Thursday, 13 August 2009

And we landed......

Day One.

There are always shadowy figures at airports, these are from sun rise though, so not so scary.


So Miss Marta and I decided that this Summer, the holiday destination would be somewhere neither of us had any understanding of or familiarity with. Destination Portugal! It began like this...... having an early morning flight we packed the night before and then we were far too excited to sleep. The weather in Warsaw had been a little up and down (probably more the latter) in the week before we left. So we were excited by web reports that in Portugal they had high 20's through to mid 30's (degrees C of course) the days preceding our departure. Flying at 6 in the morning meant that we would need to be up at 3, even though we live close to the airport. We got up and into the cab, which was a fun ride for me, as we took my cricket coffin (dimensions of 90x 40x 40 cm), with the expectation that it would be full of wine and souvenirs on our return. This of course was too big for the boot of the taxi, therefore Marta got the front seat and I got cosy with my bag. We arrived and checked in. Not much of a line, so no real wait, but unfortunately, only one shop open. This being the cafe/restaurant. Being so early in the morning, I did require some fuel, so a double espresso it was. This was a ground breaking double espresso too. As would have been seen in the photo, if in fact I hadn't accidentally deleted it (oops). It was groundbreaking for a simple reason, it cost me PLN18!! Which is $AUD7.40, £3.71 , €4.32 or $US6.11! It wasn't even good! I was shocked. Note to all people ever travelling through Warsaw airport, it is better to go caffeine full, rather than trying to get one there! So anyway, we left and after a pleasant franks and scrambled egg airline meal, we were basking in bright sunshine and cool breeze of Lisbon, Portugal. The relief of all the little white Polish faces was very obvious, also on one Australian's too. So off to get the bags, then to find our brand new best friend. His name was Colt, Mitsubishi Colt. Jet Black and with a licence to run wild and free. Well, as much as a 1.1L engine can! So after touring the first round-a-bout twice to get the right exit, we were off.



First stop Peniche (pronounced Penish). It is a rather garrish looking coastal town, we thought. Until we realised this was the horrific holiday apartments outside of the town. After dropping the bags at our accommodation we headed straight to the water. Not into it, just to it.



It had been 6 months since I had seen the ocean, so it was a nice chance to smell the salt and let the wind caress my flowing hair, I mean cool my balding scalp. After both of us foaming at the mouth at the sight of crisp clear water and nice looking surf waves, we headed for what was to be our first lunch in Portugal, first meal to be exact.



We picked the Restaurante A Sardinha which is famed for its fresh and tasty seafood. So what did we decide to eat........Steak. No, just kidding, Marta went for the classic and stable, for the entire Portugese population, of cod (bacalhau) and I for the grilled whole squids (lulas). Both were simply delightful. We enjoyed this, as well as a bottle of slightly sparkling Rose.

Grilled Cod. Staple. Quality. Enjoy the taste of Portugal.



Grilled Squid, delightful!



Stop trying to hang on Squidy and get in my mouth!



The first of many coffees to come... daily....hourly... yum! Uma Bica!



After lunch, we went for a stroll around town and then hit the beach. I did some body surfing, as Peniche has some reasonable waves and lots of rocks and seaweed, as I found. However, it was all fun. The water being the Atlantic Ocean is a little chilly and the windy day didn't make it as toasty as it had been in the more sheltered Lisbon, earlier in the morning. After this, we grabbed my second Portugese coffee of the day and then decided to jump in the little Colt and investigate the surrounds.



Coffee Number two.... or was it three?



Baleal private Golf and Country Club beach, we snuck past the guards :)

They also have a small creek that flows to the sea at high tide, at other times it makes a nice thing to photograph.



What is this, a Beach Mushroom Farm or something else.....?



And so the sun sets on our first day..... the end of day one. Or is it?


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