A Mysterious Wind Compass and the End of Europe
A fun day visiting Cape St. Vincent and the Fortaleza in Sagres

I got up a little after 8 am, watched some TV (weather report was for sunny with a high of 15 °C).  The shower was hot but hand-held.  I ate breakfast and headed out.
	I rented a bike from Sagres Natura, 3 hours for €10 [$14.50].  My plan was to ride from Sagres to Cape St. Vincent (Cabo de São Vicente).
The ride was nearly flat, with gorgeous water views all the way.  There also wasn't much traffic.
I made it to the cape!  The drop-offs were very steep, reminiscent of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.  It was also very windy :)
	I think this bicycle metal sculpture is the 0 km mark. This is the most southwesterly contiguous point of land in Europe!
The lighthouse was closed, but that really didn't matter--the views were the reason to be there.
	Here I am with my rented bike at Cape St. Vincent. Not all self-timed photos work perfectly :)
Half-way back to Sagres, I passed Praia do Beliche (also spelled Belixe), a beautiful, deserted beach.
I turned in my bike at noon and went back to my quarto to try to deal with the mess that was my hair (having been buffeted by the strong winds for several hours).  I also enjoyed some pineapple Fanta!
	Next up on my itinerary: the Fortaleza at Cape Sagres!
I guess Cape Sagres is a "sacred promontory."
	Here you can see the coast from Cape Sagres all the way to Cape St. Vincent.  The lighthouse I biked to is there in the distance!
I loved this simple sign for the fort, etched/stamped into the wall.
	Here it is, the reason I came to Portugal: the famous, mysterious wind compass possibly associated with Prince Henry the Navigator's school of navigation. So impressive!
I grew up loving forts (especially those in Pensacola, Florida), so this was so fun to visit! Here is a photo from the walls looking onto the front entrance.
	I couldn't get enough pictures of the wind compass!
Here's another coast view from the walls of the fort.
	I was able to catch the 1:30 pm English tour of the fort.  The other people on the tour were a family from Portland, Oregon. The tour guide proceeded to tell us everything about the fort is a lie!  There was no navigation school, and the wind compass was built in the 1960s.  The new buildings on the cape built in the 1990s are falling down because of poor construction (which is why admission was 50% off, down to €1.50).
Seeing the end of Cape Sagres, it's easy to see how there couldn't have been a navigation school here.  How do you launch a ship off cliffs like this?!?
After the fort, I stopped at Praia do Tonel, the surfing beach near the fort, to relax before hitting the post office.
You'd never know it was December!  Yes, those black specks in the water are surfers!
The next morning, I got up at 5 am, showered, ate a banana, and headed to the bus stop (in the dark) to catch the 6:11 am bus to Lagos [€3.05 ($4.50)].  Sagres is VERY quiet at 5:50 am! Since I was afraid of smokers on the bus to Lisbon, I decided to take the train, which was running on "holiday hours."  The ticket from Lagos to Tunes to Lisbon was €19.90 ($29), but it wasn't on the high-speed train :(
On to the next pictures!