Praia de Aveiros, Albufeira, and Praia da Falesia (Wednesday 3/29)

These days may have had some hiccups, but they've ultimately come together better than we probably deserve for our less-than-perfect planning.

Today, for instance, it became clear that Greta--who's been battling an increasingly serious cold and cough over the past couple of days--needed some medicine. So Andrew and Greta Ubered to a pharmacy first thing this morning, right after breakfast (a fabulous buffet at the hotel), where she was given some powerful cough medicine and a decongestant spray. 

They were, fortunately, able to get back quickly enough to join the rest of us for the morning's activity: a visit to the 7 Seven Spa's "therapeutic circuit." The girls and I started a kind of tradition in Barcelona of trying to find an unusual spa-like activity--there, we did fish pedicures. This experience was far less horrific. The spa is beautiful, and for a small fee you can use the "therapeutic circuit" without having to book actual spa treatments. The circuit includes four pools (a cold plunge pool, two warmer pools, and a hotter pool) with all kinds of sprays, waterfalls, and bubbling features. There's also a sauna, a room where you can pull a cord to have a bucket of cold water dumped on your head (only Greta did this), and a Caribbean storm "shower experience" where the girls, Mom, and I laughed hysterically as we were pummeled with increasingly intense "rain" in a three-part shower room. 

We all had so much fun. It was a perfect way to start off a day of exploring.

Once we'd regrouped, we began our journey, thanks to five hundred Ubers. Ubers are everywhere--we rarely had to wait more than three minutes. A couple of times Andrew would request the car, and it would arrive in zero minutes because it was...already parked in front of us. Also of note is that Andrew wore his new soccer hat today, and it sparked conversations with several Uber drivers. Somehow Andrew is able to engage in more-than-cursory conversations about Portuguese soccer teams, and it struck me (as it often does!) how smart Andrew is, how strategic. He denies this, but I'm pretty sure he bought that hat not because he wanted a sporty souvenir but because he knew it would be an entry point into conversations with strangers. He can--and will--talk to anyone. This skill, always impressive, is even more impressive when the contrast--five silent Orlando-Littells in the back seats--is right there for comparison. I couldn't say two words about Portuguese soccer even if you offered me one million dollars.

But I digress. Back to our day. First, we traveled to Praia de Aveiros, a beach Andrew found by scrolling around Google Maps, and it was spectacular. Dramatic rock formations, tall cliffs, caves, waves--exactly what you think of when you imagine Portugal. We were able to climb up and follow a path of sorts along the cliffs to get different views of the water--this was fun but also terrifying, because there are no railings or barriers of any kind, and if you take a step back (say, to take a selfie) you'll simply plunge to your death on the rocks below. I mean, does this happen? Does anyone fall off these cliffs? Shudder. 

We hiked around for a long time, and then sat down for lunch at a restaurant called Aveiros, right on the beach. It was so so so good. The kids had pasta, Dad had fish and chips, Mom and I had piri piri chicken, and Andrew courageously ordered grilled sardines, served whole, with heads and tails on. The owner showed him how to eat them. The food was so good, the setting so beautiful. This was a random choice of beach but I'd highly recommend it, and this restaurant, to anyone planning an Algarve exploration.

Next, we Ubered into the town of Albufeira to walk around. It was a typical beach town which we could imagine being completely inundated with people during the summer. We got gelato and ate it on a wall overlooking the beach. 

Uber then took us to Praia da Falesia for our final beach of the day. This was a totally different beach, with red-clay cliffs surrounding it, and we laid out the Turkish towels we'd brought and just relaxed on the sand while the kids waded into the water and jumped waves. 

We returned (via Uber) to our hotel for a bit, and later took the hotel shuttle to the marina for dinner. We'd had such a big lunch that we just shared a few pizzas at Lamparo Ristorante for dinner. 

And lo and behold--when we went to the front desk today to figure out the rental car situation, a car was available! A minibus, actually. Stick shift. We booked it, and Andrew is on board to drive the minibus to Lagos and Sagres tomorrow. It will be an adventure.