Lagos, Portugal

October 10th to 13th was a long weekend, so a big group of us went to a beautiful beach town on the southern tip of Portugal. The trip got off to a fairly bad start, as I missed my train from Córdoba to Sevilla and had to buy another ticket for a later train. I'd also been fighting sniffles all week, resulting in a visit to just about every single pharmacy in Córdoba to look for zinc supplements. Happily, zinc + 2 lemons a day + eight oranges over the weekend = not sick! And the horrible 6-hour bus ride from Sevilla to Lagos turned out to be totally worth it.

The boardwalk on the way to the cliffs:

Gorgeous beaches surrounded by rocks:

Stairs built into/cut out of the cliffs:

Weird, beautiful landscapes:

Rockslides and earthquakes:

A lonely-looking tree at the top of the hill:

A resort/restaurant on the side of the cliffs:

I also went kayaking for the first time:

And nearly got seasick (it's a bad idea to throw up while you're on the boat - better to hop off, throw up, then get back on), but my stomach settled while we stopped at a lovely beach on the way back:

The water was freezing cold, but we still played in the waves:

We stayed at the Monkey House, a hostel located in the historic part of town:

More pictures are available here and here.

We ended up staying one more night than we had planned, because the bus that we had planned to take back to Sevilla was already full by the time we got to the bus station, and the next one left at 6:30 the next morning. Lesson learned - always have a backup mode of transportation.

All in all, it was an incredible trip and I can't wait to go back!