Algarve Part 2

Dear friends and family

It's me, Sarah. A cloudy hello from the hilly town of Aljezur. For a change, we're not by the sea this time, but next to a stream right next to the old town, where the ducks happily quack. It's nice to get away from the sound of the waves at the beach for a while.

Just over two weeks ago, we were still with Steffi's parents in Portimao. After saying goodbye to them, we drove to a smaller beach further west, somewhere near Burgau. I know, it sounds very Swiss! Aargau, Willisau, Mühlau. I almost started to get a little homesick! But then I saw the sea, the beach, felt the sea breeze (yes, I know, cheesy) and thought, well, I can still wait a few more months for the forests, lakes, snow, chocolate and Wii. After all, there are beautiful and delicious things here too. For example, I've already eaten about 50 Pastel Nata, super delicious Portuguese traditional pastries, similar to Schnäfelis in Zug.

Even further west, to be precise, in the westernmost village in Europe, we spent four nights. Sagres is a surfer's paradise and accordingly, there were quite a few people even at this time of year. Nevertheless, we were able to enjoy the walks along the cliffs almost alone. Watching the surfers in the bay, we also wanted to dive into the waves. Fully motivated, we rented wetsuits and surfboards. This time, we thought, let's take a board for advanced surfers, because cool. Turns out, there are reasons why beginners get such a huge foam board. We couldn't even manage to stand up, not enough buoyancy for us greenhorns, we were at the mercy of the waves, and I swallowed about 20 liters of saltwater. Totally frustrated, we left the water and had to admit that maybe, just maybe, we had overestimated ourselves a little bit. Oh well, we didn't want to be like that and put aside the bad surfing thoughts to celebrate New Year's Eve. On New Year's Eve, we first went to a few bars for a drink. Before midnight, we went to Filou in the van so he wouldn't be lonely if there were fireworks. Of course, there were fireworks. The three of us sat on the bed and watched the fireworks through our small window. Filou barked at them at first, but then he calmed down and watched skeptically but calmly. Oh, what a great dog we have.

So after about four nights, it was time again for a proper warm shower, electricity, filling up water, etc. and we decided to drive to a cheap campsite and leave Sagres. From there, you could take a nice walk between a small gorge to the sea. On the way, there were many dog owners and one of them was German. As usual among dog owners, you greet each other and ask mainly things about the dog: boy or girl? So cute. How old is he? Aww. Is that an Australian Shepherd? So cute. And because the dog owner was German, I spoke High German with him. Suddenly he started speaking English. And I thought, um, hello? I'm speaking German with you, I already understand you, you don't have to switch to English, you silly person! Hurt in my language skills, I continued to speak in my excellent Swiss High German, while he was probably not sure whether to speak German or English because he had probably never heard a Swiss person before.

For Steffi, it was time to focus intensively on her studies and other writing projects without me annoying her, which I would never do, but yeah. And for me, it was time to travel a few nights alone in the van and see if I survive. Therefore, Steffi booked an Airbnb with Wi-Fi and everything nearby Albufeira for a few days, and I drove with Filou in the van towards Faro. Since I'm writing this blog, you can tell that I survived alone. In Faro, I parked next to the old town in a large parking lot where other campers were also parked, always very reassuring. I participated in a city tour and made friends with an Austrian woman with whom I then went for lunch. The next day, I had a shopping day at a large shopping center, and afterwards I drove a bit further inland to Alte, where there is a beautiful waterfall. I spent the next night on the beach near Albufeira. There I met an older German couple (who, by the way, understood my High German perfectly) with whom I also had a chat. I enjoyed the time alone; being able to do what I want, when I want, and having so much space in the van just for myself! But I was also very happy to have my Steffi with me again after three nights.

Together, we drove to Aljezur a little further north on the west coast. In the meantime, we enthusiastically bought all the equipment for bodyboarding. The boards for that are much smaller, so they fit in our van. Beginner surfboards are so big that they don't fit in our van, as it is set up. Since we were a bit frustrated with surfing anyway, we're now switching to bodyboarding. Just check it out on YouTube. But even there, we're still beginners. And on the west coast of Portugal, right on the Atlantic, the waves are a bit bigger and wilder than in the south. Not exactly ideal for beginners. Nevertheless, we ventured into the sea yesterday at Playa Arrifana. The waves were sometimes so huge and powerful that after a while, we got scared - when a high wall of water shoots towards you and breaks right above you, it's simply not fun. And then there's my shark paranoia. After half an hour, I gave up. Steffi dared a few more waves, but then she joined me on the beach. Nevertheless, we don't want to give up and we found out that there is an app that predicts the surf conditions and that we should go back to the south coast first for surfing, where the waves are a bit friendlier.

Next, on Friday (tomorrow), we're going to a pizza party. We've heard about it from various people, it's famous and infamous, something we don't want to miss. Apparently, there's all-you-can-eat pizza and a party on the side. It was described to us as a kind of mini-festival. I'm always up for pizza anyway.

Finally, here's a list of things we've lost along the way:

- A pair of slippers

- Another pair of slippers

- A frying pan lid

- A stool

- A food bowl

- Another food bowl

- A black t-shirt

- Many socks

- A USB plug

- Filou (no, just kidding)

- A cooler box (we planned to lose it)

- A Tupperware box

- A large spoon

- A small spoon