Mike and Megan's Honeymoon: Day 4 - Goodbye Albufeira!

July 1

Megan and her new lobster husband. We had to go to the beach despite our burns. So, we scouted, travelled and moved a lot finding little pieces of shade wherever we could to enjoy our last day in Albufeira

Sangria and Don cookies under the drinking tree in the main plaza.

Igreja Matriz de Albufeira was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1755 by the then Bishop of the Algarve, Francisco Gomes de Avelar. One thing you learn about Portugal, is that everything is somehow related to the earthquake of 1755. The way some locals talk about it, you would think it occurred yesterday.

another old church I know nothing about...

another church...

Somewhat of a view of the city and Atlantic Ocean

hot wife posing with favorite flowering tree

Albufeira on the shore.

So, Albufeira is super touristy for Europeans. There are tons of English, Dutch, and other northern Europeans hanging around, which means a lot of the restaurants cater to and are owned by folks from their respective countries (i.e. Dutch people eat at a Dutch restaurant decorated orange for the World Cup owned by a Dutch guy). So, we asked a local where the locals go to eat. Without hesitation, he said "Casa Madeira. Go there." We replied, "Great, where is it?"

"I can't show you on a map." he stated.

"Um... Okay... Is it near anything?"

"Old town." Mind you, everything is near Old Town. Anyway, we decided to try another restaurant and accidently made it to the one he recommended. It was on a main street easily show-able on a map. I think he realized tourists shouldn't go to local restaurants...

MMMmmmm... Kabab Madeira-style. What makes it Madeira style? Apparently, you take all the animals of a farm, butcher them, put all their meat on a huge skewer, cook it and let all the meat juices fall onto a huge plate of fries. In other words, the perfect meal.

CLIFF CAT! We finally saw one on the last day. We've seen dogs, such as "beach bum dog" who plays with all the tourists at the beach, and cats roaming around perfectly well-behaved throughout Albufeira and Portugal apparently without owners. In Albufeira, many of the cats live in the cliffs. This one was looking for bugs to eat or something.

Goodbye Albufeira! What a great way to relax after the insanity of a great wedding and long flights...

Mike and Megan's Honeymoon: Day 3 - Hiding From the Sun

June 30th

So, our skin is fried. We had the 200 SPF sunblock, applied it 20 times and scorched our lily white northern skin. So, this was a day to hide from the sun as much as possible. And here Megan and I are under our tree in the plaza drinking Sangria with a few other of the town winos...

They have a 7-11 here? No, just a 7 Days...

After walking the beaches east the day before, we decided to try going west and quickly became discouraged by a harbor we knew was there, a sun so intense it was turning us into bacon, and an expanse of land so vast we lost hope. But, this was a pretty view.

It appears Albufeira hired an architect from L.A. or Miami to design the Marina Apartments on their west side and everyone decided to stay as far away from them as possible. It's another sign that wide roads and plentiful parking do not make good cities. The bright colors are nice though...

Festival of the Suckling Pig! Finally something to do. What "Bairrada right by your side" means is still a mystery that I don't think I want to know...

A short, fat palm.

The cemetery I almost died in. It's a nice little place on Rua Sir Cliff Richard with interesting at grade graves covered in tile, photos, and fake flowers. Megan and I were just checking it out when a large Atlantic seagull bellowed at us. It seemed irritated, but nothing unusual. A bit later it did the same thing, but louder and continuous. I was near a tree and we decided to walk away from it because it must of had chicks in it or something. As soon as I moved further from the tree the seagull went nuts and dove at me. Luckily, I had the big backpack my new big brother Dave gave me for Christmas and used it as a shield. Seagulls started to fly out from all the trees and attack me. Megan bolted. It was like the movie The Birds and I tried making my way to the cemetery entrance swinging my backpack at every seagull dive bombing my head. Eventually, they left me along and I saw the Cemetery attendant laughing her ass off and pointing to the tree saying, "babies." That was my first Portuguese near-death experience...

The place I'd by in Albufeira to fix up if it was a bit closer to my job. The green tile exterior makes it along with the walls made of a pile of rocks.

The last fisherman boat left on the beach for the tourists' sake.

Nice fishing boat logo

You would think that the sun would lose it's intensity later in the day and you would be wrong.

Me getting sunburned through my shirt

A little boy and his inflatable tube looking for a river in what appears to be heaven...

Drinking Port wine, grown in a local we'll visit later, at the hotel before getting dinner. Our hotel manager chatted us up a bit since most of the tourists they get are European, very few Americans. US: "So, is the weather always this nice here? We haven't even seen a cloud."

Hotel Manager: "No, in December and January, it can get bad. We'll get rain." Sounds terrible...

YEAH! THE SUN FINALLY SET! We went to the pharmacy to get aloe, which the pharmacist told me was called "solar no-no." My lack of Portuguese and his broken English made for a great medical recipe.

A local band rocking the local folk music in the main plaza.

Mike and Megan's Honeymoon: Day 2 - Beach Day In Albufeira

June 29, 2010

BEACH DAY!!!

Made it to the beach!!!

But first, Megan had to write the details of our wedding and travels in her diary looking over the Atlantic Ocean from our balcony.

On the way to buy an ugly beach towel with dolphins and probably lead lined sandals from "China Bizarre," I found this hat. Does anyone know what "Chicago Red Bowl Lineman" means?

Sand sculpture by a guy that helped up with directions earlier in the day.

He sculpted my lady!

Me as a large woman

Finally, the beach!

Take off the zoom...

Better...

Putting the third or fourth layer of suntan lotion on at the pier, which proved to be completely useless. You'll see...

Hey! That's a topless woman in my picture! We found this going through these a minute ago.

a screensaver shot

a picture featuring Megan's elbow...

Crazy plant life!

This was taken when the sun was at it's peak. It was like the light of God was upon us and burned us to our souls. Neither of us have ever experienced sun like this before. After this day, we would hide under trees or rocks at this time of the day.

Megan's favorite flower tree of Portugal on our way back to town to prepare for the Portugal vs. Spain World Cup match

I call it "cloud pine."

Our place is at the top, Hotel Boa Vista. This is taken from Rua Sir Cliff Richard.

You'll see more about this later. But, many buildings have or are covered with tile in Portugal.

This is restaurant, possibly owned by a Dutch guy, at Largo Eng. Duarte Pacheco and Rua da Liberdade. I forget the name of it, but the food was great and we could watch the first half of the World Cup-Portugal/Spain. This is when I started to realize that ALL meals in Portugal come with french fries. I was truly where I belonged...

Where we watched the second half of the World Cup-Portugal/Spain. Portugal lost (if you haven't been paying attention my American friends). But, all eyes were on the game in Europe.

AFTER DINNER FUN! What a great idea. Paddle boats with a slide!

Look at how red my knees are. It's a sign of things to come!

A view of the main square of Albufeira from a road to the north.

Looking at Rua 5 de Outubro from the road above the beach tunnel.

Creepy cemetery, right? Wait until you hear how I almost died here the next morning!!! How is that for a teaser?

Thanks again to everyone for helping with the wedding, coming to the wedding, congratulations for the wedding, and all else. It's been a wonderful experience