When I think of a city with an international airport, I think big. I am wrong in this case. Maybe it shows my travel inexperience. Faro is a cute little town with a small walled old city and only two hotels. I am told it is a booming tourist town in the summer. The old city takes about 2 hours to see fully and shopping holds little interest for me since I have to carry or post whatever I buy. Due to Faro’s surrounding wetlands, the beach is only accessible by a 20 minute bus ride. The beach is very nice though, with a course reddish beige sand and a the waves come in tall enough for some exhilarating body surfing. And thankfully, the water is a whole lot warmer than Oregon.
My new friends/dorm mates here are Andree from Brazil (living in Germany), Kay from Germany (lived in Brazil) and Luis from Lisboa. They all speak Portuguese of some form and English. A few other people we are hanging out with speak Spanish and rapid fire heavily accented Austrailian English. One of the most fun aspects of hostel life is communication. It is a always a source of laughs as we struggle with similar and dissimilar words. Conversations can take the strangest turns.
