124. Drive through Spain and Portugal

After landing in Madrid, we picked up the car and drove through peak-hour traffic heading south for a 3-hour drive to our accommodation near a lake in the middle of who knows where. Apart from some torrential rain as it began to get dark, the trip itself was uneventful.

We chose the hotel based on price (of course) and location as the following morning, we had a 5-and-a-half-hour drive to the Algarve in southern Portugal for our next pet sit.

We arrived at 8pm and weren't sure if we were in the right place as there were no other cars in the car park. Mauro, the manager, greeted us as we got out of the car, welcomed us warmly and offered to cook us dinner which we gratefully accepted. 

The room we had was large and clean and once we unloaded our stuff, we made our way to the dining room and were given local wines to chill out with while dinner was being prepared.

The 3 courses were delicious and what stood out was the tomatoes actually tasted like tomatoes used to in Australia! It's very rare for us to come across that.

The entree

The next morning we woke up to the view of the nearby lake and, realised we were on a sheep farm. 

We were greeted by mother and offspring at breakfast

The Courtyard had citrus trees where the orange juice we had at breakfast originated.

Once regenerated, we hit the freeway and crossed the border into Portugal. A bonus was that we gained an hour by crossing a time zone where we took a one-hour break in Monte Gordo where after a sangria or two later, we continued our journey.

Next stop - Pet sit at São Bartolomeu de Messines