Destination Portugal - Part 3
- Claire Champion
- 16 hours ago
- 6 min read
Monday 22nd September
On the Monday of our already fabulous and enjoyable holiday, we decided to have a very relaxed day. We planned to have a swim if the pool wasn’t busy – possibly in the afternoon. So after breakfast and we had cleared up, we caught up with reading and listened to the radio. James had a browse of local restaurants on his phone. As he was looking, I remembered about the grill-house we had passed on our walk on Sunday. I couldn’t recall the name of it, but I did know it had featured “Frango Grelhaldo” – the speciality of grilled chicken with peri-peri seasoning. We definitely wanted to try that!
Around midday we set out towards what we thought was the grill-house restaurant. When we arrived, we realised we preferred the neighbouring restaurant just around the corner, called Restaurante Mistral. This served the speciality dish “sardinhas" – in essence grilled sardines. As we had eaten fish yesterday, we went in and ordered the peri-peri chicken with chips instead. To drink we ordered fresh orange juice – which was very refreshing at the first taste.
The meal excelled our expectations and was a reasonable price too – at around 27 euros. The food was fresh and well-cooked/seasoned. The waiting staff were doing a great job at keeping us and all the other customers satisfied. It was obviously a popular choice for both local diners and tourists.
We settled the bill and put in a tip for the hard-working waiting staff. Then we headed off to get some shopping at Lidl. One of the items on our list was beach towels, as we were still searching for them to use at the swimming pool. We looked all around the store but no towels were to be seen. To be fair I don’t think Lidl in the UK sell them so we’ll let them off!
We got back to the apartment and felt like having a swim. Despite not being able to get the much sought after towels, we said if we wore light clothes over our swimming gear it could work. Also we would be able to dry off in the sun post-swim. So we went down to catch some rays and swim some lengths of the pool. There was an older couple at the far end of the pool-side, relaxing on their loungers. Which meant we took two of the loungers at the near end of the pool. Time to sunbathe.
A shower at the pool-side first and then we took a tentative dip in the pool. That was a chilly dip – I’m guessing about 18 degrees but who knows. The pool wasn’t heated so we just got on with it. It was a speedy several lengths of the small pool. At least the brief swim got our heart rates up and revived us. A family of three, mum and dad with their little girl, joined us at the pool as we did a few more lengths. We got out not long after and sat in the sun. It was quite breezy but the sun combatted any coolness. The blue sky continued to be cloudless as we relaxed.
We went back to our apartment just before 5pm and made our buffet tea. A moreish Mateus rose accompanied our meal which consisted of bread, Camembert and sweet treats. A lovely finale to top off a brilliant and chilled-out day.
Tuesday 23rd September
Today we had the main plan to go on a boat trip. We wanted to see more of the coastal sites and the big draw of the local tourist highlight: the Benagil Cathedral Caves. We’d seen about the boat trip when we went down on the marina on the Sunday, and at the time we had spoken to one of the vendors. He introduced himself as Bruno and had given us an information leaflet to read. His contact number was written on the leaflet and he said it would be worthwhile contacting him on WhatsApp. Instead of doing that we decided to take a walk later to the marina and catch the 2.30pm boat.
Before making the trip to the marina we caught up with reading and listening to the local music radio station. At around 11.45am we set off for lunch. There was an interesting restaurant called Bamboo, about 10 minutes walk away, which had a tasty-looking menu on the review sites. When we got to Bamboo the lady owner greeted us and asked if we wanted a table inside or out on the patio area. We chose outside as the temperature was warm, with a gentle breeze.
Our genial host came to take our order – she advised us there was a set menu which consisted of cabbage soup to start, meat stew or squid for the main course, and a drink (hot or cold) with the meal. Then there was coffee to finish if we wished – all of this was for the extremely reasonable cost of 14 euros. Which was incredible value we thought. So we ordered the meat stew, with iced tea for both of us.
When the drinks came, our host also brought couvert – Portuguese for small dishes to whet the appetite. In this case we had homemade bread and olives. Already this was shaping up to be a fantastic meal – with top quality ingredients alongside favourable service. But it blew us away even more when she brought out the stew – a whole big plate of potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, beef and pork sausage. I would compare this to Cassoulet – as in the French-style stew – plus a Portuguese twist.
The main meal tasted divine but I must admit I couldn’t eat it all. So I passed it to James. Our female host came out and asked if we wanted to have any more of the stew. I thanked her so much but declined. James answered in agreement with that. We then gave our order for coffee – which was a white one with no espresso. This coffee was also delicious and rounded off the meal very well.
We paid the bill and then headed off towards the marina. We booked in for the 2.30pm boat trip with the guys from the Mariguitus Boat Tours. The cost was 35 euros per person, which may sound a lot but that’s for a two hour trip so pretty good value. We had got to the docking area with about 50 minutes until the start time. We took a seat on a nearby bench to put on some sunscreen and wait for the boat trip. People started gathering around us – so we guessed they would be on the same boat with us.
The time came to board the catamaran boat and then a lot of people surged forward. We remembered the guy who gave us the tickets had taken my name to put on the boat register. So of course we would wait for our name to be called and then embark. The people who surged forward had to wait their turn which was fair enough. Anyway we soon got settled on the boat in readiness to commence the ride.
The seats we had chosen on the boat were near the stern and near the captain. I thought that would be safest. I will confess I’m not the most confident on boats, but James made me feel me more secure about the journey. Before sitting we took up our life jackets and put them on, making sure we tightened the belts.
Once we got started it was great and our guide commenced his tour talk. He was telling us about the places and points of interest, as our captain increased the speed and took us out of the harbour. Some of the highlights were a castle for the Portuguese royal family – complete with private beach, caves of varying heights, and a conservation area where people could walk in the smaller caves. These were high up on the cliff side made of sandstone.
James took a whole "reel" of photos to capture the memories. It was exhilarating as we sped up onto the Atlantic Ocean from the Arade river. We saw the Silver Cave, the Lovers Cave and others that I honestly can’t remember the name of but were impressive. As we made our way round the coast we saw kayakers and other boat-trippers. I admired the former as the current was quite strong and the ocean looked cold.
The captain got us to the final stop which was of course the Benagil Cathedral Cave. It’s no exaggeration to say it’s truly magnificent. The strata of the cave was a yellow-grey with rings ascending up to what would be the roof. But there is no roof – the cathedral is topped by a hole, revealing the azure sky and cliff-top vegetation.
Here our guide asked us if we wanted to stop for a swim and rest for ten minutes. But nobody took up the offer, so we turned about and made our way back to the marina. As we caught the sea spray and observed the herring gulls, the guide put on some music for an atmospheric return.
It was an incredible adventure and one worth recommending. We thanked our host and captain, giving a tip in the tip box that was passed around. Then we landed just before 4.30pm and disembarked, fully satisfied. We walked quite briskly back to the apartment. I had a bath when we got back, and afterwards we had a buffet tea. James and I reflected on our fun and exciting day, then we wound down ready for sleep.
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