Old Meets New in Portugal's Algarve

S A G R E S, Portugal, March 2, 2004 -- It wasn't what we'd expected.

Instead of a little speck on the horizon, a small fishing hamleton the most southwestern edge of mainland Europe, all we could seeas we approached was a line of white villas and holiday apartments.

That morning, we had left nearby Lagos looking for our treasuredrecollections from 15 years ago: a village square with one bar anda lone hotel high on a bluff overlooking the bay where fishermenused spotlights at night to attract their catch.

We would have Vinho Verde on the hotel terrace in the eveningbefore going to Carlos, the restaurant owner who would treat us tomore free aperitifs until the catch of the day arrived straightfrom the beach. One day it was a swordfish so big it hung heavybetween two fishermen dragging it in.

The spectacular beaches, apart from a few surfers and nudists,were all ours. "Tourists seem to be visitors here, not the ownersof the village," I wrote in my diary then.

Now, the tourists have taken over.

We drove in, passing the Pirate Gift Shop sellingskull-and-bones black T-shirts. We saw an Internet café and aninternational surfing school before we finally hit the villagesquare. Even there, our beloved Dom Henrique hotel was underrenovation.

There were three restaurants in the square now, and instead ofthe elderly of yore, with their leathery faces, dressed in black,the square was catering to the international crowd at severalterraces.

Sad? Sure. Bad? There are two sides to the debate.

Still Nature Aplenty

Fifteen years ago, the old fort on the cliffs was basically adump, anything but an homage to the famed Henry the Navigator, aprecursor of the great explorers who is thought to have had hisancient seafaring "school" around Sagres.

This time, a tripthrough the area was a pleasure, with its well-kept rooms, videoarea and museum cafe. Without the tourism boom, such gems couldwell be in ruins still.

The kids marveled at the cannons, the ramparts and fishermendefying gravity up on the cliffs. The elders could philosophizearound the giant compass at the heart of the fort pointing towardnew naval discoveries.

And so it went, day in and day out. Outrage that another part ofour memory had been stripped bare for yet another touristcommunity. There were no complaints, though, when we could drivethe new, marvelous highway along the coastline from west to east inbarely a few hours, a road that went straight into neighboringSeville.

There is still nature aplently, especially inland — although thesummer fires of 2003 have done damage. Golf fans can now chosebetween two dozen courses tucked in greenery and many with splendidocean views.

Coming back from Sagres, we took some dirt roads around Salema,where green, open fields and shrubbery suddenly open up onto goldenbeaches, with nary a tourist in sight. Compare it to Luz, aconstruction site with hundreds and hundreds of homes, allmandatory white and adorned with a quirky Algarve chimney,stretching seemingly forever.

The attempts at indigenous architecture find a welcome relief inthe marina of Lagos, a pleasant port town some 20 miles fromSagres. There, the sleek modernist lines, the light and airyapartments, make a contemporary statement without jarring with thepast.

A newly built elegant footbridge over the sea canal now joinsthe old and new part of town.

Rocks and Nudists

When we first came to Lagos, we were awed by the ochre rockconstructions separating coves and beaches and none come betterthan the Ponta da Piedade, where the sunlight dances in between thecoves and rocks. The suggestive formations have names like "theElephant" or "Marilyn Monroe."

This time it was our kids who dropped their jaws in amazement,as they took one of the dinghies in the bay and scuttled around therocks.

Any visitors willing to zigzag down the cliffs can still find abeach, and a huge lot of soft sand, to call their own.

"The other beaches? bah!" wrote my daughter Claartje, 10, inthe family diary. "But this one, so nice! We were all alone[except for a nudist. Hahhah]."

The center of town, though, has turned into a bustling touristcenter, with Australian didgeridoos and African masks vying forattention within a stone's throw from the arcades where slaves wereonce sold to the highest bidder.

Our memories drove us back to the old fish market, only to findits gates hidden under scaffolding, and workmen slapping freshmortar on the facade. The old walls around the center also lookedto be in much better shape than 15 years ago, another renovation togive hope that not all would disappear.

The great quake of 1755 razed much in the Algarve, and explainswhy it cannot rival with its Spanish neighbor Andalusia when itcomes to historical treasures.

It makes the protection of what they have all the more welcome.

The Chapel of Bones

On our first trip, we depended on rudimentary public transport,which made it tough to wander much inland. This time, the rentalcar took us into the hills beyond with woods as intensely green asthe beaches are ochre.

Monchique is already so high it makes your ears pop driving up.Apart from the pottery shops, tourists flock to Caldas de Monchiquebeyond the terraced hills, a spa going back to Roman times, yetkept well up to date.

Heading back to the sea, we decided to stop off in Silves, orXelb as it was known during its Moorish heyday.

High on a hill,with the town dressed around it, sits the Moorish castle,resplendent with its walking gardens, ramparts and exhibitionrooms, an ideal day trip from the coastline.

All through the vacation, one mandatory trip hung over ourheads, ever since our son Corneel, 8, had seen his dad pose amongthe skulls and bones of Capela dos Ossos, the chapel of bones, ineastern Faro.

We waited a long time, quietly resisting the morbid idea oftraveling 51 miles to see a room full of bones. But a child'slonging for Gothic adventure cannot be resisted; we finally cavedin.

The trip again highlighted our ambivalence toward all thechanges in the region.

Driving into Faro, the orange blossoms were in full bloom andthe sweet fragrance soon enveloped our car. It contrasted ever sosharply with the traffic chaos and construction sites that blightedthe view of the suburbs.

Once there we found the medieval center had been spruced upsince our last visit. At the infamous chapel, nothing had changed.More than 1,000 skulls and a multitude of bones made up the mostoutrageous wallpaper imaginable.

Corneel was mesmerized. He insisted we take a picture of hisface among the skulls, identical to the holiday snap of dad allthose years ago.

Click, and in a sense, the family had come full circle.

The Algarve though, had moved well beyond that.

If You Go

GETTING THERE: The Algarve is a three-hour drive from airportsin Lisbon and Seville. The Algarve also has a busy local airport inFaro with daily connections to Lisbon and several European cities.

LODGING: Sagres has an upmarket "pousada" overlooking some ofthe best cliffs of Portugal at a price of $187 in high season for adouble; visitwww.pousadas.pt/01pousadas/60algarve/062infante/index.html. Thepleasant two-star Dom Henrique in the center of town has views justas good for $106 (351-282-620-000). Rooms can be rented just nextdoor at Jose da Paz Pereira's Alojamento Particular at351-282-624-096. Contemporary upscale lodging can be found at theMarina de Lagos. Many rooms have a view of the sailboats in themarina and the wide Meia Praia beach is within easy reach.www.marinaclub.com.pt/ingles/index-ing.html

DINING: Near Lagos, the Vila Lisa in Mexilhoeira Grande is knownas one of the best in the country. In a simple village house, theowner brings you just what's on that day and a meal usually lastsfor about a half-dozen courses. A typical menu consists of blackpudding, shell fish soup, baked octopus, roast leg of black pork,chick-pea and oxtail soup, to finish it off with fig cakes. Dinnercomes at about $31. For simpler family fun in Lagos, try the hugeAdega da Marina, where Portuguese families and tourists dine onlocal fish and wine at wooden tables and benches. In the touristycenter of Lagos, the Caravela is a good spot to try stuffed babysquid and giant prawns.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.portugalinsite.pt orwww.portugalvirtual.pt. To reach the Portuguese Trade and TourismOffice in New York, call (212) 354-4610.