Our travels haven’t been very intrepid of late, rather we have been enjoying a relaxing period in a little white-washed villa in the gorgeous Algarve resort of Carvoeiro.  We weren’t quite sure what to expect of this popular part of Portugal, was it going to be a smaller version of the overcrowded Costa del Sol with its modern buildings and overdeveloped resorts or would it deliver up a more evocative experience?  Fortunately, it turned out to be the latter.  Turns out the Algarve has some of Europe’s most beautiful coastline, featuring dramatic orange cliffs showcasing many rock formations carved into the karst landscape and long stretches of empty golden sand sitting at the edge of the vibrant blue/green of the Atlantic Ocean.  There are large swathes of unspoilt and protected natural beauty and being out of season meant that we were only having to share it with a few locals and a smattering of ex-pats.

Being in one place for a while is great but I would be lying if I told you that we didn’t revert to type and take the opportunity to catch up on a rather large backlog of TV.  The time spent lounging around watching the last three years of ‘The Apprentice’ was justified by acknowledging that we would soon be back on the road with no guarantee of quality internet access.  Any guilt associated with the increase in alcohol intake was even easier to alleviate as we discussed future travel routes that would undoubtedly involve large dry tracts.

In between watching an excessive amount of Alan Sugar, we did managed to do some exploring.  We hiked along one of Portugal’s most scenic coastal paths ‘The Hanging Valleys’, cycled to various small towns dotted along the coast and headed out to sea in a kayak to check out the famous Benagil cave.  It was easy to see why this part of Portugal is so popular, both as a holiday destination during the peak season months of July and August and more permanently as an alternative home for many an ex-pat.  The pace of life is slower, the people friendly and welcoming and the weather (even in winter) is often warm enough to encourage some bare skin.  For those looking for non-stop entertainment, Albufeira’s numerous Irish bars, hemp shops and massage parlours can more than satisfy but in contrast many of the whitewashed fishing villages are still accessed by dirt roads, prices for food and drink are so much cheaper than many other European countries and the lifestyle is easy.    

The less developed western part of the coast has some stunning coastal walking routes whilst close to Tavira in the east are the Rio Formosa wetlands, home to hundreds of species of birds including the straw-legged flamingos.  Bottlenose dolphins and humpback whales are regular visitors as they cross the Atlantic and just 20km inland sit the Monchique mountains offering a cooler, forested environment complete with secluded eco-resorts and Roman spa towns.  Traditional industries are very much in evidence and it is not uncommon to come across a group of local ladies sat around a large table hand-painting their pottery.  Olive oil producers are eager to show you around their farms and this wine rich region is now coming of age.

 For us, it was the ideal place for a bit of re-organisation, not that we have too many things to deal with, but Ian needed to get a new passport, I needed a chance to catch up on some admin and Bob needed a service and his reversing camera and lights sorting out.  Unlike both Spain and France, there are no language issues in Portugal as everyone speaks enough English for relatively easy conversation and given that many of the businesses are run by ex-pats we were not too surprised to leave Bob in the capable hands of ‘English Autos’ aka Wayne from Manchester who promptly replaced our ‘made in China’ reverse switch with a genuine part and gave Bob an overall thumbs up.

As is often the case, idle time flies by and it was soon time to leave and back on the road we followed the coast almost to the border of Spain before turning north and back into the interior region of Alentejo.  This vast area covers over 30% of Portugal and is often described as Portugal as it used to be.  The rural countryside is characterised by gently rolling hills, fortified towns and intense summer heat.  It is the agricultural heartland planted with olive groves, vineyards and cork forests. 

Cork is not something we had ever really given much thought to but once in Portugal we would have had to be going round with our eyes closed to miss the numerous gift shops crammed full of cork merchandise, from keyrings to furniture and everything in-between, every town had one.  But, it wasn’t until we reached Alentejo and noticed the cork oak trees, many of which were marked with numbers, that our interest was piqued.  We had no idea – Portugal is the largest producer of cork in the world, responsible for over 50% of the world’s cork supply with an area of cork oak equivalent to a quarter of that on earth; cork exports in 2023 totalled over €1.2 billion last year.  Although the vast majority of cork is made into wine bottle stoppers, its versatility has captured the imagination of many.  Lady Gage once sported a gold and silver-plated cork dress, the artist Scott Gundersen spent 50 hours and used over 9,000 bottle corks to create his gigantic work ‘Grace’ and this versatile natural resource has also been sent into space courtesy of NASA and the European Space Industry who value its insulation properties.  Big business indeed; in fact Portugal’s richest family,, the Amorim family, and a frequent name on the Forbes Rich List, made their multi-billion dollar fortune in cork. 

Monetary value aside, the best thing about the cork tree is that its sustainable.  Harvesting the cork doesn’t damage the tree and it is in fact illegal to cut down a cork tree without a permit.  The Quercus suber tree can live to anywhere between 270-300 years with harvesting beginning when the tree is 25 years old.  The cork is stripped from the tree by pairs of skilled workers using an axe with a slightly curved blade.  Once the cork has been peeled away the exposed trunk is painted with a number showing the last digit of the year of harvest.  This serves as a reference to when the next harvest can take place 9 years later.  All things not being equal, cork quality varies and it is not until year 43 that the tree produces cork good enough to be used for bottle stops which command the highest prices of any cork products.  30kg of cork bark from a single tree could produce about 700 corks, the highest quality champagne corks often fetching several Euro each.

We had hoped to visit a cork farm, but being out of the harvesting season of May to August it wasn’t an option and so we continued north through Alentejo and on to Lisbon where we had arranged to spend a few days with some friends who were flying in from the UK.  As with many cities in Europe, Lisbon has implemented a low emission zone and as Bob is a Euro 5 diesel we are constantly confused as to where he is or isn’t allowed to go.  To be on the safe side we opted to stay on the outskirts of zone 2 in the area of Lapa, which worked well as far as Bob was concerned but not so great for us as it meant that every time we left the Airbnb and headed into the centre we had to deal with Lisbon’s topography.  The city is famous for many things; colourful azulejos (ceramic tiles), yellow trams, Fado music and, of course, its seven hills.  It was a constant struggle to admire the fantastic views over the River Tagus as we puffed and panted up steep winding streets and even steeper staircases, navigating our way from one part of the city to the next; yes, Lisbon was exhausting but what a fascinating place. 

The capital city of Portugal, positioned at the mouth of the Tagus, has long enjoyed the commercial advantages of its proximity to parts of Europe as well as to sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.  From the fifteenth century onwards, the port of Lisbon was one of the most important in the world with great wealth accumulated from maritime exploration, colonisation and trade.  Unfortunately, little remains to be seen of this period within Lisbon’s architecture due to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.   Estimated to have had a magnitude of 8.5-9 on the Richter scale and the largest known earthquake to impact Europe and northern Africa, the epicentre was just 200km southwest of Lisbon in the Atlantic Ocean.  Lasting for over 3 minutes, havoc was wreaked across Portugal but most significantly in Lisbon due to a catastrophic turn of events.  The earthquake struck on All Saint’s Day, a time when candles were lit in homes and churches all around the city.  Gigantic fissures up to 5m wide appeared throughout the city centre causing buildings to topple, in effect flattening the city and claiming thousands of lives.  As if that wasn’t enough, 40 minutes later the earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that hit the city’s harbour causing yet more chaos and destruction.  There was still more to play out though as the lit candles started fires that raged throughout the city for some days; the city was left in ruins with as many as 70,000 people – around a quarter of Lisbon’s population – gone.  Ultimately, over 90% of Lisbon’s buildings had either collapsed, been flooded or burnt, the least affected area of the city being the Alfama district, which today is still a maze of charming narrow cobbled streets and tall pastel-coloured houses and a great place to experience the mournful Fado singing in one of the many traditional tavernas.

At the other end of the harbour to Alfama stands the Belem Tower, one of only two significant buildings that survived the great quake.  It is a 16th century tower that serves as a monument to Portugal’s Age of Discovery and viewed from the deck of one of the last remaining traditional boats, you can just about make out the stone relief of a rhino sticking out below one of the towers???  Apparently, having managed to survive the 120-day sea voyage from India, the diplomatic gift of a white rhino arrived in Portugal.  The then king Manuel I no doubt enjoyed showing off this exotic creature as it was incorporated into his birthday parade throughout the city streets but he soon grew tired of it and decided to have it shipped off to Pope Leo X with the hope of receiving political favours in return.  Tragically, the rhino didn’t quite make it to Rome, drowning in a shipwreck off the coast of Northern Italy.  On a slightly brighter note, the Lisbon Zoo welcomed the birth of a male White Rhino last August weighing in at a healthy 40kg. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cxda-icAfjg/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==