Pictures of Tavira

If you are curious about certain aspects of life in Portugal or in the Algarve, let us know and we’ll include pictures or more information.  These photos are out of order, but the general theme is our time in Tavira and surrounds.

Rio Formosa Nature Park

Map of Algarve - southern coast of Portugal

Fish market

Overview of Tavira with river in foreground 

“Deli” section of daily market 

Fresh produce - they have everything!

The market

The fresh produce and fish market in Olhão 

Dinner at Brisa do Rio - excellent

Local vineyard 

Yacht harbor on the Guadiana River - border with Spain

On the Guadiana River walk 

Tavira

After a week relaxing in Salema, we packed up our 2 suitcases, and took a ½-hour bus ride into Lagos.  There, we boarded a train (the station was conveniently located just steps from the bus station) for the 3-hour ride to Tavira, a town also in the Algarve (southern coast) region of Portugal.  In contrast to Salema’s tiny beach town feeling, Tavira is a real town of 30,000.  It straddles the Gilao river and is the center of activity here...narrow cobbled streets and white-washed, red-tiled roofed houses, again all in human scale.  Here (again in contrast to Salema where foreign influence dominates), the Portuguese culture pervades.  Fewer people speak English, the menus are largely Portuguese (lots of fish...octopus capital of the nation, but of course the ubiquitous pizza and sushi places do show up), salt production, orange groves, wine production, truck crops are all important and the locals go about their daily lives while a sprinkling of foreigners (largely Brits) enjoy the lovely weather, beaches, good restaurants, low prices and very accommodating Portuguese people.  Our AirBnB is owned by a lady from Edinburg who makes it available when she is not using it.  It has 3 bedrooms (we were expecting some of you to visit!), 2 baths, living and dining rooms and a kitchen.  Lots of space, ideally located, all for about $70/nite.

Since our arrival, we have done a tuk-tuk tour of the city with a very knowledgeable local.  He pointed out historic points of interest (churches, Muslim forts), features of architecture and economic bases for the community.  We took the ferry to the beach for a day of sea breezes, sunshine and good eating.  (Tavira is actually 2 miles inland.  So you ride a ferry to a string of white sand islands at the mouth of the Gilao River for your ocean-wave fix.). We also took a trip to the nearby community of Olhão to see its fish/fresh produce market and to explore the Rio Formosa Nature Park.  A great morning of learning about the birds and plants of the region.  The entire coastal area around here is a nature reserve and is not developed as our coasts are.   They are for nature and for the public to enjoy.  Yesterday, we hopped the train to go further east to the border with Spain, which is actually the Guadiana River.  We took a beautiful 1-1/2 hour cruise (each way) to a farm up river where we swam in a beautiful pool overlooking the river, had a traditional Portuguese dinner (bread, fresh goat cheese, soup, salad, chicken piri piri—grilled chicken with hot sauce, potatoes, melon and all the wine you could drink...yum!) and then were treated to singing and music from the whole staff (guides, cooks, everyone).  Amazingly, many of the staff spoke 5 languages to accommodate this international crowd.  Included in our day was a walk through a tiny (still functioning) traditional village of about 25 homes.  Most of the young people had left for the cities, leaving about 50 people to hold the community together.  It was a fantastic day...perhaps our best yet.  On other days, we do the normal stuff: wash clothes (yes, there is a washer in our apartment!), grocery shop at the little market just 2 blocks from our place, go to the fresh produce/fish market here in town and interact with friendly booth owners, and just wander the streets to see what we’ll find.  We often find a cute restaurant and settle in for a long lunch somewhere we haven’t tried before.  Tavira is a place we could live.  It is so relaxed, fun and friendly.  Oh, I didn’t mention that it has a mall with a cinema (some movies in English) and a great food court.  This is an anomaly in a town otherwise filled with small, mom and pop shops.  I’ll add pictures in the next post as they are on Roger’s iPad.

Our Week in Salema

According to Roger’s phone, we averaged about 15,000 steps a day in Lisbon.  We were ready for a change of pace.  So we headed south by train to the Algarve, the southern coast of Portugal. Our destination was tiny Salema, which boasts a permanent population of 300 souls.  There are many more vacation homes than that, but the resident population is small.  It is a fishing village, now more oriented to tourism.  Lots of restaurants and beach activities...a perfect place for families and couples.  It is laid-back...just what we were hoping for after a busy week in Lisbon.

We have a one-bedroom apartment overlooking the beach/ocean and all the activity at the town center.  The temperatures are mild (70s during days and 60s at night).

The view from our balcony

We spent our week here hiking trails along the coast, visiting small villages, eating lots of very fresh fish and drinking wonderful Portuguese wines and beer.  We also took short bus trips to Sagres (farthest community to the west) and to Lagos (a lively resort town with a beautiful rocky coastline).

Here are a few photos.

The fish market in Lagos

 

Lagos coastline and 2 cute people 

 

A typical sidewalk in Lagos and throughout Portugal.  Stones are used for paving sidewalks and streets.  Easy to repair and don’t have to be repaved.

Boat harbor and promenade  in Lagos 

Roger at Boca do Rio beach - no village nearby 

Coastline in Lagos

One of dozens of tiny beaches along the coast in Lagos

Beachfront at tiny Burgau, the village just east of Salema 

Photos of Lisbon

We finally figured out how to get photos onto the blog. Here are scenes from Lisbon...a very picturesque city.  We haven’t figured out how to put them in order yet.  I’m sure by the end of the trip we’ll have it down.

The Moorish Castle

A typical street in Lisbon

The cloister at Pena Palace

Colorful buildings facing Tagus River

St Jeronimo Monastery in Belém

Pedestrian street in Lisbon

Fado performance

Pena Castle in Sintra

Our Last Day in Lisbon

We spent the day at the Gulbenkian Museum which according to Rick Steves is the best of Lisbon’s museums.  And it did not disappoint.  Callousness Gulbenkian was an Armenian oil tycoon who gave Portugal his art collection in gratitude for giving him asylum during WWII.  His billion dollar estate continues to fund the museum and ongoing collections.
The museum displays 5,000 years of Egyptian, European, Islamic and Asian art.  It is set up chronologically starting with a gorgeous 4000 year old alabaster cup in pristine condition.  It displayed works of Rembrandt, Monet, Manet, Degas, Rodin, Van Dick, Ruben.  No crowds...you could be inches from the artwork.  We rented the audio tour of the museum and found that to be very helpful.  The final section was devoted to Lalique jewelry.  I’m not much of a jewelry person, but the Lalique pieces are in a world of their own.  Even I loved them and would have taken home a few samples if allowed.  (That goes also for the wonderful human-sized Rodin.)
As we packed up to leave that evening, we thought about our week in Lisbon.  We are impressed with the fluidity of public transportation—the airport flows into the metro system which flows into the bus/trolley and funicular systems, as well as regional and long distant trains.  You don’t need a car in Portugal.  It all works well together and you pay for each ride with the same card (on which you have put $20 or so).  It is an efficient, low-cost way of moving people around the country.
Lisbon (at least the historical districts that we visited) is also human-scale—no sky scrapers...all buildings are 3-5 stories high.  People live above the shops and restaurants.  The food that we ate was plain without sauces and spices.  But it was excellent tasting and healthy...all but the custard tarts, of which we have now set a world record for consumption.  Regular coffee does not make you feel jittery and wine does not give you a headache or hangover.  Why can’t we make products like that in the U.S.?

A Week in Lisbon (continued yet again)

Our last two days in Lisbon, we washed clothes, had lunch at the Time Out Market (see pictures below) and had a dinner with a Fado performance.  The Time Out Market is near the waterfront in Lisbon.  Did we say that Lisbon reminds us of San Francisco?  It is hilly, has a bridge that looks like the Golden Gate (in fact was built by the same company), little trolleys going up and down very steep hills.  The Time Out Market also in San Francisco-esque.  It is a giant high-end food court housed in an old warehouse.  Local restaurants have food booths around the edges and everyone scrambles for a place to eat on long tables in the middle.  It is wild and fun and chaotic.

Fado is traditional Portuguese song, emerging from the longing of wives when their sailor husbands left.  It is sad, melancholy...a type of blues.  We made it a point to search out a non-touristy fado performance and it was wonderful.  There were 3 performers: a singer and 2 guitarists (Portuguese and Spanish guitars) and a wonderful dinner.  A full two hours of good food and entertainment.

A Week in Lisbon (continued)

We spent day 4 in Lisbon in Belem...a community just 5 miles west.  It is the birthplace of the wonderful custard tart (we gave up on our vow to eat less).  That morning, the tarts were exemplary...even better than the eclairs that we also ate with morning coffee.  Next we explored the Monastery of Jeronimos, a giant white limestone gothic church and monastery that stretches along the waterfront.  King Manuel erected it as a “thank you” for the discoveries made by early Portuguese explorers—discoveries that greatly enhanced the coffers of the Portuguese monarchy.  The Monastery houses an Egyptian-Greek-Roman exhibit with actual mummies and limestone carvings as well as a maritime museum displaying replicas of the ships that sailed around the world and actual royal barges.  In Belem we also climbed the Belem tower which was the last evidence of civilization seen as sailors went to sea and the first thing they saw upon their return.  While in Belem, we had a wonderful lunch off the tourist track at the Imperial Cafe.  The Portuguese people are incredibly friendly and warm.  Everywhere we go, we are impressed with their politeness and kindness.  I tried to learn Portuguese prior to our arrival...but when I use my new language skills on the locals, they almost always pop into English and forgive my poor pronunciation.  After walking miles and standing on our feet all day, we returned to our apartment totally exhausted.

The next day, we boarded a train to Sinatra, a little village 15 miles northwest of Lisbon.  It was a summer get-away of the kings and nobility.  We visited the Pena Palace, a brightly colored fairy castle surrounded by beautiful natural gardens, and the ruins of a 1000-year-old Moorish castle.  The ruins were especially fun—reminiscent of a child’s image of what a stone castle should look like.  The walls (largely reconstructed) connected forts at the top of 2 hills.  You could walk completely around the walls to see the enemy coming.  Another fun, full day.

A Week in Lisbon

On our first full day in Lisbon, we took an AirBnB Food Tour.  After coffee and pastry at a nearby cafe, we met up with our guide and 6 other tourists for a walk and eat tour of Lisbon.  We had 5 stops, representing 5 courses: 1st course—quince jelly on cheese (it’s actually wonderful), prosciutto, bread and a port wine; the 2nd course was a bean and squid salad (fortunately, Kathy thought it was tuna) and a dry white wine; 3rd course and our favorite = veggie and meat samosas (the best we have ever tasted), a vegetable curry and a coconut spinach dish with rice and cashew juice; 4th = canned sardines, octopus salad, two kinds of sausage, bread and a lovely red wine.  Finally, dessert—Americano coffee with milk and an egg yolk pastry for which the Portuguese are known.  The walk took us through 2 of the 3 main neighborhoods of Lisbon.  Absolutely fantastic...as were the 6 people on our tour.  So much fun.
Afterwards, we explored the Castelo de Sao Jorge (Castle of St. George).  We then rode the electric trolley across town to the end of the line, just to see the rest of Lisbon.  We took the return ride on the trolley to our apartment, but detoured around the corner for a beer before returning home.

The next day, we hopped on the trolley again and returned to the Alfama neighborhood and its famous flea market (Féira da Ladra Mercado).  Lots of antiques (which we increasingly recognize as associated to our youth) and junk.  We continued our walk to a small cafe where we sat outside to enjoy our coffee and custard pie (miniature custard tarts with filo-pastry).  Yesterday, we shared one.  Today we each had two.   We searched a long while for a seafood restaurant noted on our Lisbon map.  After getting lost several times, we arrived on the very narrow street and we found a non-descript restaurant.  We knew we were in trouble when inside we found white tablecloths, wine glasses and a chef who came to the table to describe the night day’s offerings.  Fifty dollars and very little food later, we left vowing to eat lower on the food chain in the future.  We got lost again on our way home, but enjoyed the journey.  That’s what travel is all about.  We had a light cheese, bread, wine and chocolate dinner...and a movie at our place.  Despite all the walking we are doing..we are NOT losing weight!

First Impressions of Lisbon

We flew from Las Vegas to Toronto and then on to Lisbon, leaving St. George about 8am and arriving about noon the next day.  We exchanged money at the airport ATM, bought a SIM card for Roger’s phone, and then struggled to find the Metro station which as it turned out was right out the door.  We considered taking Uber into town (we understand it is very inexpensive) but we had a few hours to spare before we could check into our BnB, so we decided to take the Metro. Riders can buy a rechargeable card that allows travel on the Metro, trolleys, buses and some trains.  Each ride is only $1.50, so it’s very reasonable.  We had to switch once from the “red” line to the “blue”, but those two rides got us to within a few blocks of our BnB.  

As we excited the below-ground Metro station, we entered another world: sunshine and comfortable temperatures greeted us; traditional “fado” (sad) songs were being sung at the top of the stairs while people sat listening in outdoor cafes, sipping beer or coffee.  Traffic was minimal.  The streets are so narrow—most are one way—that only a few cars can get through at a time.  Trolley cars (ala San Francisco) barely edged past parked cars leaving only inches to spare.  The buildings are old, but colorful, with romantic ironwork balconies.  The city is very clean.  People seemed relaxed and really friendly.

When we arrived at our apartment in Barrio Alto, we tried the key pad to open the door at the street and it didn’t work.  Meanwhile another couple and a young man walked up and also tried the key pad unsuccessfully.  We all called our respective BnB hosts who sent someone over to let us in.  It took a half an hour or so, but we were not in a hurry.  Once inside, our apartment was wonderful.  Ground floor had an open kitchen, dining and living area.  Up a few stairs was our bedroom and bath.  The weather is perfect—mid-70s, so we left the windows open.  After getting settled, we walked to a nearby grocery to pick up supplies and then returned to the apartment for pizza with wine (the latter compliments of our hosts).  As neither of us slept well on the “red eye”, we watched a movie in order to stay up until 9 pm local time, and then went to bed.  

It had been a very easy transition from St. George to Lisbon.  Lisbon feels like a small town even though it has a population of 500,000.  Today we took the trolley from one end of town to the other.  It is very hilly, very walkable, very San Francisco-esque.  We love it so far.