Watkins is in Lagos, Portugal!

No I'm not. I'm in my bedroom in Sevilla. Where in the world WAS Watkins would be a more accurate title for my blog. Whatever.

I WENT TO PORTUGAL!! It was absolutely lovely. Lagos is a beautiful beach town, with lots of beautiful buildings and fun outdoorsy things to do. Lagos isn't too far from Sevilla, so my friend Kelsey and I got last minute bus tickets and went! We left at like 6:30 in the morning, which was an experience in itself! The early morning bus/metro crowd is drunk people coming home from the bars and doctors going to the hospitals. A very inebriated man gave us leis to wear on the beach haha.

I woke up long enough to take a picture of us crossing the
bridge into Portugal!

We ran ran ran to catch the early morning bus and we were off! Mapquest said that driving it takes 2 and a half hours, and the man at the bus station said it only makes a few stops, so we figured we'd be at the hostal nice and early, feet in the sand by 10 or 11.

Wrong. It took over 6 hours to get there! I would love to tell you that I took in lots of scenery, but buses make me sleepy.

The first thing we did upon arrival was find our hostel, taghostel. (Highly recommend it! SO CUTE!)

Checked into the hostel, we slept in their "girls attic"

The view off our deck!

Science museum right next to our hostel!
It was lit up every night like a disco!

lunch view

Best salad this trip and possibly the best hummus ever!

 The next stop was food, so we found this place that advertised vegetarian food! SO yummy!

Then we hiked out to the lighthouse, meandering around the beaches and cliffs as we went higher! It was so beautiful... truly breathtaking.

The last accessible beach! 

Alluvial fan! GEOLOGY.

The tide was coming in so hardcore...
DRENCHED after this picture!

The last bit of sun

As we went farther out, it got later and we realized it was sunset! So we went all the way to the end for a good viewpoint, and enjoyed the view as it went down. :)

Lighthouse!

The farthest accessible point on the
Iberian Peninsula! I'm glad this picture came out...
It was basically pitch black out there without
the lamps or sun!

By the time we walked back it was dark! Then a big Italian feast and sleeping. No night out for us! The next morning we went on a kayak tour!! It was so much fun! We took Kayaks out through the grottos, going in and around them to get a great view of some beautiful and inaccessible beaches! We also took a couple swims- on intentional, one less so. I have some new scars to prove it!

Waterproof camera= wonderful.

Kelsey and I in our kayak!

We then crawled through that center hole...

...to get to this cave! We couldn't stay long because it was
too windy to be safe. We kept getting buffeted against the
walls. There was a lot of blood. But worth it!

That wave is about to push us off the ledge.

The beach we stopped for a swim at!

Then, after all that excitement it was showers, food, siesta, and back on the streets for some exploring! 

Lunch was at this pretty far away place, but it was so good! Think Jamba, but with a view of the ocean. I had a falafel wrap and this really strange ginger-carrot juice. It tasted healthy. Then we parted ways, me to wander the city, and Kelsey took to the beach. (I opted to avoid the salt water and sand because my cuts were freshly iodine-d and bandaged. Thanks attractive lifeguard!).

In my wanderings, I heard absolutely beautiful music. There was a mass happening at this adorable little white church. I wasn't dressed properly, so I was just going to hang out around the gate, but this little homeless woman came and sat with me and told me it was okay to go inside. I was speaking Spanish, and she was speaking Portuguese, but they're close enough together that we were able to understand each other. I asked, if that's true, then why are you out here? She told me that inside gets too hot for her, and she has a heart condition, and so she can't go inside for very long at a time. I sat with her on the church steps and listened to the rest of the service. It was really, really nice. I peeked inside as people were leaving and listened to the choir practice for a bit, the inside was as adorable as the exterior! The conversation really affected me. I teared up a bit as I was walking away and praying for her.

inside the little white church

The church I went to, situated on the old slave
trading market.

Portugal makes something like 80% of the world's cork.
There are a bunch of cute artisan shops that have figured out
how to turn it into a flexible, waterproof, gets better with age
material for building! If this tote hadn't been outrageously
expensive I would for sure own it.

A typical Portuguese sweet is the Marzipan!
I love this stuff, it's so much better than any
I've had in the states!

The dog at our hostel! His name translates to
"Bear"- reasonable, as he's absolutely huge
and fluffy! This dog took up an entire bathroom
when lying on the cold tile floor.

The crest of Portugal

The harbor

found a cool mural!

Walking along the water. There's a water taxi that can take
you across the canal to the biggest beach in Portugal.

Then it was dinner time! We decided to try out this hole in the wall place that everyone kept telling us about! They were voted one of the 50 best burgers in the the world according to some travel magazine.

THEY TOTALLY DESERVE THAT TITLE.

Homemade veggie burger, complete with potato
slices in the best sauce I've ever had. That's my
regular sized glass next to it, this burger was HUGE

Kelsey and I finished the night with a bottle of
GREEN wine on the balcony of our hostel.
Like 3E, and so delicious!!! If I wasn't such
a lightweight I would have drank the whole thing.

The next morning was our last in Portugal, so we made the most of it by touring the city until the last possible moment! We went to their science museum (the one in the first set of pictures!) first. It was basically a naval history of Portugal, and since it was geared towards kids... SO FUN! Plus since it was early in the morning it was basically just us. Think being alone in Pacific Science Center. Nerdy and marvelous!

Then we took a quick run back to the beach and I took Kelsey to try marzipan before returning to the bus station. We had just arrived when the bus pulled in, and our punctuality was rewarded by a 7 and a half hour bus ride on a packed bus because they accidentally sold more seats than they had. Adventure!

I'd love to make it back to Portugal someday. Their scuba is supposed to be great, as well as their snorkeling. We didn't get a chance to try it because the conditions were bad during our whirlwind weekend. It's okay though, cause we still managed to more than fill our time! :)

More tomorrow, cause this is a ketchup game! (Did you ever play that in elementary school?)
XOXO, Katie