The drive to Lagos from Faro is only an hour or so along the toll motorway. My brother, Steve, lives in Lagos and we naturally spent a few evenings setting the world to right on his balcony making short work of several bottles of Bacardi.
I also took the opportunity to go to another of my favourite birding spots on the Alvor estuary, only 10 km or so East of Lagos. Here I was pleased to see that the annual influx of Bee Eaters had made their home and the argumentative Black Winged Stilts were in control together with a small flock of flamingos.
Another splendid place to visit along this coast line is the Boca do Rio, just west of Burgau but, sadly, I never bagged the Blue Rock Thrush that hangs about here. The small stalls there sell thick jumpers! Many years ago, Helen and I drove up to Lisbon with our son Gary. This time, after a 4-hour drive from Lagos, I deliberately came in over the other bridge, the Pont 25 de Abril, which is just as amazing.
The 25 th of April saw the Carnation Revolution in Portugal when the old fascist regime was overthrown. The bridge was originally named the Salazar Bridge after the right wing PM and friend of Franco pre Bullring, designed as a mosque with beer stalls outside! A good bargain here is to buy a ticket on one of the many tourist buses. The 2-day pass is very cheap and, given the number of steep hills in the city, is great for moving around on those hot days.
Of course, everyone gets on the rickety old tram number 28 that winds its way through narrow, congested streets up to the castle. Lisbon is a friendly city with lots of museums to explore. There are still some old areas to explore, particularly in the Bairro Alto, but almost all of Lisbon had to be rebuilt following the catastrophic earthquake of I had assumed the people here would speak Spanish but, not only is English very rarely heard or spoken, it seems Spanish is just as useless although, this may be a reflection on my poor Spanish pronunciation!
