Portugal - Day 1 - Faro

Hey hey!

Here I am again! It’s been so long since we last spoke. And yes, as you might have guessed: it’s that time again 🤪 I’m going on a trip again! 😀 Do you want to know where? 😁 To Portugal — to the city of Faro and Albufeira. And yes, I’m going alone again, like on all my previous trips.

I have a feeling this is going to be one of my best trips, after what I've already experienced in Croatia and Palermo. At least I hope so... although I think so. 😏

In Croatia, during a kayak trip, I suddenly saw a whole school of purple jellyfish, that was such a magical experience. 😍 And in Palermo I had booked a tour where we went from cliff to cliff. When we went into a cliff each time we could beach there and then the water looked so green!! But neo green! As if there were hidden lights in it. I also saw a sea urchin in the wild for the first time while snorkeling.

And then my dream house there… completely secluded, a few meters from the water, with a beautiful view. Too bad I couldn’t buy it 😅 Or yes, actually three reasons:

1. It just wasn't for sale.

2. It belonged to an ex-drug lord (so you can imagine how impressive it looked 😍).

3. It was in serious need of renovation.

   
   

As you know me: when I travel, it's for adventure, experience, discovery and so much more! This time I booked a kayak tour again. To islands, with the most beautiful photo spots and I'm also going diving. Yes, again only water activities. Love it 💙

Also nice: I was able to arrange a photoshoot with a photographer who lives in Albufeira. So: another country I can tick off. Check ✔️

Pfff... here I am in the airport. Either I'm way too early or I have to run to catch my flight. Today I chose option 1: no stress, and time to talk to you 😄

Oh yeah, from now on you'll hear from me more often. Between May and December I travel almost every month. Except for July, October and November. So prepare yourself for a lot of stories 🤗

You know what? By sharing my stories with you and on social media, I realize that I'm actually already writing a story. So why not really start with a travel diary? One that people can read, with pictures and that I sell. Maybe, if it goes well and I keep it up, I can grow into an influencer with it one day. Who knows, maybe I can travel partly or completely for free in exchange for content about a place or company. What do you think? Shall we try it? 😁

Okay, I'll leave you in a moment. My flight leaves at 11:20, so I'll quietly go to my gate. And then hopefully: eyes closed 😴

12:13 – almost 1 hour of waiting

Wow, my trip starts off great… Once I’m on time, things still go wrong. 😅 We’re queuing to check in, and suddenly the message comes that the plane is having technical problems. Then the rumours follow: there must have been an accident. Someone hit at the airport?! How?! 🙄 Then comes the story of a bomb threat, which caused the entire airport to be closed. And it even seems to have started with the flight from Faro…

I'm starting to get a little fed up with humanity.

Behind me were a couple of grandmas, blissful g . They are really better than the newspaper. 😂 They told me that there was someone at the checkpoint who didn't want to open his backpack because there was something suspicious in it. Apparently a toy gun for his son... How stupid can you be? How selfish? Not even open-minded. I could go on and on, but let me leave it at that for now.

22:35 – Portuguese time

Wow, honestly? Even though I missed almost a whole day, I still have a story to tell you. 😅 Things didn’t go as planned, but a story is a story, right?

I sat in the airport until half past three. There I met two sweet old ladies, 74 and 75 years old: Marije and Hedwig. Marije was just like me: adventurous and curious. Hedwig on the other hand was afraid of almost everything. Cute to see. We survived the five hour delay together.

When we were finally allowed to board the plane, I thought: “Yes, we’re leaving.” I fell asleep immediately. When I woke up, I felt the plane moving. I looked at my watch: half past four. Only then did we go up in the air.

The flight was still about 2h50, so it was around 19h30 when I finally landed in Faro. The weather wasn't too hot.😅 So I immediately took a taxi to my hostel — cost: €26.

During the landing I saw something magical! Something I had never experienced before. The sun was shining above the plane, but on both sides there were clouds. And suddenly I saw it: a round rainbow circle with the shadow of the plane in it. Really beautiful. 😍

Once I arrived at the hostel, I was greeted by a young man at the reception who seemed a bit impressed. 😂 He even said that I was "high class". I replied: "I'm just a human being, you know." But honestly? It was nice to hear. It felt like confirmation that I'm achieving my goals. 💪

He suggested to join us for dinner: spaghetti bolognese. I hesitated for a moment, because after such a long day of social interaction I didn't really feel like it anymore. 😂 But I thought: I already missed Faro today... why not?

And I'm glad I went! The food was delicious and the atmosphere was nice. It got a bit noisy at one point, but that didn't really bother me. I was sitting at a table with 4 guys: one from Ireland, one from Canada, one from England and one from Portugal. It was fun to hear the different accents.

We started with a salad, bread, butter, some kind of cream cheese and olives. Light, but still filling.

Then the Portuguese spaghetti — really good! Very different from what we have in Belgium. It was with beef (I think), fried but the fat of the meat mixed with the pasta, but not greasy greasy. No idea how to describe it, but it was delicious.

For dessert we had churros with cinnamon and brown sugar. Also super tasty!

I wanted to end the evening with something nice, so I went to a cocktail bar that I noticed earlier during a short walk. And wow, what a beautiful place. Really stylish, exactly how a cocktail bar should be. You would think it is mega expensive when you look from the outside in.

And yes… another handsome bartender. 😏 He was polite and attentive, and as icing on the cake I got a heart lollipop from him. Love it. 😂

Soon I'll crawl into bed, and tomorrow I'll leave for Albufeira. Hopefully I can tell you some nice stories then.

The only thing I regret: I don't have any pictures with the people I met. That would have been a nice memory. 📸