You Only Lagos Once

I had the pleasure to get a little beach vacay on the:

September 22nd-24th TO Lagos, Portugal

(You can thank midterms and my procrastinating tendencies for this far of a back track!)

In Spain there is this really cool group called Discovery Excursions that does pre-planned trips for mainly college students studying abroad to visit Lagos, Morocco, Gilbraltar,and some other places as well. If you are interested in them just Google Discover Excursions they are located out of Seville and all of their trips depart from that location. After eavesdropping on some girls from Intermediate Spanish Class talk about a weekend trip to Lagos, I decided to invite myself (that´s how you make new friends after all!) The worst they could say is no and if you never try then you never know. Luckily, these girls are total sweethearts and after our trip together I now consider them my friends…so they happily let me tag along–thanks again ladies! So we bought our tickets and booked bus tickets on the Sociobus to Seville to be there in time for our departure at 10AM ON Friday morning.

Our Sociobus left at 2AM from the station and so we all met up early to metro there and let me tell you that a 6 plus hour bus ride from Madrid to Seville is painful for those of us who are tall and have long legs. Even with a melatonin and a cozy sweater and headphones I tossed and turned most of the bus ride. So when we arrived in Seville at 8AM I was relieved to not be cramped onto a bus and get to stretch my legs plus it meant that were also closer to LAGOS. Beautiful clear waters, swimming, kayaking, and a sangria boat tour awaited me there after all. So we walked to the destination of the pick-up to Portugal and picked up a quick bite and of course, coffee, to hold us over. The bus to Portugal was quick and easy compared to Seville. Discover Excursions even had videos and good music bumping so were happy campers. We made it Portugal without so much as a glance at our passports as we passed over the boarder.

An hour after our arrival we would depart on a Sangria cruise (that was an additional 25 € but totally worth it!) so we sipped some box wine and hurried to the beach before the cruise departed. Energy was high and the Sangria was endless, no really there was an endless supply. So the remaining moments are a bit fuzzy but it was soooo much fun and jumping into that cold ocean water after weeks of not seeing it in Madrid was heavenly. We splashed around and let the freezing water wash away the sticky sweet sangria plastered to our skin until the sun set and we made our way back to shore.

After a quick power nap we were off the infamous Nah Nah Bah Burger Joint in Lagos which is known world wide for having the best burgers and let me tell you that it def. lives up to its title. Pineapple on my burger was delish and the scalloped potatoes on the side were even better. Even writing about it, I am craving one. Yumm then the tour group whisked us off to dancing and drinks somewhere in Lagos. It was a little touristy and dead to start but, it packed up a little and the friends I went there with made it more fun. Our trip included 2 free drinks too! We fell asleep that night with salty skin, grins, and full bellies.

This picture doesn´t do it justice!

Day two we got to enjoy the beach at Meia Praia after a breakfast that was included in the trip cost and free sangria on the beach, I think I could get used to this! Then we went onto Kayaking trip, again an extra 25€. Kayaking was fun but the water was too choppy and by the time we had finished we were all exhausted. So if I did it all over again I would def. choose to only do the sangria cruise and spend more time on the beach of exploring Portugal with Saturday. After kayaking it was quick showers and then we were whisked off to Sagres to watch a stunning sunset at what was once considered “The End of the World.” It was full of people and the cliffs were steep which is slightly terrifying if you know how clumsy I am! So I stayed at least an arms length away to guarantee my safety and others–no joke! The clouds sadly made the sunset not as spectacular as one would hope but, beautiful nonetheless! Afterwards another night out on the town.

Next day we visited the Praia do Amado or West Coast beach and watched surfers and beach enthusiast alike soak up the sun. I got too comfortable though and awoke to a wave drenching myself, all my things, and my friends towels clothes and even whisking off a friend´s shoes into the ocean. Luckily a flip flop was only thing lost or ruined. All of our phones and cameras miraculously stayed dry! Yay! the clouds rolled in which made leaving the beach a little easier given how cold we were and then we were meet with a bus ride from Lagos to Seville. A 2 Hour break to eat some dinner and then another 8 Hour bus ride from Seville to Madrid which got us back just in time to have a 3 hour break before classes that morning….They do call it study abroad after all! That next morning I awoke and realized I missed my Spanish class after what was supposed to be a quick 1 hour rest before class along with another important document that had been left behind on the Sociobus….Can you guess what it was? I will be sure to make my next blog post all about it. So, stay tuned!