Lagos to Silves

November 11, 2024

We woke early and hungry this morning and were out searching for breakfast shortly after 8. Today isn’t Sunday, nor is it a holiday in Portugal. Yet there seemed to be even fewer options than yesterday. Google, renowned for its accuracy in such matters, showed only three coffee shops “open now”, and of the two closest, one was not open. So we went to The Studio again. A bit expensive for what you get but definitely tasty.

Leaving Lagos to the east was definitely more pleasant than entering from the west and I’m not thinking only of the riding through the city. EV1 follows a separated bike path almost 10 km until it joins the N125 near Odiáxere.

Some of the path was paved, some was like this, a bit was a game of dodge-the-potholes of increasing complexity. Then we were back on quiet roads.

And just along that first bit of highway, there was an interesting diversion: storks! Storks in the air, coming in to land. We stopped to get a better look and saw several stork nests on top of thick poles that seemed to have been placed there for the purpose. No photos, though, as it was a bit far and into the sun. Maybe this is an overwintering site? Maybe it’s a year-round population? More research needed (though the little I did just now tells me that Silves, where we are now, is the stork-nesting hot spot of the Algarve.

We finally got off N125 as we entered Portimão. It was in Portimão, on Rua da Pedra, that I saw something I’ve never seen before and probably never will again. Al was ahead of me by a couple hundred metres and what turns into the road between us but an actual donkey cart. (I think it was a donkey, not a horse, pulling the loaded cart but I really only saw its ears and feet from behind.) In any case, this was just before the roundabout at N124 and the driver slowed, waited his turn, and then urged the donkey to a quick trot as they merged into the roundabout. I really hoped Al stopped and got a photo but he didn’t and I couldn’t because if I stopped to get my phone out I’d have fallen too far behind because they were moving quickly and I just can’t do that sort of thing in moving traffic.

We continued through the non-touristy parts of Portimão until we left the city by crossing the estuary on the road bridge. The traffic fell away until, as we climbed through Estômbar, it was gone.

Bicycles are required to ride on the road across this bridge and we did; it was fine. We walked back a bit to get a photo of the bridge with its bright blue steel truss.

Off to the north is this cable-stay bridge carrying the autoroute.

And between them is this classic bow-truss bridge carrying the rail line.

The rest of the ride was on quiet roads, through vineyards and citrus groves as we rode the ridge above Rio Arade. We joined N124-1 for the descent to the bridge across the river into Silves.

We had hoped to cross the river on the smaller Roman bridge but got skunked! It wasn’t far to the other bridge.

We had booked the apartment yesterday so I had time to create a route to its door. Happily it’s not at the top of the hill!

The street level has a little sitting room and kitchenette.

And the pièce de résistance, a washing machine! Our clothes really need this!

After settling in and putting our first load into the washer, we went for lunch in one of the surprising number of restaurants within a short walk of our door. Then, after returning to hang things up to dry, we went for a short explore.

I don’t think I’ve seen a pink-tiled building before.

There’s been some significant yarn-bombing in front of the town hall.

A closer look. Each flower was different.

A closer look at one of those palm trees. I wonder what the red things are.

From the info sign:

“The earliest known reference, by al-Razi (historian and geographer), dates to the tenth century. The ancient fortress of Islamic Xilb consists of a majestic wall, built of military rammed earth and covered in red sandstone, comprising eleven towers... On the site, … traces of palatine dwellings of the Almohad period can be found (twelfth - thirteenth century), as well as water supply infrastructures (aljibes), underground structures for grain storage (silos) and fifteenth century buildings.

“The enclosure was used for several purposes, having at some point between the mid-nineteenth century and the twentieth century been used as a crop field, and in addition housed a prison.

“The current appearance of the walls is the result of extensive restoration work carried out by the DGEMN in the 1.940s.

“The bronze statue of King Sancho l is a heroic depiction of the first Christian conqueror of the city, in 1189. It is a sculpture by Leopoldo de Almeida and was given to Silves in 1966.”

Looking out one of the battlements. It seems they are outlined in light at night. We didn’t look to confirm this.

This “small drinking mug” dates from the XIII century and was found during an architectural dig within the castle walls.

I found the large aljibe very interesting. From the info panel:

“The Silves citadel's large ‘aljibe’ consists of a large reservoir excavated out of the rocky substrate, with storage capacity of around 1 300 000 L, and which supplied the city until the 1980s. Its construction dates from the Almohad period (12th-13th century), probably during the time immediately after the first conquest of the city by the Christians in 1189.”

It currently houses an exhibit about the Iberian Lynx and efforts to reintroduce it/bring back its numbers.

After another laundry and journal-writing break, we went out for dinner. I wanted to try the churrasqueira (chicken bbq) but there is no indoor seating and we weren’t wearing enough layers to sit outside. So we went to Restaurante Nova Mesquita where Al had spaghetti with shrimp and I had pepper steak. No photos but we enjoyed our meals.

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Today's ride: 39 km (24 miles)
Total: 336 km (209 miles)

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Scott AndersonSilves looks like a nice stop, one I wish we’d chosen instead of Albufeira.

About the storks. These surprised me too, but apparently some of them have started staying around for the winter. I don’t know if they’re resident here or just cutting short their migration from further north.
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