We found a party town here in Lagos. The town is full of surfers and hippy backpackers. The difference between the two is only defined by surfing during the day versus practicing juggling in the plaza, both come out when the sun goes down for partying all night. The town has about 20 pubs, a handful of DJ dance spots, and a bunch of vegan options in the restaurants. We ended up at a hole in the wall called Joe’s Garage and had a fine bit of people watching for the evening. The place was packed, drinks flowing as fast as New Orleans. When it got packed enough, they covered the pool table and it immediately turned into a writhing mass of college age, tan, belly button pierced girls dancing with sporadic bursts of enthusiastic guys that joined them but wore out long before any of the girls did. Hmm, we slept in late this morning.
The day scene is rather pleasant. The beaches are fine sand and seem to wrap along the coast into eternity looking one direction out of town, and turn into the grottos of layered cliffs and coves the other direction. The water has aquamarine tinges, and it feels a fine cold swimming pool temperature (good after reading in the sun for the morning, but requires a wet suit if you take up surfing or scuba diving). We bought some pool floaties. (Adelman would be pleased to know there are many airplane floaties for sale in this town.. must be a push for kids to get into flying seaplanes?) And, we floated until Derrell decided he was adequately baked for the day. As for me, I figure the well tanned Portuguese familes are going to just turn me into a lighthouse beacon due to my glowing Irish bloodline. I am not worthy of tanning here, these people are professionals.
People are speaking much more English (and German) here than in Spain. This is a big destination for Germans looking for sand, so many of the touristy restaurants have 4 languages on the menu: Portuguese, German, English, and Spanish. When we do hear Portuguese, it has a nice lilt to it and it sounds more leisurely than Spain’s Spanish. With a single glance, everyone seems to speak English to me, maybe it is the dramatic lack of a tan?
We are liking the people here. The town, as big as it is, has a nice relaxed feel. Now if we remember to pace ourselves and not end up on a pool table tonight, we should be doing well. Off to go play a round of Godzilla pinball, on a machine with the display in German.
