Monday

We left Faro! We are now in Albufeira. I am right now on the terrace of a beach-front bar, sipping icy agua con gaz in the bright Algarve sunshine at the Cabana Fresca.Liisa is playing a few songs on the restaurant’s request whilst I’m catching up on the blog. 

We eventually left Faro by train. We wanted to make sure we arrived here in Albufeira as we had said yes to Umberto the couch surfer’s offer to host us. As it was approximately 43km walk from Faro, we took the train as far as Boliqueime and then walked the 16km to Albufeira along fairly busy and uninspiring roads and past big, barking guard dogs straining on their ropes to get us! It felt great to be back on the road, backpacks hugging us tight and our walking boots excited to be back in use, even if it was to tread the tarmac. Eventually we left the highway’s country houses and noisy canines behind and started to pass jaded bars and restaurants, swimming pools maintenance shops, abandoned building projects and other signs that we were close to a holiday resort! With about 4km to go till we hit Umberto’s place according to google maps, we stopped for a 1 euro happy hour beer, and then continued on our way through Albufeira’s old town. 

We climbed steeply up to a more modern district filled with holiday rentals and modern apartments. Umberto came out to meet us and took us back to his apartment. He showed us our beds (Liisa has a huge airbed separated by a bamboo screen, I have the bed settee) and around the place (2 bedrooms and 3 balconies.) He made us feel very welcome and after showering and changing we all went out on to a balcony to eat cake and drink wine. Umberto told us some amazing travel stories! He is originally from Brazil but has spent the last decade or so living in America, with a family and a big house and a career working as a hair stylist to the stars! He has travelled widely, backpacking his way round the world and has had some serious adventures in his life! At 18 he found himself working on a farm belonging to  Pablo Escobar. He witnessed the collapse of the World Trade Centre first hand. He was in Sao Paolo in 1996 when a passenger plane crashed in to his neighbourhood and he saved the lives of four people trapped in a house hit by the burning plane. The clip below shows footage Umberto filmed of the disaster and an interview with him at the end! His footage was used by so many of the news channels at the time that it gave him the idea to make a living finding and filming disasters and news worthy events as they happened all round Sao Paolo, though he tells me that he would often end up having to drop the filming and help in a rescue! 

Umberto has 3 gunshot scars from being shot in a street robbery in his home city of Sao Paolo. The guy must be ploughing through his 9 lives and maybe that is why he’s decided to chill out at 53 and buy an apartment in this beautiful place and spend his days taking people out on hikes along the beautiful cliff top tracks or down at the beach or gym, chilling out with a glass of vino tinto in the evenings! 🙂 Liisa and I were shattered and so after a few travel stories, we headed to bed. .

Some musical offerings from the Gull, and it was bedtime… Umberto had told us that he knew a magical beach where we would see the best sunrise of our lives and so we all planned to wake early and get ourselves down there.