IS THIS THE BEST PLACE IN PORTUGAL? AMERICANS ABROAD 🇵🇹

We're Brittany and Drew, two hopeful adventurers who got married, moved into a van, and have been chasing adventures all around the globe ever since, and are now searching for a place to call home, here in Portugal. Subscribe and join the ride. After waking up in a double-decker bus in our last episode, today we awake a bit closer to the sand, where we'll be exploring the beauty of Portugal's famed southern coast, the Algarve, and reawakening to just how incredibly crowded, and amazing, and diverse, and irresistible it truly is. And be sure to stick around till the end when we take you to the most unusually amazing and authentic medieval festival in all the land. Good morning everyone! Just waiting for the coffee to brew on this beautiful morning. Drew and I woke up nice and early for the sunrise. We were able to see the colors and the whole horizon just light up. It is so stunning out here. We are in the Algarve, which you might have recognized. It's absolutely gorgeous here. But it has been a crowded summer. July, August, September, it starts to lighten up a bit, but especially August, it is busy out here. And right now, Drew is out here greeting our friend Nick. You might remember him from one of our vlogs last year. They're somewhere down there pumping up the paddle boards. I gotta drink a little bit of coffee. I'm already in my bathing suit. It's time to hit the water. Paddle boards are out! So we were just talking about how many people are enjoying the Algarve these days, and we wanted to ask Nick, as a local who loves the Algarve, who's addicted to the Algarve, is the Algarve too crowded? Totally! It's totally too crowded, especially this year. It seems like a rubber band after COVID. Everyone's dying to travel and stuff, but it's always an odd to avoid the tourists in August. Oh, there's one! There it goes! If you're going to come down to the beach early in the morning, then that's fine, but at 9 o'clock, you can't go to parking. I've noticed the trend that Portuguese like to come to the beach in the late afternoon. Everybody just flocks to the beach. A lot of Portuguese actually leave the beach at lunchtime and go and have a proper lunch, and then they come back. Because in America, people would take a huge cooler and drinks and food and have their whole spread for the day. But yeah, it is busy and it is a problem, so you need to think around it. And when it comes to us looking at properties, we don't mind being 30 minutes away from the beach because it allows us to have the peace and quiet, and I think you have found the same thing. Absolutely. I mean, I live 30 minutes, 25 minutes away from the beach for exactly the same reason. Because if you live right on the beach, a lot of people say to me, I have to live on the beach. And it's like, well, then you've got the crowds and you've got much more expense as well. I bet you've seen an immense change since you've lived here in Portugal. 22 years? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have. I have seen a lot of change and, you know, a lot of dirt roads are getting tarred and, you know, actually shopping malls have just exploded like mushrooms all over the place. There's still the old Mercado, the markets, and I think looking forward to the next 10 years, I think it's going to be really exciting because the Algarve used to be like a retirement village for expats and then just locals. Right. And now it's like more younger people are coming, digital nomads are arriving, it makes it more vibrant and exciting. It's bringing a balance, I think. Exactly, yeah. It just brings more interesting international aspect to the Algarve, which is great. It does. Yeah, and maybe a bit more like innovation and opportunities for locals for jobs and things. At least that's the hope. Well, let's go get out on that water. You win their minds. Thank you for pumping up the board. You're the best. Oh, Enra. Beautiful out here this morning. What a day to be on the water. You ready? Give me a twitch. You twitching? Like Frogger. My hands might be wet. You're going into the tub. Way! There you go. We all live in the Yellow Submarine, the Yellow Submarine. This is the submarine. We were right next to it down on the water. Land ho! Take us in. Whoa! What happened? I let myself in. You really meant take us in. That's a different kind of in. Oops. It was totally on purpose, right? It was. You know, it's like riding a gondola today. Like riding a horse. Yeah, buckaroo. It is so busy out here on the waterfront. We were walking the beach yesterday and there are just boats galore. Here we go. In the cave. Look at the pigeon hole. Okay. You got this. Focusing. Nick's here to help. Whoa! Jump! You can get real tricky there. I can get really tricky. Wow. The waves really come up here. Land ho! Thank goodness. It's getting very windy. I can hardly believe that was the first time Brittany and I have been on paddle boards this entire time we've been here in Portugal. And now we're about to head out for another Algarvean adventure. We're going to do the best hike that you cannot miss. It is called the Seven Hanging Valleys. I've always wanted to do this hike. So we are here at the official start of the Seven Hanging Valleys. I believe it's six kilometers long and it just takes us along these limestone cliffs. I don't know if we'll make it all this way. And I have a feeling that because it's a Sunday, we are going to see thousands of people. We're even going to get to take you to see Benegal. The famous Benegal Cave. It's this huge sinkhole cavern and even... Don't tell them. Let's just say it's a really hot weekend here. People are out enjoying themselves on this Sunday. Let's go have fun. I think it's supposed to get up to 91, 92. Yeah. So not as hot as it has been, but that's pretty toasty. Good day to be hiking along the beaches where relief is never very far away. Mr. Adventure, I have a question for you. What's that, my dear? Since we started vanlifing here in Portugal in 2018, have you noticed that there are a lot more vanlifers about? When I had the drone up earlier, there were campers scattered all over these cliffs. There's certainly a lot more people traveling by way of camper van these days. You know, it was only about 10 months ago since we were last in Portugal, when we actually saw Nick last time. And a lot of things were still very closed. Like you had to show certain things to even be able to check into a hotel. Public transportation in some places wasn't running. It felt like a totally different world, and I'm so glad that things are up and running. People are joyful again. That's right. And business is booming. So the fact that it is so crowded, whether it's, you know, more crowded than it had ever been or just that people are out and about enjoying is a good sign. It is a great sign. People are loving and living life again. It's beautiful. The living life. The loving life. We are here at the official start of the Seven Hanging Valleys, Praia da Marinha. And then it goes Benegil, Carvalho, one of our favorites. The cliffs along this shoreline have been sculpted by the actions of water over millions of years. And these are the predominant feature in the landscape, unfolding in imposing and remarkably beautiful relief. I love the funny European English translation. This is how we know we're on the trail, just follow these two lines. Little hoodoos out there. Cool. Wow. Double arch. Double rainbow. The color is just unreal today. Yeah, it is. Since we've arrived, an Instagram tour group has arrived too. Doing it for the gram. Throwback to 2018. There was definitely a notable difference. And we still haven't made it to Benegil. This way, a few more feet, you see all of the boats and kayakers just gathering around I think it's the most famous cliff formation thing. Basically, Benegil Cave is a fascinating rock formation with a big eye in the middle. And it's the most famous sea cave in the Algarve, mostly because of the incredible photos people take in it. And the only way to really understand it is to go there and see it for yourself. Here we are. We've made it to Benegil. Wow. It's massive. Everybody else is here too. Holy smokes. So many kayakers down here. So many paddle boarders. It feels like there's air conditioning flying right up through this giant hole. It feels amazing. Again, 2018, there was one paddle board in there. One. Good thing we brought a picnic. Welcome to Benegil Beach. I wonder which activity is the most popular here. Where do we go? Right here? I need to get in that water. Me too. There's a lot of seawater. There's a lot to eat at this beach though. You're right. I'm just going to say, this is like kayak soup. Brittany and I have never seen so many kayakers all at once. And then there's a catamaran going into the cliffs, into the cave. He's going to take off his mask. I think the catamaran just disappeared into the cave. Drew and I are cracking up because we slept here, what, four years ago? It was a lovely spot. Right above our very favorite beach. I have to say, I still can't believe vans are able to park on the cliff here, but it's absolutely amazing because you're right on the hiking trail and you can walk out your front door and do exactly what we're doing. I'm pretty sure it's not legal anymore. It was legal when we did it back in 2018, but things have changed since then. Hello. After you. Hi. How exciting. Yeah. Golden light beam guiding us to the beach. The best entrance to any beach. Last time, there was even someone selling tajtiriñas. There's like couches etched out into the cliffside. Even though it looks like a little oven. Let's go to my favorite part at the far end over here. Yes. There's actually stairs you can walk up over here and jump off. Here's us in 2018. We nearly had this entire beach to ourselves. A prime example of how much the Algarve has grown in popularity since then. Love you. Gracias. Away he goes. Alright, we're in the cave. This is one of my favorite beaches in all of Portugal. Wow. You have to go. Obrigado, guys. Here we go. But then you have to go. I have to push. You have to push. Yes. Here we go. One, two, three. Here it goes. I did it. I had moral support up there. You inspired somebody else too. As magical and amazing as this spot is, there's one thing that we're not telling you. And that's that we are covered in seaweed. Oh, what a threat. What are we not telling you? You have to see what Drew just pulled out of his pocket. Is that tissue? Seaweed. Are you kidding? Just in case I need to reestablish my mustache. How about your other pocket? There's still more. I'm afraid of what's in my bathing suit top. I'm afraid of what's in the rest of my trousers. In between these sunny beach days, where we're soaking in the hot sunshine rays, we find ourselves seeking shade nearly everywhere we roll, including at the very top of the highest peak in the Algarve. But thanks to our moonshade, our lightweight pop-up portable awning, we can find sweet, sweet relief nearly anywhere. We love how easy it is to set up. We start simply by popping up our moonshade, as Drew is demonstrating for us in the background. It's like the satellites up here. And then we attach it to our camper using the super strong suction mounts. On our Sprinter van back in the US, we use the magnetic mounts because our van is steel. They also have adhesive mounts, which you can mount where you mostly set up shade on your camper, which not only makes set up easier, especially if you're solo, but it ensures that your shade won't fly off if there are any strong gusts of wind. The wind picked up, guys! It's a famously windy mountain. Did we mention that? Have we mentioned how easy and fast it is to set up? And by visiting moonfab.com and entering your email, you will receive a $15 off coupon as well as notifications when they have special offers like free shipping. And while we enjoy the shade, we're going to let you enjoy the rest of the show. From the mountaintops and to the sea weeds, we now take you from the golden shores of the Algarve to a totally different world. We're here at the biggest medieval festival in Portugal. It is definitely a sight to see and lots of sounds to hear and tastes to taste. The procession just came through and they're kicking off the festival for the night. It is the best medieval festival in the entire country. For 10 days, history is recreated in what is known as the magical capital of culture here in Silves, the former capital of the Kingdom of the Algarve, when it was ruled by the Moors in the 11th century. So they're literally recreating a night back in 1167 or so. We'll just call it the 11th century. I'm hungry. Yeah, me too. So I was really concerned that I was not going to be able to find any sort of vegetable here because we all know that back in the medieval days, they all ate like giant turkey legs and drumsticks and grilled the whole pig. Well, anyway, I'm very pleasantly surprised to see this beautiful array and a ginormous pan of mushrooms. There's even seafood. But mushrooms are my favorite thing in the whole wide world. Get in there. Show these guys. You'll also notice that the currency is written in shleps? Shelves? I don't know if I'm saying it right, but that is what the currency was back in the day. Do you notice a key difference between our two plates here? I think they weigh the same though. I know. Cheers. Now we've got to climb back down all of these stairs. We were just up top at the castle because that's where we were told the best food was, but we have tickets to the war games. To the games! All the way down there. I want to point out, these red rocks of the castle are amazing. Right? They're sandstone. Beautiful. So this is really famous for this. They are, and this is a great way to tour the city. It's such a fun way. It's almost like you're on a scavenger hunt. We've got to find the kebabs. We've got to find the jousting. And the harpsinger. A little cat house. Isn't that fun? I love that. This is a very exciting moment right now. Even better. Oh. The slow slide. There's so much going on. It's like the recreation of a medina here. Reminds me of Morocco so much. Just to help orientate everyone, this is where we were having dinner in the castle, and we have since traveled down, I think we're somewhere over here. But we need to continue all the way towards the river here, and the jousting takes place where the X is. This way. That was mesmerizing. There's so much to do and so much to see. To the games. Whoa. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Do you see the storks up here? That's amazing. Right here in the middle of the town. To the games. I'm not going to lie, the only word I understand is caballero. This was the moment the four horsemen who would be competing in the games made their grand entrance. Game number one. Hit the shield as close to the middle as possible while riding your wildly galloping horse. Cheer for the pickle chopper. Game number two. Who can slice the zucchini into nearly perfect halves. Like this. Or maybe it was a cucumber. They just put a smaller ring on the thing that they have to get on their sticks. Three and a half inches. That was good. That was impressive. Okay, now they have to battle to get the sword stick out of the veil of pain. K.O. Headbutt. And just like that, the war games were done and we were set free to explore the rest of the festival. Suspiro. This is a suspiro. I think it's a meringue, but it's the size of my face. Is it hard or soft? It's like squishy, like foam. Wow. Try a bite. It's like a crunchy marshmallow. And it's not too sweet. This is amazing. It's made out of fluffy egg whites with sugar, I believe. But what did you get? I'm more entertained with yours right now. Whoa, it's like fudge. It's like a pudding. We were just going over the top right now. This is so good. Go inhale. And what happened next was unlike anything else we had ever seen before. This guy must have been spinning for a solid five minutes, sometimes with his skirt over his head. And with every turn, he had us all mesmerized with his smile and superb stability. Drew and I started to wonder if this was really happening or if all the sugar was making our head spin. I don't think we could have kept count of his spins, even if we tried. And just when we thought he had had his fair share of spinning for the night, he had a few more tricks up his sleeve, or should we say skirt. This place is getting busy now. It's almost 10 o'clock, but it goes until 1 o'clock in the morning. We were smart, though, to eat earlier because I think the food lines everywhere are just probably a little bit insane. Where do we go now? Up to the castle. Let's wander. We're not going to believe how long this line is. I think it goes all the way out to the entrance of the festival. There's a crepe. Good thing we don't have any room for a crepe. I might by the time I wait in that line. I have never seen handmade crepes like this before, though. Like, ham-swung crepes. That is a hot job. He is swearing like a monster. Like the medieval times. You want to say hello to the vlog? What is the name of the vlog? Mr. and Mrs. Adventure. I love this stuff. Look at these guys. They're drinking the famous cherry liqueur here in Portugal in a chocolate cup. Oh my gosh. 10 euros, you can take your picture with him. How about that for homemade artisanal raspberry gelato? He literally took yogurt, put the berries on it, froze it. I love how they're so interactive here. It's unlike any other fair, carnival, or experience I've ever been to. It's really just so much fun watching everybody else enjoy themselves, too. It's so family-oriented and really just the people hanging out, having a good time. There's not high pressure and it feels really good vibes all the way around here. Yeah, what a special place with so many delicious things to try. And it has a sketch level of zero. Zero, yeah.