focused, selfish minds, we struggled with this minor inconvenience. Above ground will be beautiful once complete. We should come back then.

But on this visit we did manage to get in and out eventually and made it to a few beaches including Guadalmar, Playa Bojandillo in Torremolinos with its gay afternoon sunset parties and Cantarrijan where we devoured a pan of paella seaside. So fresh, so tasty and authentic.

We also walked the streets of the old town enjoying tasty tapas, beautiful architecture, and the Picasso museum. Friends and the Google hyped the street art and we weren’t disappointed when we made the Lagunillas neighbourhood a destination. That same day, we took in city views from the Castillo de Gibralfaro, getting a sense of how rambling this active port city is.

And of course, we took a day trip to the Alhambra which required a post of its own.

So while we had some initial challenges, Malaga was a good choice as a home base for exploring the Andalucian region. The beautiful countryside bid us farewell as we drove to Faro to catch our Eva bus back to Lisbon for a final overnight before heading to Italy. More driving, more gears to shift, but at least we now know what we’re in for.