Portugal Part 5 - To the End of the World

We did take a day-trip via a luxury coach bus to several places, including the central historical city of Silves, then to Lagos, up into the Monchique mountains to Foia, the highest elevation in all of Portugal, where we were invited to a wine tasting. On the way back down to the lower elevations we stopped for a traditional Portugese lunch, including the world-famous chicken Piri-Piri, salad, wonderful bread, wine and dessert.

We travelled further west to Sagres, home to the Capo de St. Vincent - also known as "The End of The World" as it is the western-most point in all of Europe. This was an eerie place because although everywhere we'd been it was nothing but blue sky and sunshine, the cape itself was covered in a misty cloud which reduced visibility to just a few feet and the temperature very cool. If you aren't careful you could easily step off a cliff which drops suddenly - about 300 feet.

On the way from the shore to the mountains, the landscape changes dramatically. We saw cork, walnut, cherry, locust beans (carob beans) and even eucalyptus trees. We learned a great deal about the history of Portugal and this region which was was very heavily influenced by the Muslims who lived there for about 600 years.

And a side note here that the tour guide for this trip was the best ever. He was a young Portugese gentleman, very proud and passionate about his country, and with an impressive knowlege of its history and culture. He seemed to know everything about everything and was able to communicate his knowledge to make absolutely everything interesting.