Portugal 2016: First day trip via motorcycle and sidecar

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The boys! :0)

It was an early morning. 6:30 am and the alarm went off. I peeled myself out of my warm cozy blanket to find the freezing stone floor beneath my feet. The only thing driving me on was the knowledge that I would have a great day with wind blowing in my hair and new scenes to be witnessed.

For this tour I had to meet my guide at the town 30 minutes away. I had ordered a cab the day before. The cabs here have to be called or you risk finding one that is not legitimate or you can find a taxi rank which is also regulated. My cab drive Paolo was great. He and I had a great chat making the ride seem like nothing. He was an ex-military man with many interesting stories. When we arrived at Portimão, neither one of us was sure we were in the right place. He was nice enough to stick around and make sure I found my tour guide Delfim. He used his cabbie network to find Delfim’s cousin, who could track him down. None of this time was charged to me. I gave him a few extra bucks both ways because it ended up being cheaper than I first thought anyway. It turns out we were in the right place all along, my guide was running late due to a rough night with his sick 2 ½ year old.

The two boys wrestled me into the sidecar and we were off. We went to all the places we could go without having to get out and walk to the sights. There were a few like this, but I didn’t feel I missed anything and Delfim was a wealth of knowledge. It turns out he is an architect. So, not only did I get the information on the vast history (Roman, Moorish, Arabic) and features of the major buildings in the area, but I got my plug in about accessible buildings. He actually brought up the subject, but I was happy to give him my impressions.

It was a 2.5 hour tour and what a beautiful day. The air was still a bit crisp when we were full throttle, but still comfortable. When we arrived back to the starting point, there was Paolo waiting as we had arranged (made it very easy to get back to the hotel) He had kept my walker in his cab. It went seamlessly. We were off to Albufeira again. I was a little sun burnt and tired from the early morning. It was a good tired. When I got home I made a little snack and then had a nap. Ahhh! Holidays are good.

Tonight I am a pooped puppy. All I managed was to cook some supper and catch up on my writing. I reviewed my photos and was pretty happy with them. Here are just a few highlights below. Still the wrong dates! mmmm.