Day 44-46 Algarve, Portugal

Day 44 Faro



               I took an early bus at 7:30 from Sevilla to Faro and arrived around 11. I walked around the city for awhile and stopped by the Bibloteka(Library) and surfed the web. I met Elina at the Airport and we decided it was so beautiful outside that we skipped the bus and walked back to town. I met her in Stockholm and she hosted my friend Vicky and I. We both had a blast with her. Elina and I share similar passions for traveling so we made plans to see Portugal together. Its interesting how trips can be different based on the people you travel with. I really admire Elina's way of traveling. She doesn't care too much for all the places and things most travelers see or do. She wants to be with the people, goto smaller town, eat the local food, and learn the language. The way I'm traveling right now is very different. I do see the local people but I'm usually going to the big cities seeing the sites, and I don't give myself the right amount of time to travel like she does. I think someday I will travel more like her but right now I'm more into taking a big bite out of Europe. We started walking the 5 kms towards town. Elina had a google map print out and we went off that but eventually she just asked some people if we were on the right track. She speaks Spanish fluently. Portuguese people understand Spanish better than Spanish people understand them. So she would ask them if they spoke Spanish and they would always move there hand and say a little. It really helped to have her around. I usually just use my hands when I can't communicate to people who don't speak English.
                We stopped by the grocery store and it was shocking how cheap the bottled water was. A 5 liter jug of water was under 1 Euro. After getting to the Hotel we had a strange encounter with person at the front counter. He was very quiet and didn't greet us. When he opened the door to the room we started looking around and I turned around to ask him some questions about the Hotel and he vanished. He left the key in the door and just left without saying anything. It was very different from what I'm use to. In the States customer service is very important and they will greet you with a smile and hello. They usually tell you information about the Hotel and when the check out time is. I talked to someone from Portugal and they said there's some place that when you walk in they'll yell What do you want!? He said its just a cultural difference and its what people are use to in the area.
                  After relaxing for awhile we decided to go for a walk and find a place to have dinner. I'm following Elina's way of traveling but there is a flaw to it. We were looking for a local restaurant that wasn't so touristy and it took a long time. With luck we found a really nice place. Elina spoke to a women who was trying to sell us on coming inside. She was so genuine and kind when she simply told us there nice fresh fish inside. We accepted and walked into the dinning room where we had the whole place to ourselves. It was like we had the whole place rented out just for us. We ate fresh sardines, tuna, and codfish. They were all delicious. What a great way to start off the trip.

Day 45 Lagos

         Elina and I caught a bus to Lagos(2 hours). There was some beautiful beaches about 5 km away. It was a sunny day so we decided to walk. We stopped by a place to have something to eat. Elina had a Pina Colada and I had an English breakfast. Next we started walking towards the beaches and realized we were lost. Thats what happens when you leave a Finnish girl in charge of directions :P It was really nice that we did get lost because otherwise we wouldn't have found that nice place to eat and it was really cheap. After getting on the right track we went to some gorgeous beaches where there was barley anyone. We found some spots where we had the beach all to ourselves.

Day 46 Tavira

           We took the train and arrived in Tavira around noon..After checking out some pretty views of the city we found a pretty garden. Next we started walking towards the beaches and we decided to try and catch a ride with someone. Elina had done it before but I've never hitch hiked before. Thumbs up and soon enough a nice old Portuguese lady pulled over and picked us up. She was a retired teacher and she shared some stories of her travels. We got dropped off in a town a few kilometers from the beach. As I was walking up close to the beach I could see the big waves and it was pretty impressive. We layed down for awhile and then went into the water to get our feet wet. Then we went to lay down and get some more sun. We looked up and noticed a man doing some strange stretches and exercises. There wasn't dangling in between his legs and after focusing more because he was a good distant away we noticed he was naked. I watched an older man walking on the shore of the beach and It was funny because I knew what was going to happen. When the older man got closer he just looked up and turned around to walk away. I love people watching and seeing there reactions. On the way back we got two more rides from nice people and went to the train station to wait for the next train. We had bought return tickets and already knew the departure times. As we were waiting a girl walks up to us and asks if we're waiting for a train. We said yes and then she tells us that they were having a strike that started at 1pm. We then rushed to the bus station and luckily got there in time for the next bus leaving back to Faro.

Day 42-43 Sevilla

Day 42


          My fear of flying is getting worse. on the plane from Barcelona to Sevilla I couldn't stop thinking about the chances the plane would crash. It didn't help that the plane landing from the flight from Bratislava to Barcelona had a huge bounce when it touched down on the pavement and freaked me out. I hope I can improve and push away my fear so I can be more comfortable in the air. Alex was a cs member who was staying at my host Christina's place. He met me in the Sevilla center and we had some great conversations. Really nice guy. After wandering through the city we met our host outside of her work at 11pm.
          I was thinking of going out with some friends that were in town and I texted Christina earlier in the day to offer if she wanted to join us and if she didn't want to join then would she be okay with me going out and coming home later. I didn't receive any reply so I wasn't sure of the plans. After saying hello and giving the kisses on each cheek she said she did receive the message and said no because she was to tired from work. I told her I understand and asked if she would mind if I went out with my friends and found a way back to her place when i was done. The air around us begin to become thick. I could sense that this wasn't going too well. She said sure ahhhh if you want to go out then go out. I asked if could borrow a set of keys or if she could leave them under the front mat. The look on her face showed disgust and shock. She said no I've never done that before and I wouldn't feel comfortable. Then I asked her for directions and she gave me them but her place wasn't on the map I had. At this point I said "It seems like you're really not comfortable with this situation maybe I should just stay at a Hostel. She said no everythings okay. We made plans that when I got close to her place I would give Alex a call and he would unlock the door. Then I went to the bar where i was meeting Ffiona another cs member I met while I was in Dublin. While I was waiting for her and her friends I felt so down and depressed from the situation with my host. I've stayed with over 45 different cs hosts over the last six months and I haven't had any negative experiences yet. I felt so low and I just wanted to get in a better mood quickly. No point in wasting time while I'm in a beautiful place like Sevilla. I overheard a couple of guys speaking english and I joined in on ther conversation. They were Americans. One guy was visiting his friend who was living in Morocco. Ffiona, her friends, two Americans, and I went to a few bars and had a blast. It was about 5am. I was exhausted and I just wanted to goto sleep. Considering the situation with my host and not knowing the exact directions to her place I decided to stay at a Hostel.

Day 43

            I woke up around 11 and called my host to see about meeting for lunch. She answered and told me she was getting ready and would call me right back. At 12 she texted me that she couldn't meet for lunch because she had to get ready for work. Considering she started work three hours later I knew she didn't feel comfortable to meet me again yet. I left my backpack with Alex so my things were at Christina's place. I felt uncomfortable about it because either way I would have to meet her again. Ffiona and I met another cs member name Pati. She gave us a very nice tour of the city. We stopped by some Tapas Bars. I didn't get too much sleep because of the night before so I took a siesta in the evening. I met Christina outside of her work at 11. After saying hello we started we started talking about the day before. We both agreed there was a disconnect and miscommunication. It was a very nice surprise and it felt great to work things out between us. I think conflicts bring people closer it just depends on how you resolve your issues. We went out for a couple drinks and talked about each other, couchsurfing, and our traveling experiences. While we were at the bar there was a Flamenco show. It was incredible!! there were two women dancing at different times and they both had different styles. The first one was very feminine and beautiful with how she moved. The second one was powerful and bold. She made you feel the music with each step. Stomp Stomp!
         Ffiona came with us to a Bar in an area called Triana around 2am. Christina told us stories about the owner and how special she was. If you weren't drinking she would pick you and others out and say you and you get out! She was also a singer and we were lucky to see her perform a few songs. It was a really great time.