It has an end of the world feel with lighthouses and fortresses from an earlier era and is also now popular with surfers and other water sports at several fine beaches.
We started by visiting the Cabo de Sao Vincente Lighthouse at the western most headland.
It was a windy day with some significant haze but the rugged headlands were spectacular none the less.
We stopped at Fortaleza do Beliche and walked around some of the walls from an old fortress.
We did a brief stop at a surfing beach. The waves were not that huge considering the 25 kt winds that were blowing and the skill level of the surfers was nothing like Bell's Beach in Aussie.
After that, we drove to the Fortaleza de Sagres, an imposing fortress that apparently housed the navigation school of Prince Henry the Navigator. Most of what is there today was constructed in the 1700's.
There is a circular walk of a few km around the barren headland that provided some nice sea views.
It was definitely a lot cooler here than in the city with the temperature hovering around 20 C and a 25 knot gusty wind blowing. There is an interesting small church from 1570 within the compound.
It was interesting watching the local fishermen perched precariously on the edge of the cliffs casting their lines 35 m to the sea below.
One of the features was the Rosa de Ventos, a 50 m diameter representation of a compass in paving stone. Not sure if it was part of the navigation school.
After the fortress, we went into town for lunch and at a little local restaurant where the owner was glad to hear we were Canadian and not American.
On our way out of town we stopped by a nice beach "Praia do Martinhal". It was too cool and windy for sunbathers but the windsurfers were out in full force. We decided to sit at the local beach bar and enjoy a drink out of the wind and watch the action. Definitely some skilled windsurfers here!
We drove back to town and our apartment. It was much warmer there today with a high temp of 30 C.
We hadn't got our 10,000 steps in for today so we walked downtown for supper. No problem getting into just about any restaurant as I believe the tourist crowds are starting to drop off at the end of September. We chose Indian food and really enjoyed our meal.
We walked around a bit on the way home, enjoying the evening ambience.
