Aug 30 - and now for something completely different !

Thank goodness our destination wasn't Seville (Sevilla).  37C. Like a furnace.  Heavy traffic heading there, stop and go on the road we were traveling and then just heavy on the A-road.  It seems that most summer vacations were over this weekend and everyone is heading home. 

Our route took us through the outskirts of Seville and then towards Portugal.  Looking forward to an arrival around 5pm we suddenly realized that 5pm wasn't 5pm ... it was in a different time zone !  That called for a restroom break stop and a snack. 

Finally we got to Albufeira ( I still don't know how they pronounce it locally ) and found our hotel.  We're overlooking the ocean, little balcony, a complete change from what we've been experiencing with city-life rooms.  We'll resume that tonight as we head to Lisbon (Lisboa) for a couple of nights.

The toll roads here are different.  You tie your credit card to your plate as you enter the country and get charged automatically.  We go under signs and cameras that pick us up.  It's painless until you check your credit card !  I now have to find out how to disconnect this plate from my card so that the next renter doesn't use my card !  Apparently there is a website, but I haven't checked it yet.

We ate dinner here at the hotel -- another departure -- and sampled their barbecue buffet.  Fish (large sardines), pork and chicken along with salad fixings, rice, fries and roasted potatoes; fruit for desert.  It wasn't anything to write home about but it was easy.  The wine was good, a Portuguese Syrah.  We had French people (or at least they spoke French) to the left and right of us.

Doves.  I'm out on the little balcony writing this and the doves are cooing.  Dang doves. 

The plan from this point looks like -- two nights in Lisbon; two in Porto, one in Gijon (Spain), two in Bordeaux, one in Meaux and then fly out on Tuesday.  Right now the hotel in Meaux is full, so if we don't get something there at the last minute, we'll find something else within a short drive from the Paris airport.

Onward !