Serpa-Algarve-Sintra

Getting out of Serpa in the morning was a challenge. A car had parked in front of ours, leaving little room to wiggle the station wagon outward. Adding to the challenge, the car was parked on a slope and only a few inches from the side of a house. It was a spectacular parking job last night, but required some patience, delicate driving skills and creativity to get out this morning. I hope the owner of the house has some paint handy - judging by the gouges in the wall, we were not the first to find ourselves in this position.
We headed further south through miles of cork farms (but, we didn't see any cork soakers) and eventually reached the coast. In contrast to the laid back, quiet living we found inland, the towns along the coast were jammed with time-share style condos like those I've seen in Mexico, Palm Springs, Florida, etc. The thought of spending more time riding back in Sintra appealed to us more than anything we saw in the Algarve. So, we looped back north to where we started from one week ago.
We found a bed at a tall yellow and red striped house overlooking the city. Restored and operated for the last 14 years by a swiss ex-pat, the attention to detail in finishing and service was impressive. Seems like it has been a good business for him.
Dinner was our first real meal that was not based around cheese - outstanding indian food at a hole in the wall in the historic centre only a half kilometre away, up a road that was probably steeper than 15% grade.