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 A web log of the sailing vessel "Gyatso" |
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| Wintering-over in Lagos, Portugal, 2007-2008
Lat: 37°06'N LogbookWe returned to the Marina de Lagos on August 12, 2007, after visiting with family and friends in the U.S. and attending a family wedding in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In September, we took a trip to Switzerland (see link below for a full logbook entry), and in early October, we welcomed friends Mark and Kate from California to Portugal for a week-long visit. With them we enjoyed Lisbon and Porto, and then we rented a car to tour the Duoro River valley while the grape harvest was underway. David worked as a management consultant in Portugal nearly 25 years ago, and ever since, he wanted to visit the area again. For a variety of reasons, we decided to winter-over in Lagos. We really enjoyed it there: the weather is lovely, the wine is cheap and the food is delicious. We spent time walking and biking around the city and exploring the Algarve coast by car. We celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday aboard Gyatso with friends Peter and Annemarie of Onyx (see link below for a full logbook entry). For the Christmas and New Year's holidays, we took an inland trip to Belgium and the Netherlands. Lisa got her chocolate fix for the next decade, and we both enjoyed the history and culture of Northern European cities, including Brussels, Bruges, Gent, Amsterdam and Delft. A perfect vacation and a nice break from the boat and live-aboard life at the marina. In mid-January, 2008, we welcomed Lisa's sister Suze and brother-in-law Jon for a 6-week visit to Portugal. They rented an apartment inside the old, walled city of Lagos with sweeping views of the historic city center and the Algarve coastline. We had great fun sightseeing in Lisbon, Spain and the Algarve, sampling the local cuisine, cooking meals together and just enjoying day-to-day life in Lagos. One of Lisa's favorite things was being able to walk only 15 minutes to visit her sister, and better yet, was just running into her around town. After more than 25 years of living in different states and now on different continents, it was a real treat to have them for such a long visit. Although we ended up spending longer than expected
at the Marina de Lagos (we had originally planned to sail into the Med
last year), we now feel very lucky to have had the extra time there. We really enjoyed Lagos, the Algarve, and
Portugal. An added bonus was
being in one place long enough to have friends and family visit.
And so our departure is not without the usual feelings of sadness
and regret about leaving such a wonderful place.
At the same time, we are really looking forward to resuming
our sailing journey. Here is a selection of books from our winter reading list that we would recommend to anyone who is interested in the Algarve and Portugal (all of these and more can be found or special ordered at the Owl Story English Bookshop in Lagos):
Special Logbook Entries:
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© Copyright 2009 s/v
Gyatso. This page was last updated on 02/27/10. |
