This morning we were up early but sadly the weather was dodgey. The sky was gray, the wind was gently howling and the rain was starting too fall. We were devestated - only being in Portugal one night and it felt like we were back in London !
Anyway we weren't going to let that break our stride, so we took the mini train to Lagos and roamed around the old cobbled streets of the old town.
Although the earthquake of 1755 caused so much damage, the streets and squares of Lagos have retained much of the charm of a town hundreds of years old. Its such a lovely town to walk around and you can see the marina and the sea from almost all angles.
We walked along the marina and crossed the footbridge over the Bensafrim river to the old town where the view of the town and the boats in the marina is just lovely.

The older part of Lagos is still circled by the city walls that were constructed during the 16th century. We wandered around the recently renovated fish market before heading out for a walk in the old town. The steep, narrow cobbled streets and the white buildings and small doors make this a little fairytale village.

Henry the Navigator used Lagos as headquarters for his many exploring expeditions.

We Took a cliff walk back to Praia D.Ana for lunch. The views were just incredible across the ocean and towards Lagos.

Later that afternoon we walked back to Lagos through the old town to watch a bullfight. It was my first bullfight and I was rather excited, not knowing what to expect and what happens. We walked across to the Marina do Lago and sat outside drinking cold beers under a tent like effort, it almost felt like I was in the cowboy days about to watch a showdown.

As the sun slowly descends in the sky, the bulls and the Cavaljeros, Forcados and the Bandarilheiros makes their duelling.

The Portugese bullfight goes something like this :

The Cavaljero is on horesback trying to aggrevate the bull, and place the banderillas or farpas in the bull's neck. The bull tires and the four banderillos is well set and the next part begins. A team of eight Forcadores enters the arena lined up in a row challenging the bull face to face.

The bull, by now rather enraged, charges the Focadores (You hold your breath at this part as it can get quite tense knowing the Focadores can get seriously hurt). At the same time the band is playing themed music and you're biting your nails waiting for the next saga to happen.

The front Forcador then faces the charging bull with the others all behind him. With his bare hands he tries to catch the bull by it's horns, while the others catch up and try to wrestle the bull to the ground. A half-ton enraged bull charging you must be a scary thing to do and I took my hat off to them as they leave the arena with blood smeared, torn clothes and all shakey while lighting their cigarettes.

More Bullfight pics

It was fun and fairly harmless, I'm glad we got to experience it. We then went back into the little town of Lagos and had a great dinner, consisting once again of fresh fish with a glass of port.