A trip to Portugal was not going to be complete without a visit to the Algarve, the south-west coastal region of Portugal which boasts some of the most unique coastlines we have seen. We drove south from Lisbon and landed in Armacao de Pera, a busy little seaside town which had enough space for Big Karl to park up for a few days. We departed before sunrise the following day via Uber to the start of the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail, well renowned for views – the early birds got the worm and the sunrise was something else!
We finished the return trip of the hike in record time thanks to Damien’s speed moves around other tourists on the way back (it was much busier by mid-morning) and completed the trek with a cold can of Sagres (local Portuguese beer – not the best but refreshing). The heat of the day pushed us to into the campground swimming pool where Damien spent some time perfecting his back flips and impressing the other 10 year olds, a quiet afternoon enjoying the southern Algarve sunshine and finishing off the French wine in the fridge.
After two nights in Armacao de Pera we drove an hour to Faro and found a well-situated camper van park by the airport and beach. We jumped on the bikes and headed to the local beach for a few hours which ended up being most of the evening due to the 1.20 Euro beers and beach loungers with umbrellas, Damien described it as heaven on earth. The bike ride home was slightly interesting but we made it back unscathed and headed out for some local Portugese fare for dinner.
In need for some activity, we headed out early and walked through the local natural park, passing some wild flamingos, wetlands, a bird reserve and then a final stretch along the beach where coffee awaited us. We followed our busy morning up with a quiet afternoon in Big Karl, restocking the fridge and topping it off with a delicious seafood and steak dinner – cannot go wrong with fresh fish in this part of the world.
With mixed emotions we farewelled Portugal the next day and headed for Barcelona. The 1200km journey was a bit much to chew off in one go so we stopped halfway at a picturesque site near an old castle on a lake. While a nice spot, 10,000 flies thought the same and we decided to push on a few more hours and did our first lot of evening driving – a pleasant experience with little traffic. Had a wee hiccup at the first parking which was through an underpass of 2m maximum, Big Karl is 3.2m, luckily there was another free parking only 20 minutes away!
We started driving before the crack of dawn or before I really knew what was going on, a good move because we made an impromptu stop at Ferrari Land Spain. We weren’t the only big kids enjoying the Red Force rollercoaster that’s for sure, with the park busy we didn’t linger too long and made our way into Barcelona! Wowee, the city blew us away as soon as we got to the top of the steps of the Metro station. We spent close to 6 hours walking around the sprawling city admiring the Gaudi architecture, snacking on the local food and treats and finishing the evening off at the Magic Fountain of Montjuic and experienced, along with what felt like 500,000 other people, the famous light, music and water show.
We weren’t finished with Barcelona and headed back for more the next day and ventured to Park Guell and La Barceloneta (the beach/harbour area) for brunch and a wander. The city had a great vibe and we could have stayed days! Our Spanish adventure had now come to an end with our next destination back in France.
Adios for now!
C xx
Damien + Caitlin 