A first few days in the Algave
And just like that its here - I’d originally planned to spend a few days in Portugal before heading to India, but for visa reasons, those few days may turn out to be a bit longer. I guess that this is all part of the plan of not planning every detail. The Indian e-visa system rejected my application and the DC was not able to help.I scheduled a visa appointment with the Indian Emabassy in Lisbon in the hopes that they could help. Currently the visit to India is on hold and I am scrambling to come up with another plan. Audrey traveled with me for the first few days before heading back to California, by way of Baltimore.
On arrival in Lisbon, we took a plane down to the Algarve, which may have been the worst possible way of getting there. The plane was delayed for an hour and half - on a 45 minute flight. As we later learned, it would have been both more comfortable and faster to take the train. Lagos was the first city that we stayed in, very pretty but very touristy. I realized that on most days in the US, I would hear one or maybe two languages in a given day, but just walking around there I would hear 5 or 6 languages in 30 minutes. Lots of cliffs, little beaches, and really really good seafood.
On Friday morning we took an early train back to the Lisbon. This was the right way to get to and from the Algarve - it was faster than the flight in and quite pretty. I had an appointment with the Indian Embassy at 11 that did not go to plan. The woman who helped me was helpful, but unfortunately, as I was not a Portuguese resident or citizen, the embassy could not grant me a visa. Turns out the only embassy that I can get one from is the one in the US, which I cannot visit and does not take mail applications. Time for plan C!