Residencial Arabi, Portimã0, Portugal CAD$45 incl breakfast

I allowed myself to 'sleep in' this morning since breakfast was not until 8 am. I still woke up at 5 am, 6 am and 7 am, but only got up with enough time to pack most of my things before zipping down for breakfast. Meat, cheese, yogourt, croissants, breads, oranges, bacon, eggs, muffins, juice, coffee, tea, hot chocolate... no, I didn't have all of these things, but that was the array of goodies and treats to eat. It was good and I enjoyed it and made sure to carb up before the day's riding.

If you might remember, last night my leg was pinging in a troublesome kind of way. I was worried that I may have re-injured it for the many-th time since this began last year. But, so far so good, there were no issues when I got up, and as I waited for breakfast I did my physio stretches/steps and it did ok. Here's hoping.

Breakfast done, teeth brushed, bike packed, bike carried down to terrace... and I was helmeted and ready to go. Up to the right. REALLY up. So up-ish that I decided to baby out and walk the first climb to get warmed up. Then I set my GPS to follow the Eurovelo 1 track I had loaded into it before coming. I had tried this yesterday but just couldn't get it working and gave up on following my planned route - which would explain why I ended up along N125 instead of along quieter streets and roads.

I cranked up the backlighting on my GPS and was now able to see the pink highlight which was my route to follow. As a guide to my future self, I will explain now that all I needed to do was keep the 'I am here' triangle following the highlight. Not that it was tricky but with endless roads and paths the EV1 veering all over the place, I had to keep checking at each intersection to make sure I was still on the intended route.

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What a great change from yesterday. Right from the start in Albufeira, I was on a quiet road that hugged the stunning coast for a while, then followed along roads through farmers' fields, criss-crossed the highway and at some points was on gravel tracks through hills and valleys alongside farms, orchards of oranges, almonds or olives, and at times following ancient stone walls. Though there were a few little climbs, I only stepped off the bike one more time to walk to be sure to baby my calf.

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To aid in today's ride, there was a very brisk wind at my back just like yesterday. Most of the ride felt like it was downhill and was almost effortless. It is touring days like this that make me really happy and remind me of why I love to tour by bicycle. This is my thing. If there is any kind of 'heaven' activity, I hope it includes days like today.

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As I approached the Portimão harbour I recognized the lay of the land from when I was planning my trip back home. I knew I was very close to my hotel. I came right around the harbour and then there it was right at the square in the centre. The cleaning lady asked if I could give them a bit of time to prepare the room, so I sat in the square and people-watched, emailed and before I knew it I was back into the residencial, checked in, and Paolo the owner said I could keep my bike on the protected terrace just down the hall from my room. He laughed when I asked about doing this, and he said of course, the bike is your baby!

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Lunch. I had read about a wee litle taps place called Maria do Mar which was just around the corner from my accommodations. I got turned around getting there, but finally found it with the help of free downtown wifi. There were six tiny tables in a tiny space and a wall with floor to ceiling shelves covered in canned fish of all types. Many of the comments mentioned that they almost left when they read that the place generally served canned fish, but they all said - stay and try.

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I waited about fifteen to twenty minutes for a table then looked over the menu, unsure what to get. The owner, who served me, suggested either a salad or the tuna burger. I chose the latter. Within a short while out came my burger - lots of tuna, chopped tomato, some kind of yummy mayo sauce all on a delicious Portuguese bread roll that was smothered with seeeds. It might sound silly, but I think it is the best tuna sandwich I have ever eaten. It just goes to show that bread is not just bread!

I continued to wander the back streets of the city but my calf started to ping and feel a bit lethargic so I thought I should give it some rest. Not wanting to spend all day in my room, I headed back along the water to my hotel. On the way I stopped to watch a couple of groups from France playing pétanque. I ended up back at the square across from my room so sat and just looked and watched for a while, but the sun was behind clouds and with that strong wind still blowing, I was starting to get cold. Back to the room it was to rest the leg and decide where to eat next!

Restaurant Ziza is the kind of place you want to eat. Fluorescent lights (though CFL now), tacky game show playing on the tv (now LED and it was the Portuguese version of Price is Right), and a family who all work together to provide some of the best food anywhere. I was the only non-local there which also says a lot. This is a 'secret' place but I think with the advent of Tripadvisor, and the fact that the rating of Ziza is quite high, they are being discovered.

What I really wanted to have was cataplana, but as always, it is a meal prepared for two. So unless I stooped to asking to piggyback onto someone else's meal, I will have to wait. I asked about the grilled sea bass and the server said that yes, it was really good. He brought over some black olives that tasted like they were infused with garlic - oh my goodness, they were good. Then he brought me my little carafe of red wine, also delicious, then I proceeded to watch Price is Right until the meal arrived. What a treat. It was blow-your-mind delicious. When the server came to ask if everything was fine, I just laughed and told him it was amazing. He agreed, and said he likes it, too.

On the way back to my room, I sstopped in the square to take a few night fountain photos, but it was kind of cool out, so I wanted to get back inside and tucked into bed. I want to be rested up for the biggish climb to Monchique tomorrow. It appears to be about 500 m to 600 m I have to climb, which is about the same we had to do up to Valença do Douro a couple of years ago; however, rather than over a distance of 5 km, this will be over a distance of 10 to 15 km. That being said, I might be doing some walking nonetheless.

My last few moments before sleeping tonight, I plan to check in on the latest discussion on Brexit. Today was the day that the UK was initially supposed to have left the EU, but then with these endless votes on what to do, today was the third time that PM Theresa May's plan was voted down. This basically throws the UK under the bus. The Brexiteers had no real plan if they won, they lied about what the whole thing was about, and now the moronic members of parliament are acting like moronic politicians and not trying to piece their country back together. Maybe that cycling website creator and Trump devotee I mentioned earlier has a brilliant idea for this one, too. Grrr... !