So we decided to take a trip to the south of Portugal.
We decided from the start to avoid highways, that turned out to be a challenge. Not so much because of missing roads, but because the GPS completely overlooked our wishes 😀
We did most of the driving, though, on smaller roads, it was after Portimao that we got on to the highway.
We got a great lunch in Portimao here: 37.137936, -8.534299, those were the best sandwiches we have got in Portugal so far. After that we tried to go to Faro, but the roads was totally jammed and we decided to wait for that until the end of the season. We went straight for Vila Real de Santo António next to the border to Spain. We found a small hotel or rather guesthouse Villa Marquez. Super friendly staff, and we got a great room. We went out to see where we were and to find some dinner.
Vila Real de Santo António is a small and charming village. Next to the river Guadiana, that divides Spain and Portugal. There is a market on the main street and many shops and restaurants. In the middle of a global pandemic there were not a lot of people, and I guess the tourist season was not fully started yet. But we did enjoy some football fans celebrating an apparent victory of their favorite team…
The next day was super hot and sunny, and we decided to turn the car around and go home. We followed the river north about 20 kilometers into some mountains, 
and then let the GPS take over the navigation. And “she” was in favor of highways. So after that it was smooth but a bit boring driving. We did, though, see a lot of storks in their big nests. But didn’t get a picture.