Lagos, Portugal

May 26 – 31, 2013

When we heard our regular travel buddies would be making it across the pond for another trip, we quickly got on board with a vacation to Portugal.  Who could resist the origin of Port and the miles of sandy, surf-able coastline?  We met up with Lauren, Dave, Shannon and Tom in the beautiful Algarve region of Portugal, in a beach town called Lagos.

We spent our first day wandering the charming streets of Lagos and getting caught up with the gang.

This was the first of a string of beaches, separated by the rocky cliff formations along the coast line. We spent lots of time switching between basking in the warm sunlight and bundling up against the wind the minute the sun went behind a cloud. Turns out it's a little cool in Lagos in May! Who knew?

The third beach down boasted an ancient bridge connecting a couple cliffs... a landmark that made an appearance in many, many photos!

On our second day we took an organized surf tip to one of the west coast beaches. The tide was too low when we arrived, so we waited it out by walking up and down this stunning beach before wet-suiting up!

After battling the choppy waves and strong currents, we managed to catch a few good ones. But after our gnarly session, I think we proved our cheerleading pyramid skills were actually raddest of all!

Little did we know this charming town transforms into party central come sun down! Turns out Lagos is a haven for mainly british tourist seeking fun bars and lively night clubs! Unfortunately a tragic accident with our little camera resulted in the loss of all of our nighttime shots, as well as any evidence that we actually ventured out after dark!

The views of the beaches and rocky coastline did not disappoint!

Our friend Kathy from Amsterdam was able to join us for a few days. Here we are on the roof top of our apartment watching the sunset over the city.

On our last day a few of us went kayaking along the coast, checking out the caves and cliffs, and trying not to fall into the freezing cold water!

We took a break from kayaking to pull up on shore at one of the beaches further down the coast.... the perfect spot for a photo shoot. Can you guess which sea animal we are posing as here? (ans.. walrus. obviously)

We had an amazing week hitting the beaches and partying it up in Lagos.  But it was time to make our way north to Lisbon to check out a more urban and cultural side of Portugal.

Thanks to David Merron Photography for a few of the shots above!

Check out the rest of the photos here!