I have already talked about a couple lunches, but here are some more.
My first day biking West. Saturday. I went to a town called Vila do Bispo. I got there by going through my favorite valley, Boco do Rio, then out to the main road 125 and onto Bispo. At dinner Thursday night the couple next to me had said their favorite restaurant in Bispo was Ribeira do Poco. I figured it was the one I always enjoy but was not sure until I pulled into town and saw the name.
I am trying the less expensive Green Wine. Did not need to do that again! I also tried the cheese. Cut into the ball on my left and added that to more than one later lunch. I took a picture of the fish condimint below to show Valentina and ask what it was but forgot.
A side of Mushrooms:
Main of Chicken Curry
And pies that everyone else had but I managed to skip.
As I have mentioned elsewhere, Sunday is always hard because so many people go out and Monday is hard as many restaurants take that one day in the week to close. The first Sunday I went to Fonte De Pedra. It is East and a few Kilometers beyond Solar and never very crowed. I usually sit outside but it was cold so for the first time I elected to sit as close to the fireplace as possible.
The sign outside:
The bike on the porch
Lamb Shank, a special for this Sunday.
And the handsome diner.
Monday found me going west again to Zavial. It is not one but two towns further west from Boco do Rio. I would of course have gone to Boco first to commune with the river and maybe the woman. Then I go back up to 125, bang along for a K or two. I have a 2K cut off here that takes me off the 125 and allows me to travel a road without traffic and then rejoin the 125. Up a hill, down into a town and a left onto the road to Zavial. It is a surfing beach with lots of parking and a restaurant. I was worried that it might not be open on Monday, I had checked but was not 100% convinced until I rolled into town and it was open.
Above a surfing class on the beach and below surfing.
A house above the parking lot:
The parking lot:
The beach again:
The actual resteraunt
This was actually a wonderful social lunch but I did not take pictures of the event. I sat down at a table in the sun with a late twenties/ early thirties young man. He turned out to be Italian. He and his father shared a house very near my guesthouse. His father was off in Cuba doing god knows what. I have looked through lots of my notes and have no name for him so I will just have to call him the Italian. He surfs. Maybe he surfed earlier in the day or is taking a day off. We are lucky to have a table in the sun so two young mothers join us and then move on and a Swedish mother and daughter join us. We get a little of their story. As he says later, very important to talk to the mother first. He says he is shy. He has surfed everywhere in the world. Even been to India. As you will remember, Baffi Bar and Valentina are Italian so a couple days later the Italian showed up with his father and even had a long talk with Simoni. I had the octopus salade. It was very good.
The next lunch, Tuesday, is Solar so that is covered elsewhere. Wednesday lunch is Sagres! But first I have to tell the Glen story. I’m coming back from Solar on Tuesday. I’m on the main Rt 125 and here in a bus stop shelter is a biker with panniers, lots of equipment, having a bite to eat. Glen is travelling alone, mostly camping, for 3 months from Spain to Germany. He has lead bike tours but I can keep up with him as he has all that stuff on his bike!! He is probably about 58. We did very well together. I lead him into Lagos and showed him were I thought the campground he wanted was located. Even though he of course had gps maps, I was able to save him a lot of time getting to the campsite. I of course asked him to come to Baffi and he showed up. I had made a reservation at a fancy restaurant called Real Portuguese Cuisine. I know, how hoke. A German couple at Casa de Sol had stumbled upon it and said it was quite good, a little expensive. I tired to eat there the next night and made a reservation for 1 for Tuesday when I found out they were full. I know that showing up with a guest would not inconvenience them. Glen was a good sport and came along. We ended the night back at Baffi and he accepted my offer to ride with him West to Sagres Wednesday.
I showed up well before the stated 8:30 and Glen came out right on time. This was his first camping in a few nights. He had been in hostels or elsewhere so he was happy to have survived and gotten the stuff repacked. One of the things I offer is a way out of town heading West that avoids the heavily traveled roads. It takes under and hour and of course leads to Boco de Rio. We took this picture at my favorite bridge:
And then of course Glen had to put up “talk to the men and see the woman”. We proceeded back to R125 and onto Sagres. I have only been down here once before. I think it was the first year and the wind exposure on the way back discouraged me in 2017. Once down to the point, Glen decided to skip the fort and head further West and up the coast were I have never been. I elected to proceed left into town where I also have never been to find a taste lunch. It was early so I had a pastry, used the bathroom, asked people for a restaurant recommendation and generally stalled. Below are come pictures from the town looking out to sea and a selfie of the tapas restaurant that I did not go to.
I ended up here instead, with my bike locked to the next door neighbor fence. You can’t read the sign but it says Retior do Pescador
I had a fish dish that was quite good. Another selfie and a cheese course. You might note the two small water bottles on the table. I carry them in my back and refill them at lunch thought in fact I drink very little water on the road. But I do try to have one large still bottle with my lunch bottle of wine.
