Monday 8 May
Early morning get up - 2am ready for flight at 6.45 am.
All went very smoothly and we were at our hotel - the Vasco de Gama - at midday. Had a couple of hours to kill before our room was ready so we set off for a stroll along the boardwalk. Got about 100 yards before a menu caught our eye and in we popped for fresh sardines and grilled peppers along with local beer and white wine.
Our room turned out to be a three bedroomed corner suite with three balconies so that was a bit of an upgrade!
Short snooze then out to explore. Sangria and port at €1 each then lovely meal on the boardwalk.
Early night.
Tuesday 9 May
View from our three balconies
Breakfast view
View across to the next village which is also coastal and has a light house. A working light house which obviously runs all night. And flashes in our window every time it rotates .. 🤣🤣🤣
More or less at the end of the road.
We decided to walk into the next small town - where the light house is - with a view to getting the bus or a taxi back.
We left before 9.30 to avoid the heat of the day - a pleasant walk it a couple of miles. We went past the lighthouse.
Nice little town - Vila Real de Santo Antonio - the river is the border between Portugal and Spain.
Our 'light' lunch was tapas (lots of cultural cross over as the border is so near) - cuttlefish and tuna three ways - fried in slices, in mayo with garlic, potatoes and egg - and in a tomato salad sort of pickled. All very lovely but too much.. 😁
We had a lovely wander but it was over 30⁰ so too hot. Despite this we thought it would be a good idea to walk back.
We thought that we could walk through the woods and get some shade. Turns out it was down tarmacked paths which were going the wrong way anyway so we gave that up and went back along the road. Not as bad as it could have been in such heat as there was quite a gusty breeze - seems to be quite prevalent along this coastline.
Pastel de nata - twice 😁😋
Out in the evening for a drink - still 30⁰ at 7pm!
Wednesday 10 May
Tavira for the day - on the bus.
Very hot so we just wandered and sat around eating and drinking. Visited the camera obscura in the old water tower.
Castle walls.
Tavira is a charming place - with over 30 churches - we visited three 😁 Something to do with its huge importance in the 16th century.
Interesting to see the restoration work taking place in one of the churches - Jesus had been de-armed and the framework of the painting was in pieces.
Elsewhere the tiles were being restored and repainted.
Lunch time meal.
Around the town - bridges, side streets and stories.
And of course a stop for pastel de nata.
Fab day - walked about 4 miles despite the heat!.. 🥵
Thursday 11 May
Up early - just me and the seagulls.
Bus back to Vila Real de Santo Antonio then the ferry across the Guadiano river border into Spain.
Wander round the town with more beer and food stops. Not quite as hot as the previous day but still enough to make us really slow down.
Some sort of repurposed 'clothing' exhibition on in the cultural centre.
More food in a beautiful setting under the jacaranda trees.
Then back on the ferry and event a taxi back to the hotel as we didn't want to wait for the bus.
.. and admiring the same lovely lady sculpted in tiles in the wall at the side . 😮🤣
Small world!!.. 😮
Friday 12 May
Stroll along the boardwalk to watch the fishmen bring their boats in.
There is no harbour in Monte Gordo so the tractor drags the boats in from the sea.
We sat and watched from a beach bar whilst eating yet another delicious pastel de nata.. 😋
Out later to Vila Real de Santo Antonio where a three day festival celebrating their town life from the 18th century had started.
Lots of stalls and reenactments.
Mike and his beer mug.
Lunch at a little place with a funny waitress who seemed to want to chat with us.
Found the Pastelaria Carol so we had to have another pastel de nata.
Saturday 13 May
Sunrise with the moon still in the sky.
.. and the lighthouse is still winking away in the distance.. 😁
Off to Faro by train.
Slow meander - over 30⁰ - lots of stops for food and drink.
I walked up to the cathedral bell tower - steps were too steep and rickety for Mike. I got right to the top as it was closed in at the sides but not claustrophobic as I could see sky above. Still didn't linger though .. 🤣
A fast (well not so fast really) walk to the Largo de Carmo church when we realised that it was closing at 1pm and wouldn't reopen as it was Saturday.
The bone chapel.
Delicious lunch in a back street cafe/bar. Wasn't sure what we ordered but it ended up being a sort of fish stew with HUGE pieces of cod, big prawns and whelks. The sauce was a sort of paprika base flavoured with peppers, onion and coriander.
Really delicious 😋
Going...
going...
.. gone! Well almost - it was as much as we could manage.
But more sightseeing and an ice-cream. Mike said his was avocado and mint flavour 🙄 should have taken a pic.. 😁
Random wedding in a church we went past.
A lovely (if hot!) day.
Evening sky.
Sunday 14 May
We decided to have a lazy day and took a stroll down to watch the boats being dragged up on to the beach with their catch. Pastel de nata and coffee obligatory 😁
Then we had a quiet couple of hours back at the hotel reading our books.
When we got hungry we walked back into town for a meal - then walked back to the beach hut by the boats for another pastel de nata but with sangria this time.
We finished the evening listening to fado music in the hotel bar.
Monday 15 May
.. and home.
A lovely week ⛱️😎
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