Nearing the end of my euro trip, I headed far west to Portugal. At this point I was completely exhausted, and the extreme heat wasn’t helping. I remember the train ride down to Lisbon was horrid, hardly any air conditioning and long hours in a cramped space with no chance of catching a few hours of sleep. When I finally arrived, I made my way to the Yes! hostel which was, and actually still is, rated one of the BEST hostels in Europe, and it certainly deserves to be. Extremely friendly staff, very clean and very homey. The hostel even had a group dinner where you paid a bit of cash and got to eat with all the travelers who chose to partake. It was a great way to meet people and find out the plans for the night.
To be honest, I didn’t do a whole lot in the city of Lisbon, I actually only traveled specifically to Portugal to visit one of my best friends from back home who, at the time, was visiting his relatives in the city of Albufeira, located way down south of the country. After changes of plans and many revisions to the trains I was scheduled to take, I remember pulling into the train station, getting off and seeing my friend waiting for me. It was one of the most surreal moments I ever experienced walking down the sunlit boulevard with a good friend, knowing we were literally on the other side of the world, but still talking and hanging out as if we were back home in my small town of North Delta. I will never forget that moment, and in that instance, my short stay with him was well worth it. 
Let me tell you, the beaches that we went to, were incredibly gorgeous, the best I’ve ever seen in Europe. If I’m correct, we visited Don Ana Beach located in Lagos, a municipality along the Atlantic ocean. I’m glad I was able to snap some good shots of this seemingly flawless paradise that I was so lucky to enjoy for the day. The sand was soft, the water was clear and the temperature was high. At some point, it actually reached 40 degrees and you needed to find shade or else you were toast. I climbed a huge rock face near the shore which was actually pretty unsafe now that I look back. I almost lost grip while scaling this beast and the current was relatively strong, but hey, it made for some epic pics!
It was an unforgettable time even though it was very short. I needed to head back to London all the way from the south of Portugal and only had a few days to make it all happen. This album of pictures I have is a true treasure to me, because it was the only time during my trip where I got to spend it with a great friend from home.
devonheckard 