Mike and Megan's Honeymoon: Day 1 - Albufeira Arrival

First off. Megan and I would like to thank everyone for such a great wedding! From beginning to end, everything was awesome. A huge thanks to everyone who travelled great distances and for those nearby for all their assistance. We don't have our wedding photos yet, but if you'd like to see some, many of our friends posted the pics they took on Facebook and it's visible on our pages. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! We hope you all had as much fun at the wedding as we did!!!

As for the honeymoon, I decided to post the pics in bite sizes since we took nearly a thousand photos and I don't want to spend 4 straight days posting something that would take 3 straight days to view. So, enjoy!

June 28, 2010

Right off the plane we barely made. In Lisbon (Lisboa), we had a little under an hour to get off the plane, go through customs, find our luggage, change terminals by taxi because the bus didn't have a driver (sorry taxi driver for such a low fare. I hope the tip made up for it) (Thanks Ronan for the $20 Euros "just in case" because we used it immediately!), got boarding passes, ran, went back through security, and caught a bus to our plane. How we made it is still a mystery to me. The plane left for Faro and our taxi to Albufeira was very swift. Also of note, notice the stick in my hand to the camera. It's a gift my WIFE got me for my birthday for this occasion. It impressed many Europeans and we fully expect everyone to have one the next time we go back...

This was the perfect way to relax after all the wedding stuff...

The tunnel that leads to from the city to the beach!

Megan is waaaaaaaay off in the distance. I wanted to know was the temperature of the Atlantic was like. It was pretty cool, but very refreshing since the sun melted our very northern skin.

Rock formation at the main beach

Elevator and stairs between the beach and our hotel, which we never took...

My hot wife!

Climbing some rocky areas in my new shades. The pair I had broke on the dance floor at the wedding. That's how good my moves were... So, Megan and I played "bad cop, worse cop" with a guy selling shades on the beach and now I have knock-off Armani shades.

so overdressed and don't even know it yet...

on the east side of the main beach near the beach plaza

Megan on the pier

A view of the town from the pier

We didn't know it yet, but Megan and I would spend quite a bit of time hiding from the sun in the afternoon drinking sangria. We learned quickly from the local winos...

tourist shops and cafes

Ahhhh... The view from our balcony at Hotel Boa Vista. It was a very nice hotel with the perfect location. We had a great view of the Atlantic Ocean, beach, and city. The breakfast was included. The walk to town and the beach was 5-10 minutes. How can we complain?

A view of Rua 5 de Outubro from above the beach tunnel

Jet lag appears to be setting in. So, a little prep time at the Vertigo Bar seemed necessary

We believe these were called "tall drinks." Seems fitting. The tourists and kids loved them. We saw tons of variations of these including one that seems to have a Roman Candle firework shooting from it.

Places around the square

Sometimes I wish I could be a Botanist. I've never seen plant life like we saw in Portugal.

A chef watching Brazil vs. Chile in the World Cup at Fisherman's Tavern on Av. 25 de Abril just west of the beach plaza

And look at what the chef prepared for us! In that copper hamburger looking thing to the left is an assortment of clams, shrimp, and all other kinds of sea life. It was really good. I hate seafood and I thought it was good. My chicken was great too. They must have marinated it for years because it was so flavorful. I haven't had food this good since I was in Germany in 1997. So good...

And the Church of the Electric Jesus. Really, it's a chapel turned museum for Ermida Sao Sabastiao.

Again, a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for being a part of our wedding. Please check out our friends pictures on our Facebook pages if you want to see those photos. We've seen a few of our "official" wedding pics and they look great. More of that to come! Thanks again!!!