PORTUGAL (land of 1000 ubers)

 june 2nd. i had never booked an uber (and had only been in 3) up until this trip. I swear we were in an uber at all times. 

it wasn't that bad, will and I just had some places we wanted to see that were a bit further away, but we were very close to the marina and the heart of albufeira, which was great for walking around.

I should start with us flying in, and finally getting stamps in our passports!! I almost had a panic attack, but we stayed calm, got an uber and rode to the chapel of bones (capela dos ossos) This is one of the places I was determined to see. There is an even bigger one in Evora, but we didn't want to make that big of a detour, and this place was perfect.

We walked through a beautiful chapel and through the back where there is a chapel decorated with the remains of over 3,000 people. There is also an alter made of bones. It was amazing. I love when religious lean into death and mortality. Very cool.

We walked around faro for a minute, then headed to Albufeira and our airbnb. It was beautiful! we went shopping, I grabbed 4 euro rose that was recommended. I hopped in the pool, will called his family, and that evening we headed to the laundromat on the marina.

A kind british woman helped us with the laundry and we grabbed some tapas, including an amazing stew. at the airbnb i had a glass of rose and we fell asleep with the lights on.

The next morning I went on my walk as usual, and grabbed a pastel de nata + coffee com leche. I found a rocky trail i could follow and spent time listening to the ocean. My main goal for this day was surfing! That afternoon we headed to Gale beach where I learned to surf. I loved it. I wasn't great, but I felt very proud of myself. Trying new things is scary, and I hate people seeing me fail, but I did it. I got back on the board every time I fell. 

Will and I hung out at the beach for a little longer and then walked to get sandwiches and an interesting desert for dinner. 

June 4th was our year anniversary :) we headed down to the marina, had a pastry breakfast and then went kayaking! It was a blast! One of my favorite parts was seeing the little grabs on the rocks, its fun to see them move when the blend in so well. We also kayaked into a dark cave where we had to lean back to make sure we didn't smash our heads into the ceiling. The tour was also very special because there were only 2 other couples there! a very personalized tour :) 

once we were showered and rested we grabbed ice cream, and got dressed up for a nice dinner that evening. I haven't been on a lot of fancy dates, so this one was very fun. I had green wine and a seafood soup that I had heard about. It was delicious and wonderful.

On our last day in albufeira we hiked part of the 7 hanging valleys hike! It was gorgeous! will wore his jacket as a cape in order to not get sunburnt? but we didn't drink enough water and by the end we were very tired. we made the mistake of going out and walking around in the heat of the day and i think we were suffering heatstroke. To escape the sun we went into a cute little archeology museum! It was very small, but also cool. I had read about the history of portgual and it was fun to see the actually historical remnants of the civilizations I read about! We stopped by the store and headed up to the airbnb for a fat nap.

That night we went to get more portugese food! We walked for quite a while before settling on a nice place with a beach view. I had amazing fish :) At one point some brazilian guys came over and put on a little show where they sang and did flips. We headed back to our airbnb and got ready for the adventure to come... next stop Sintra.