We drove to a coastal town, Faro, to explore a bit.
There was a massive wall built around the city.
The main tourist draw in the town is this unassuming church, Nossa Senhora do Carmo.
It is like many old European churches – will I be struck down by lightning if I describe it as a bit gaudy?
But then you wander out back to find a very small old cemetery and a little chapel – Capela dos Ossos. This is NOT like every other European church.
Um….look closely. You are seeing what you think you are seeing. They ran out of space in the cemetery so they exhumed the bones of over 1200 bodies and covered the walls of the chapel. Never seen anything like it – never want to see it again.
Jay was feeling the need for speed after being away from the autobahn for so long, so he and Ty found a couple go-kart tracks. Meanwhile, I had one of the best massages of my life at the hotel – Ricardo gets a 5+ star review from me!
Perhaps Jay should have contemplated a career as a race car driver. Poor Ty spent the day inhaling Jay’s exhaust.
But Ty got revenge by slamming into Jay’s broken bumper car over and over again. Lily got some good belly laughs in.
We ended 2024 with a little sunset exploration of the coastline by our hotel. I love the rocky, shell-covered, cracked cliffs, watching the waves crash into them.
We got all dressed up for New Year’s Eve and I didn’t take a family photo. After talking about dancing until 6:00 AM, Lily couldn’t make it to midnight.
But I had a pretty amazing fireworks show from our hotel balcony. This picture doesn’t really show it great, but I could see at least 10 different fireworks displays.
We drove into Albufeira on our last night in Portugal, January 1. While I am sure that the night before (and all summer long) the Strip was a hoppin’ place, it was pretty quiet. We had to use our imagination about what the atmosphere is normally like.

Some random thoughts about Portugal, in no particular order.

In the winter, 3-4 days in Algarve is plenty. Summer, different story. Definitely rent a car. Take the long way down the coast to get from Lisbon to Algarve.

The sun shines over 300 days each year. My Vitamin D deficiency should be eliminated now. While not super warm this time of year, it was a wonderful break from the cold and gray of the German winter. Anytime I can sleep with the windows open (snuggled under a blanket with warm pjs) in December is a great night.

Red wine from Duoro is amazing.

The Portuguese people are relatively short. I am short. I loved being able to sit in most chairs and have my feet lay flat on the ground (this is not usually the case for me). It’s the little things…

I liked Lisbon, but Algarve has some sort of special sauce. Lovely people, beautiful views, gorgeous coastline, sunshine, delicious food and wine, and a super chill and happy vibe.

This has been a long vacation. I am thankful to work for a company that completely shuts down between Christmas and New Year’s. It is the one time of year when I can 100% completely unplug and unwind. My email inbox stays blissfully quiet. While it was not at all a traditional Christmas season for us, and we missed our typical family celebrations, it was great to spend so much uninterrupted time with Jay, Ty, and Lily.