Days 11 & 12: Southern Portugal

We packed up our clean clothes (yay!) and made one last pastry stop in Lisbon. Mine was delicious, but poor Bri accidentally got one with chorizo in it - ew! As we got on the road, we had a pretty route planned, but we really wanted to get to the beach quickly. So we rode on the highway the entire way, and it was SUPER windy that day! On a motorcycle, wind is WAY worse than rain, so it wasn't the most fun ride. And because of the wind, our allergies really started acting up, so we stopped at a local pharmacy to get some "Claritine". It definitely helped!

For lunch we had sandwiches at an Intermarche, which is a chain grocery store. Brian got some more Jordan almonds for dessert, and we continued on to our hotel. When we arrived, we quickly figured out that our beach day was not going to go as we had hoped. It was super cloudy and the wind was CRAZY!

To make the most of our time on the coast, we went on a long walk along the cliffs.

We made it to a little harbor, so we stopped at a bar for sangria and took shelter from the major winds! Then we walked further and found a bar right on the beach that was empty and had a great view of the huge waves (obvious result of the gusty atmosphere). We sat and talked and relaxed and just enjoyed the view!

When it was time for dinner, we asked the front desk for a restaurant recommendation, and the lady suggested a place that we found but it was closed! Nice. So we continued down the road and found a great hotel restaurant. I guess our hotel didn't want to suggest that we give another hotel business? Oh well, at least we found a good place! We each had the catch of the day (sea bass) with veggies and potatoes and Douro white wine. It was a really tasty, refreshing dinner.

That night we didn't sleep well at all! The winds just got worse through the night, and the hotel sounded like it was breathing. It was squeaking and creaking and moaning - it was so loud! We just kept thinking, is the bike going to tip over? What happens if it blows over and is damaged? Sleepless nights are no fun!

The next morning, we had breakfast at our hotel's coffee shop. We really needed coffee after that night! And, I had a life-changing morning - I tried a banana :) I've always hated bananas, but I really wanted a piece of fruit, and that's all the hotel had. So I grew up, gave it a shot and actually liked it! Anyway, we quickly loaded the bike and hit the road. Our first stop was at a car wash to spray off the bike. It was completely covered in sea salt and bug guts from the day before, and it was beyond disgusting. So Brian got it all clean and ready for another day! He fits into the Corley family well :)

We rode to Alvor, a cute town that had awesome beach cliffs. We had found the town in some books we perused the day before at a little tourist shop, and so we had made plans to stop through. However, we really had no idea where to go once we got to Alvor other than towards the water. Brian found this really cool, remote, sandy trail that led us directly to some great views of the ocean.

We had a great time exploring the coast, but then it was time to get on the highway and make some tracks. The highway was very enjoyable today because of all of the fresh orange tree smells! They were in full bloom and smelled so sweet.

For lunch, we stopped in Seville, Spain. And it was 90 degrees! Woohoo for heat!

Driving into Seville, we saw lots of cool buildings and architecture

Bri continued in his excellent navigation record (even with crazy one way roads) and found a deli/ice cream parlor with a parking spot for the bike by a table that was right next to a cathedral and a castle! We had great sandwiches and shared an ice cream dessert that had toasted ice cream on top. It was kind of a nerve-wracking lunch, though, because we had several people warn us about our motorcycle gear getting stolen, even though we were literally sitting right next to the bike. We kept an eye out while we ate, just in case.

Sights in Seville

From Seville, we took a great road to Ronda, Spain that wound through farm hills, sunny green pastures, and beautiful mountains.

After Ronda, it was a little windy, but we had some of the best mountain scenery that was complimented by strong smells of pine. It was so refreshing.

As we were leaving the mountains, we saw some of the most gorgeous mansions. I felt like we were in a luxurious part of California. I didn't get any pictures of the mansions, but here's what the view looked like as we drove along the coast.

Once we reached the coastal towns where we planned to stay, we were quite disappointed with what we found. The towns along the water were pretty junky and just felt trashy. We hadn't booked a hotel for the night - we had figured it would be easy to find one at the beach. There were plenty of vacancies, but the hotels were disgusting and loud and were not cheap. Around 9pm, we finally ended our search for a place to stay. We settled on a quiet hotel that was clean and had a safe parking garage for the bike. The catch to this hotel - seriously, ALL of the residents were age 60 and up. We thought it was hilarious!

Even though there was an older customer base, the view was still nice!

It was late, but we still hadn't had dinner, so we washed up and walked around the area looking for a place to grab some food (obviously our hotel restaurant had been closed since 7pm - haha). We ended up eating at the Fat Fajita, a Mexican food restaurant in Spain that was showing British soccer, had Australian waiters, and had American flags on the table cloths! This random restaurant in combination with our elderly hotel made for one hysterical night. We had fajitas at the Fat Fajita, and they were alright :) After dinner, we went back to our hotel and crashed!

The Fat Fajita