We spent most of the winter in Portugal during which time we drove to the top of the highest mountain, hiked through the somewhat abandoned northern reaches, watched (and kayaked) the powerful waves of the Atlantic ocean, cruised around the inland waterways, listened to traditional Fado music, caught up with friends from Australia, UK and Germany, sampled a never-ending supply of local wines (mostly with said friends) and ate a lot of fish.  Our short break on the Algarve went all to quickly and a week in the capital of Lisbon flew by. 

We left Lisbon the same way we entered, over the April 25th bridge, so named after the Carnation Revolution in 1974 which saw Salazar’s dictatorship end.  It is an impressive red steel structure which closely resembles San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and as well as laying claim to being one of Europe’s longest suspension bridges, has the deepest foundations of any bridge on the European continent.

Portugal surpassed our high expectations and despite being keen to get back on the road we didn’t want to leave before walking The Fisherman’s Trail, a 220 km coastal hike from Sines, an industrial town in the Alentejo region to Lagos, one of the more developed places on the Algarve. 

En-route to Sines we detoured to have a look at the resort towns of Sesimbra and Setubal, both places within an hour’s drive south of Lisbon.  Probably more popular with the Portuguese than overseas tourists, Sesimbra is a small but charming place positioned on a curving turquoise bay at the base of the Arrabida National Park.  Apart from hosting one of the largest clown conventions in the world each February, Sesimbra is renowned for its pristine beaches, fish restaurants and nightlife, the latter no doubt helped by the numerous massive speakers positioned in the doorways of the various bars and cafes.

Setubal is a larger town and despite a gritty and tough exterior is part of the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World.  The Club was founded in Berlin in 1997 and at last count included 48 bays around the world including the Bay of San Francisco and the Bay of Mindelo in Cape Verde.  Setubal Bay is supposedly the best place for fish in the whole of Portugal, a claim supported by the 30 or so bottlenose dolphins that have taken up permanent residence there.  Walking around the town we were left in no doubt as to the speciality of the area – choco frito, pronounced “shock freet”.  If the names of the restaurants such as Taverna do Choco Frito, the Rei (king) do Choco Frito and even a Museu do Choco showcasing different ways to cook it didn’t give it away, then the numerous sandwich boards advertising the ubiquitous deep-fried cuttlefish surely did.   

Not surprisingly, Setubal is an active port and it was from here that we caught the 30 minute car ferry out of the Bay, across the Sado Estuary and onto the Troia Peninsula.  This 17 km strip of sandy moorland is best described as an eco-chic paradise, a narrow tongue of endless beach backed with sand dunes and pine forests.  Stopping at the tiny village of Comporta looking for a bit of lunch, we drove up a pot-holed, gravel track to what appeared to be an unassuming wooden café only to find an exclusive beach club with plump cushioned loungers set out under thatched umbrellas on an isolated stretch of white-sand beach.  The restaurant was offering a fine dining experience and a quick glance behind the bar showed a vast selection of French champagne.  Turns out this tiny peninsular is enjoying some A-list attention and could quite possibly be one of Portugal’s best kept secrets. 

The Rota Vicentina is a network of over 750 km of routes spreading throughout south-west Portugal (Alentejo and Algarve regions).  The network includes two long distance trails; The 125 km Historical Way and the 221 km Fisherman’s Trail.  The Fisherman’s Trail is described by Conde Nast Travel as one of the most beautiful coastal trails in the world so it was an easy decision to once again dig out our rucksacks and get walking.  We left Bob at ‘The Village’, a hidden oasis set back from a beautiful stretch of Portugal’s western coast, run by a couple of English guys.  Primarily aimed at providing a surf haven by way of numerous fully kitted out houses with access to a pool, gardens and gym, the Village also provides a second home to a few travellers who help out with building repairs, gardening and anything else needing attention.  We were only staying for a couple of nights and focussed on preparing for the walk which meant we had to reluctantly decline the kind offer to make use of the shed full of tools and machinery.

With Spring just round the corner, the temperatures were up around 17°C and despite some wind along the coast the weather was perfect for walking and planning to stay in solid accommodation along the way, our packs were light without the additional weight of tent and camping gear.  For the first couple of days, we didn’t see many people, just the occasional campervan parked on a convenient flat area of rock overlooking the ocean.  The terrain was mostly level and although much of the paths consisted of thick, soft sand we found it easy going. 

The third and fourth days were, as always, humbling.  Blisters and sore feet are always miserable only this time there was the added bonus of scratchy sand in socks and boots.  It also started to rain and Ian, being the eternal optimist, had neglected to pack his waterproof pants.  The scenery did its best to keep our mood upbeat and we doggedly continued south; the conversation mostly revolving around how much we enjoyed long distance walking?????  Day five saw us over the nadir and spirits were high as we progressed from one fishing village to the next.  There were around a dozen other walkers who had set off on the trail the same day as us and given that we all ended up at the same place each afternoon it didn’t take long to get aquainted.  There were three solo Germans, a couple of Italians, one Dutch woman and a couple of Irish and, as is always the case, they contributed enormously to our enjoyment of the walk. 

The coast of Alentejo is without doubt our favourite part of Portugal.  It is surprisingly undeveloped and anyone looking for hotel style accommodation would be disappointed.  Our nightly digs consisted of guest houses and hostels which provided home-style hospitality where we were made to feel truly welcome.  Home-made bread and cakes alongside regional cheese, yoghurt and preserves were the norm at breakfast and our hosts were only too pleased to see us take enough food to sustain us throughout the day.  This was a welcome change from our usual MO where we smuggle items from the breakfast buffet attempting to conceal them about our person in a too small paper napkin. 

The scenery was non-stop spectacular from start to finish and we arrived in Lagos 13 days after we started.  This walk was, without doubt, the most enjoyable multi-day trek that we have done, enhanced by good way-markers, friendly people and the constant company of the Atlantic.  If you are contemplating your first long-distance trail, this would definitely be one to consider.

As is always the way, whilst one area of your life is progressing well there are other areas that are demanding attention.  Arriving back at The Village, we had issues…

... just prior to starting our walk we had noticed some unauthorised transactions on our HSBC AU account.  We use HSBC because they offer a multi-currency account which enables us to make debit card payments in various currencies, thereby saving on exchange fees.  Upon notifying the bank of the spurious transactions our debit cards were cancelled and arrangements made to forward new cards to an address in Portugal which we supplied.  So far, a bit annoying but not too much of a problem.  However, unbeknown to us, HSBC in their wisdom had since blocked our account meaning that we were unable to access not only their online banking system but also any of our money.  With no app access the only way to reach them was to call.  We spent over €100 of phone card credit before remembering that Skype still existed and over 5 hours on the phone trying to resolve our issue with a call centre based somewhere in the Philippines.  It was hard enough to understand what the person on the other end of the call was saying but it proved even harder to navigate the verification questions.  Ian failed repeatedly to get past this initial hurdle by answering UK or GB instead of England and being unsure as to whether or not the . on the last four digits of his sign-in name e.g., .com needed to be included.  There was also the question about transactions on the account which of course he couldn’t answer as he was unable to access the account online.  His increasing irritation at being unable to answer the questions correctly eventually flagged him as suspicious and he was told not to call again but to visit a local branch – that would be London – with 100 points of ID.  My own attempts to speak to them worked sporadically, answering the same questions with the same answers was 50% successful but on the occasion when I did get through this ridiculous system the person on the other end wasn’t authorised to unblock the account, provide a tracking number for the replacement cards which had not been received within the recommended time frame or advise on what was going to happen and how long it would take.  A later call from me lasting just short of another hour that I won’t get back did result in them giving me a tracking number for the new cards, a short-lived victory as a check online with DHL showed that the cards had reached Lisbon depot only to be recalled by the bank.  Fortunately, we do have back-up resources but what a ridiculous situation to be put in and regardless of the outcome, which still remains to be seen, we have since investigated using the services of WISE and/or Revolut, independent services that offer virtual and actual debit cards that also work with multi-currencies and offer exchange rates better than those offered by HSBC.  Maybe HSBC has inadvertently done us a favour and lost themselves a client.  We will keep you updated.

Our border crossing out of Portugal was close to Moura, one of the many fortified towns strung along the border with Spain.  An early version of “Lonely Planet” described Moura with the words: “Don’t plan to stay there long …. You could die of boredom within 24 hours”, words that would probably make you think twice before visiting; But built around the ruins of a 13th century castle with one of the best-preserved Moorish quarters in southern Portugal, it is within an area that is the world’s first and only Starlight Tourism Destination.  Light pollution in this rural area of Alentejo is virtually non-existent and as a commodity in increasingly short supply these dark skies are attracting not only a growing number of astronomers but also a different type of tourist.   https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/starlight-tourism-in-alqueva-portugal.  The town itself is also adjacent to the world’s largest photovoltaic farm which boasts nearly 400,000 house-sized solar panels covering an area twice the size of Hyde Park and close to what claims to be the biggest artificial lake in Europe created by the Alqueva Dam.  Surely enough going on to keep most people amused for a day at least, as for us we had arranged to set up camp on a friend’s driveway, a memorable last night in Portugal.