Today I wandered around Faro, Portugal in the morning and then hopped on the train bound for Silves. See, Silves is on the way to where I ended up for the night (Lagos) and it is supposed to be a pretty cool place. I had read that the train station is about a mile out of town and kind of in the middle of nowhere. I also read that walking was discouraged because it is on the side of a busy road with no pedestrian path. Everything I read said that you should just take a taxi into town and it’s only 5 Euros anyway. Sure, no brainer….take a taxi.
Ummm, except…there are no taxis there. There’s nothing there. The train stops, you get off, it pulls away, and you’re standing there by a boarded up building on a dirt street next to some tents that look like a homeless camp and dirty kids running up to you asking for money. Oh, and no one else got off the train with me. Nope, just me by my little self at the abandoned train station in what feels like nowhere. You can’t even see the town from there because it is on the other side of a hill.
Alrighty….guess I’m walking then and I’ll just have to try real hard not to get hit by a car. Oh, but I have not a clue which way to go without google, and I’m feeling like pulling out my fancy smartphone might be a bad idea with these kids following me and harassing me. The last thing I need is to have my phone stolen….shit, just the thought of it gives me an anxiety attack. How will I do any of this without my phone?? I’ll actually have to remember how to find something the old fashioned way….with, like, paper and stuff?
I decide that going the wrong way at this moment is far riskier than taking my phone out and I quickly head out down the dusty road. As I round the corner at the end of the road and head up the hill, the kids finally give up following me. I breathe a sigh of relief only to see a scary raggedy dude eyeing me from the other side of the street. Now, you must understand that there’s NOBODY around besides me, the kids, and the scary dude. So what happens? Of course, scary dude gets a gleam in his eye and starts crossing the street heading my way. I don’t know what he was saying, but it was clear what his message was by his tone and the looks he was giving me. Here I’m thinking…what’s worse? Robbed by homeless children, hit by a car, or raped by creepy dude?
I decided I wanted none of that. I put on my very best “don’t even think about fucking with me asshole or I will rip your fucking face off” look and butched up my “tough girl” walk to look like I was ready to kick ass at any moment. It did the trick, the look in his eyes changed and he kept up the machismo routine, but you could tell he was just saving face at this point and there was no way he was going to actually try anything.
Whew! I quickly walked the rest of the way into town with no further incidents. And, the stretch of highway I had to walk….had a sidewalk 😁😅.
Man, am I glad I made the stop (even though it was kinda scary at first). Silves is a really neat town. It used to be the capitol in this region of Portugal back when it was ruled by the Moors. The main attraction, besides the town itself, is the old Moorish castle and fortified walls in red bricks. Seriously neat. The town itself is wonderful too, filled with fountains and traditional Portuguese tiled houses, stone streets, and a quiet feel. It attracts just enough tourists to have some good cafes and a few shops, but it doesn’t have that “touristy” feel at all. So, so worth it!
