April 21st.
We didn’t have breakfast on the grass. A simple coffee, juice, and a roll – breakfast in the car in the parking lot of Maria’s house. We checked the locks of the hostess’s house and set off via the supermarket. We grabbed some spread and juice. Set the navigator to Sines and off we went.
Eva had registered an electronic monitoring / billing system for us on the motorways, so we could confidently drive on toll roads. Everything went smoothly … until we reached that stretch of highway where we needed to take a ticket at the entrance gate, indicating our entry point onto the road. I drove past the ticket booth along the green line (Via Verde) only to realize that we needed the ticket. There’s not the same electronic toll payment system for that stretch of road. Frustration clouded my mind! We decided to accept what was to come. The frustrated driver was switched, and Eva took over the driving. After a couple of hundred kilometers, as we exited that particular route, Eva started explaining to the gatekeeper where we had come onto the route from. The guard demanded the ticket, which we didn’t have. This time the road personnel pointed us past the green lane barrier and kindly emphasized the importance of taking the ticket and wished us a good journey. Last time we did the same thing, I was the driver, and it cost quite a bit. Now with a female driver, it didn’t cost anything. We agreed that from now on Eva will always drive us off the toll roads!
We arrived in Sines quite early. Anu and Hannu were still out doing provisions and errands when we arrived. We parked the van as instructed, and soon Anu and Hannu joined us. A cheerful meeting at the parking lot of a well-known surfing beach warmed all of our hearts.
We had already set up the table and chairs outside, so we sat down with our goddaughter and her husband to catch up and share travel experiences in Europe. We opened the sparkling wine Kirsi had given us and raised a toast to each other.
We walked to the beach to admire the sunset and also got a surfing 101 from the masters of the field. I didn’t know that those great surfing waves here actually come from the low-pressure systems in the Caribbean Sea area. So, the waves travel from there here for the joy of all surfers – and of course, others too.
As the evening darkened, we gathered around our table set. I got to try out a guitar they had brought, and playing it felt really nice. We enjoyed the evening with great stories. It’s such a lively atmosphere here! I wonder if there will be good surfing conditions tomorrow! We’ll see in the morning!