I had the perfect start to Spring Break by spending a few days relaxing on the beautiful beaches of Lagos, Portugal. I have been wanting to see these beaches for a couple of years, so I was extremely happy that I could fit it in my travel plans this semester. Lagos was even better than I imagined. I'll start out by explaining our epic and extremely lucky hostel experience. So first we find our way to the hostel and it is dark and completely locked up (instant worry). I was also worried because we wanted to add 2 friends to our reservations who spontaneously joined us. After straightening things out with the hostel owner over the phone, she sent over the housekeeper to show us our rooms. This was an interesting experience because she only spoke Portuguese...some of which is similar to Spanish, some not. The next part of this story is still hard for me to believe. She led us down the road a bit and we discovered our luxurious housing arrangement: 4 bedrooms with large beds, 4 bathrooms, a kitchen + 2 kitchenettes, a patio, and a POOL! ...all to ourselves. It was like a private suite/apartment and we definitely could have enjoyed a few more days there. We absolutely could not believe our luck and were literally jumping with joy (after Fatima left because we didn't want this to be a mistake). Also, I should meantion that this was all for 12 euro a night, what a steal!
The next morning I continued to be impressed by Lagos. We woke up early to fit in as much beach time as possible. Our destination was a local favorite, Playa Doña Ana. Amazing. You first walk up to cliffs that hang overlook the shore. Walking down several flights of stairs you arrive at the white sand beach. The sun was beating down and the water was crystal clear and my favorite blue-green color. After setting up camp and lathering on the sunscreen, we sprinted into the icy (but refreshing) Atlantic Ocean. We swam out to one of the rock islands and from there we could see several other beaches nearby. From here, we also appreciated the uniqueness of Lagos. Before Columbus discovered America and everyone thought the world was flat, Lagos was the farthest western point and was therefore considered the end of the world! I could honestly see how people thought this because the cliffs cut straight down to the water and the water seemed endless in the horizon. We spent most of the day on the beach before going home to jump in our pool and then shower. We had originally planned on going out to a restaurant, but the 2 boys we were with insisted on cooking a family dinner (that they would make). We girls were not going to pass up that offer and they did a great job with the meal - pasta and chorizo, sour dough bread, seasoned tomatoes, and red wine. It was a blast to eat together on our patio and we just hung out there for the rest of the night. The next morning we had the same plans....la playa. I was very happy the water was so calm the day before because the second day was very windy, so it was a little brisk and the waves were extremely tall, therefore no swimming.
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