{"id":472,"date":"2018-10-11T11:38:19","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T17:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/?p=472"},"modified":"2018-10-11T12:18:12","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T18:18:12","slug":"salema-and-the-algarve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/the-algarve\/salema-and-the-algarve\/","title":{"rendered":"Salema and the Algarve"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Culture shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After days of immersing ourselves in the grand history and culture of Portugal, we headed south to the Algarve, Portugal\u2019s equivalent of the Grand Strand, to explore the southern and western Atlantic coasts at the \u201cend\u201d of Europe. The transition between historic Portugal and the Algarve could not have been more abrupt\u2014from the cork orchards and small villages of southern Portugal to the stacked rows of condominiums, water parks, and boogie board rental shops of Portim\u00e3o, Lagos, and every small town in between, it felt like we were entering a different country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this portion of the trip we chose to base ourselves in Salema, a once-small village with a beautiful beach, located as far west as possible so that we could use it as a base for further coastal explorations. Salema has a small \u201cold town\u201d city center with an old hotels, restaurants and shops and narrow cobblestone streets barely wide enough for one vehicle, but in recent years the steep cliffs and hills surrounding the town have become home to resorts and opulent villas. But it\u2019s not condominiums and water parks and it\u2019s close to where we want to be, so it works. And it\u2019s comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Early morning view from our apartment to Praia da Salema.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On our first morning we took off for points west and north along the Atlantics coasts. First stop was the town of Sagres for a look at the end of the world\u2014more properly, Ponte de Sagres, the southernmost point in Portugal and the westernmost part of the Algarve. The Portuguese knew it wasn\u2019t the end of the world, but the Romans weren\u2019t so sure. King Henry the Navigator allegedly trained Portuguese explorers from that point, and the school he founded trained Vasco da Gama, Magellan, Cabral, and others. Fortaleza is the imposing fort near the end of Ponte de Sagres, but most of what you see of it has been restored. (Click to enlarge.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n