January 22 to 28, 2023 ; Cabanas de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal

 Sunday ; Sunny and mild. On our early walk we wandered around town checking out the five restaurants that Joanne is interested in for her birthday dinner. Late in the afternoon we went to the swimming pool and did a thirty minute aquatics exercise session, followed by five minutes in the hot tub, five minutes in the steam room, and five minutes in the sauna. That will be our weekday daily routine while we are here. Joanne was right, we should avoid the pool on the weekends.

I cooked supper tonight, another of Daniel’s omelette creations. DARN … I forgot about the brussell sprouts we bought at the mercado a couple of days ago.

Monday ; Sunny and mild. On our early walk we walked the entire length of the waterfront boardwalk, then dipsy doodled around town until reaching a restaurant that Joanne was interested in. We had lunch there. Both of us selected one of their two daily specials. Joanne had curry chicken on rice. I had grilled mixed fish ; two small Redfish, two small Turbot, and a huge prawn, served with salad and boiled potatoes, a typical Portuguese lunch. Joanne’s meal was better than mine. Ya win some, ya lose some, je suppose. I always enjoy trying something new, even if it doesn’t turn out great.

Neither of us felt like going to the swimming pool late in the afternoon so we went for another long walk. It was getting chilly. The evenings here are cold.

Tuesday ; Sunny and cool. It is forecast to be that for the next week.

This morning we walked around town exploring, eventually finding a small butcher shop. With an honest to goodness real butcher. And an excellent assortment of fresh meats, waiting to be cut to order. First thing we bought was some sliced chicken ham luncheon meat. Then … we inquired about ground beef. “Regular”, the butcher asked, pointing to a slab of marbled meat, “or lean”, he asked, pointing to a slab of red meat, no marbling. UHHHH … lean please, one pound. He sliced a chunk of meat off the red slab, threw it into the grinder, and ran it through. “Once through the grinder (coarse ground) or twice (fine ground)” he asked. UHHHH … once please. He threw it onto the scale … very close to a pound ! <blink blink> There ya go … one pound of fresh (that’s for sure !), lean, coarse ground beef. UHHHH … obrigado ! And then … Joanne spied the tub of chicken livers. Fresh looking chicken livers. She has a recipe for “Venetian style” chicken livers and onions on spaghetti that she rarely makes. Chicken livers aren’t that easy to find at Canadian supermarkets.

Half a pound of chicken livers … €0.66 ! About one Canadian dollar. Supper tonight was excellent ! Especially considering that Joanne made it from memory.

This afternoon we took the resort’s free “barco para praia” (boat to the beach) water taxi service across the estuary to the barrier island, then walked across the barrier island to the Atlantic Ocean beach. Nice beach ! Deserted except for resort guests. Of which there were few on a cool day such as today. We walked along the beach for an hour or so, looking at interesting shells, then caught the water taxi back to the resort. On the water taxi service across the estuary, then on the walk back to the resort grounds we chatted with a friendly couple from France. They spoke no English, so … we had to communicate in French. Which is not a problem for Joanne, but while my French comprehension is good, my ability to speak is poor. And not speaking French for the last twenty years or so has not made it any better.

Late in the afternoon we went to the swimming pool for an exercise session, and time in the steam rooms and saunas. We skipped the hot tub, it was occupied by a mother and young child.

Wednesday ; Sunny and mild.

On our early walk around town this morning we stumbled upon a thrift store operated by a local animal welfare organization, dedicated to “supporting” the large, local population of “street cats”. They provide food and water in strategic locations, shelter cats who need care, veterinary or otherwise, and most importantly, they trap and neuter. I picked up their latest newsletter, and reading it later in our suite learned that “street cats” are common and “normal” in Portuguese society. The cats are not quite feral, not quite stray, yet not quite “domestic”. As long as they are sterilized, the populations don’t “explode”. People provide them food and water, sometimes some manner of outdoor shelter, and tolerate their existence. <shrug> Kind of like the Canadian farm version of “barn cats”, I suppose, but in urban settings.

We bought a colander at the thrift store, an item we are missing in our suite’s kitchen here. We will leave it in our suite’s kitchen when we leave. AND … we also made a monetary donation to the organization. There are many of these “street cats” living on the grounds of our resort, and visiting them daily on our way to and from the swimming pool building brings me pleasure. A few of them are quite sociable. And after a week of effort, I have convinced some of the more shy ones that I can be trusted.

Late in the afternoon we went to the swimming pool. It was crowded, with many badly behaved children. And their parents. When children are badly behaved, in public, in the presence of their parents … aren’t the parents the only ones that can be blamed ? Asking for a friend ! ! ! And … why were there so many children at this resort instead of in school ?

We had the grocery store frozen version of a traditional Portuguese dish for supper tonight. Duck rice. HMMM … good !

Thursday ; Sunny and cool.

On our early walk this morning we walked along the waterfront to the mercado where we bought another fresh fish, this time a Dorado. As before the vendor advised me how to prepare and cook it, and she descaled and filleted it. I cooked it for supper tonight. I thought last week’s Robalo was slightly better. Joanne preferred the Dorado.

We had planned to buy produce at the mercado as well, but I changed my mind when I saw a produce vendor standing behind her display tables, hands clasped behind her, coughing regularly over her fruits and vegetables ... <raising eyebrows>. From the mercado we walked over to the talho fresco and bought some deli sliced luncheon meat for sandwiches, then to the Spar supermarket to replenish other groceries.

It seemed too chilly for a pool exercise session late this afternoon, so instead we opted for a short walk followed by stretching exercises in our room. Late in the evening we watched a French Film Festival “short”.

Friday ; Cabanas de Tavira to Tavira and return

Sunny and cool.

Around noon we walked over to the nearest bus stop and caught the #41 municipal bus to the nearby city of Tavira. It took about fifteen minutes or so to travel the distance of about six km. to the large shopping mall in Tavira. As we exited the bus we asked the bus driver if this was the same stop where we would catch the bus back to our resort. NO ! We had to take a different bus from that stop to the “bus station” in downtown Tavira to then catch the #41 bus back to Cabanas de Tavira. <sigh> We continue to have difficulty understanding Portuguese bus schedules and procedures.

We browsed one floor of the two storey shopping mall before having lunch at Soup & Go in the food court. I had cream of vegetable soup with chicken quiche and Joanne had cream of vegetable soup with spinach crepe. My chicken quiche was much better than her spinach crepe. After lunch we browsed the second storey of the mall before going into Continente, the massive supermarket. We shopped at Continente for longer than we had expected, and missed the return bus we had initially planned to take. When we were finally finished our shopping around 5 PM we headed outside with our two full, heavy shopping bags to catch the bus. Or more precisely, the first of two buses.

The bus schedules on the walls of the bus stop shelter were indecipherable. I knew that I had to catch a “red” bus or “blue” bus to the city’s central bus station to then catch the #41 bus back to our resort. As near as I could figure out, using the i-Phone GPS mapping, the red bus and blue bus schedules did not match well with the #41 bus schedule, and it would take us about two hours to get home.

The bus from our resort to the mall cost €7.50 for the two of us. Getting home would cost us that much for the #41 bus and a lesser amount for the red or blue bus. I walked over to the nearby taxi stand and asked the first taxi in line how much to return to our resort in Cabanas de Tavira. Ten Euros ! SOLD !

We were home in ten minutes !

Saturday ; Joanne’s 69^th birthday

Happy Birthday, my green eyed beauty.

In our lifetime one of the world’s commodities that has diminished steadily until it has become scarce is natural cork. There are few areas left in the world where natural cork is able to be produced. Southern Portugal is one of them. Farmers plant cork oak trees and harvest the natural cork bark, first when the tree reaches 25 years of age, then every ten years thereafter during the tree’s 250 year life. Harvesting the natural cork bark causes no harm to the tree. Natural cork is an eco-friendly, sustainable, vegan product.

Here in South Portugal natural cork is used to manufacture a variety of “carry” products, such as wallets and purses. Most of the items that can be found in North America produced in leather can be found here produced in natural cork. Mostly produced by small business craftspeople, often home based.

In Lisbon I bought, as a Christmas gift to myself, a natural cork “over the shoulder” carry bag for our cell phone. Even the carry strap is made of natural cork. At the Loulé Gypsy Market I bought Joanne a natural cork backpack purse as a birthday gift. It’s gorgeous ! Happy Birthday, my love.

One of my joys in world travel is buying local products that are “unique” to us North Americans. On Joanne’s 40^th birthday, 29 years ago, in Florence, Italy I bought myself a pair of Florentine soft “kid” leather gloves that I continue to wear to this day. Of course … that’s tempered by the fact that we did not experience Canadian winters for most of the last 19 years. HA HA HA !

Not inexpensive, but … the special value of such purchases remains long after the sting of the price tags.

Today was sunny and mild. On our early walk today we wandered along the waterfront, then through the town, just meandering. Our late walk wasn’t until well into the evening, when we left our resort around 7:30 PM and walked through town to the restaurant Joanne had chosen for her birthday dinner outing, O Escalho, a simple, traditional Portuguese restaurant. We both thought dinner was excellent. Joanne selected a breaded chicken cutlet dish, along with a glass of white wine. I took the opportunity to try a squid dish. I have been eager to try both squid and octopus while in Portugal. My squid meal was excellent, much better then I had expected.

We both noticed how quiet the town was, especially for a Saturday night, as we walked back home after 9 PM. Extremely different from the party animal atmosphere of Praia da Rocha, our last destination.

DSK

January 15 to 21, 2023 ; Praia da Rocha to Cabanas de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal

 Sunday ; Sunny and warm.

Two long walks. East in the morning, west in the afternoon. Sat on the beach boardwalk for awhile this morning and watched the many sailboats. Looked like it might be a sailing class. This afternoon we watched the sunset. No surfers today. Ocean seemed too calm.

Both of us spent quite a bit of time today working on dreams/plans for next winter’s travels.

Monday ; Cloudy, cool, windy. Weather alerts for high waves on the ocean. Big ships heading in to take refuge on the Arade River mouth.

Two walks. Stretching exercises. Replaced my cell phone’s expired SIM card with a new one. Went better than a month ago in Lisbon. Retrieved and reviewed last year’s investment fees reports. <frowning> Retrieved and reconciled Bank of America year end statement. <frowning> Should have drained Bank of America account last summer. Note to self ; do it soon after return to Canada. Did online check-in to next condo accommodations, arriving Wednesday. <frowning> Do they really need that much information from incoming clients ? ! ? Together we used Google Maps to research the neighbourhood surrounding the condo we selected to rent for a couple of months next winter in the Greek Islands. WOO-HOO … beach … supermarket … bakery ! The essentials of life ! HA HA HA !

MAMMA MIA … here we come !

Tuesday ; Grey overcast, chilly, very windy. AHHH … too bad. Poor weather for our last day in this lovely beach resort town.

On our early walk this morning to the east, to the old fort, we watched wind surfers. WOW … <blink, blink> ... they can really move fast ! On our late walk this afternoon to the west we watched surfers. WOW … <blink, blink> … big waves ! We bought a few items at Intermarché, just enough to get us through this evening and tomorrow morning. Joanne has become very adept at planning and managing our food supplies to ensure that we leave our rental accommodations with nothing left behind in the fridge or cupboards. We went to to the local A Merendeira to buy stuffed buns for lunch on the train tomorrow, but … <sputter> … they were closed. We had not noticed previously that the local outlet of this restaurant is open only until early afternoon. HMPH !

Wednesday ; Praia da Rocha to Cabanas de Tavira

Cloudy and chilly in Praia da Rocha, sunny and cool in Cabanas de Tavira.

We were up early this morning to be ready for our 10 AM meeting with the property manager who arrived to inspect our suite before our departure and refund our security deposit. We received our refund, returned the keys, and vacated the apartment around 10:15 AM.

We struggled with our luggage down to the condo lobby and waited at the front door for our pre-arranged taxi to arrive at 10:45 AM. It did not arrive ! No problem ! Not my first time at the rodeo ! I left Joanne in the lobby with the luggage, hustled two blocks over to the Jupiter Algarve Hotel’s taxi stand and jumped into the taxi at the front of the taxi line. And got lucky. A young, educated, worldly taxi driver who spoke excellent English. Later Joanne said … “yeah, probably another poli-sci graduate driving a cab”. HA HA HA !

I directed him to our condo, we loaded Joanne and the luggage, and off to Portimão’s train station we went. We arrived around 11:15 AM, with time to spare before our 11:30 AM train departure. The taxi driver even advised us which train track we needed to be at to catch the 11:30 train heading east. Obviously not his first time at the rodeo either.

I had our train tickets digitally loaded into our i-Phone’s “wallet”. Well done, Daniel. We each had two tickets ; train 5907 from Portimão to Faro, then train 5709 from Faro to Conceiçao. With only three minutes between train 5907’s arrival in Faro, and train 5709’s departure from Faro. I had anxiety about getting off 5907 with our luggage, determining which track 5709 was on, and getting onto 5709, all within three minutes.

The female conductor on train 5907 spoke some English. I asked if she could advise which track we would be on when we arrived in Faro, and which track 5709 would be on. I didn’t understand her explanation initially. Then … <light bulb> … OH ! Train 5907 would arrive in Faro at 12:57 PM, then three minutes later at 1 PM it would depart as train 5709, continuing east. We didn’t have to do anything ! Just sit on the train for three minutes. OH ! ! ! How convenient. HA HA HA HA HA !

We arrived at Conceiçao train station just before 2 PM. A few days ago I contacted the Cabanas de Tavira beach resort we were heading to today, and asked them to arrange to have a taxi meet us at the Conceiçao train station and drive us the short distance to the resort village of Cabanas de Tavira. Our taxi was waiting for us upon our arrival by train, driven by another young man who spoke excellent English. Another poli-sci grad ? HA HA HA. We were at Golden Clube Cabanas Resort by 2:15 PM.

We were efficiently checked in, and provided “orientation explanations” to this very large resort development. <blink blink> Very impressive ! We found our way to our studio apartment, and got settled into our suite. After unpacking / unloading etc., and resting briefly we set off to walk into town and find the Spar supermarket.

As before when arriving at a new destination, our initial purchase of groceries was quite large, getting “the basics” needed for a one month stay, and the for the first day’s meals. Two heavy, large, full grocery bags to haul back to the resort.

While Joanne put away groceries I connected my laptop and our i-Phone to the resort’s Wi-Fi, then fiddled with the TV until finally heading down to the front desk to get some assistance with the apparently non-functional TV remote control. The front desk staff changed the remote control’s batteries and I returned to our room. Still not working ! I phoned the front desk and they sent a maintenance person to our room. He fiddled with the TV and the remote until he got them to work, mumbling about “standby mode” when they have been inactive for awhile. <shrug> I think he’s wrong. I’m still having problems with the remote control. I think I’m going to have to ask for a replacement.

Before preparing supper we walked over to the resort’s “health centre” to check out the indoor swimming pool. WOO-HOO ! We’re looking forward to pool exercise sessions while we’re here. And using the hot tub, saunas, and maybe even the steam rooms. Somewhat strangely (to us) here in Portugal women AND men are required to wear “bathing caps” when in an indoor swimming pool. Both of us have not seen bathing caps used since we’ve been young children, and never have we seen men wearing them. <shrug> Oh, well … when in Rome …

Back in our room we did our evening stretching exercises then baked a grocery store pizza for supper. Great ! ANOTHER new oven to learn ! <sarcasm>

Thursday ; Golden Clube Cabanas Resort, Cabanas de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal

Sunny and mild. We slept late this morning, and had a slow start to our day. Around noon we went for our early walk, along the waterfront walkway, then into town to check out the two smaller grocery stores in town. It’s a small tourism and fishing village, with one medium size supermarket (Spar … yesterday) and two small “convenience” type grocery stores. Not surprisingly, we bought items at all three of them today. HA HA HA !

Late in the afternoon we went to the indoor swimming pool and did our first pool exercise session in a year, since Palm Springs, California. It was weird to wear a bathing cap. For both of us ! First time ever for me. First time for Joanne since she was a little girl. After pool exercises, we soaked in the hot tub, sweated in the steam room, and in the dry saunas. The steam rooms and saunas are in the gender specific changing rooms, so we each “went our own way”. Joanne declined to try the steam room because … there was already an elderly woman in the steam room. Naked ! <grimacing> <blinking> <shuddering> Europe has some “practices” that are a bit difficult for us North Americans to accept / adapt to. Like bathing caps for men. And naked old women in steam rooms ! We reluctantly wear bathing caps, but eschew sharing space with naked elderly strangers.

Friday ; Cloudy and mild.

There seemed to be an influx of “weekenders” to the resort this afternoon. Creating a busy swimming pool when we went to do our exercises around 5:30 PM. Yesterday we had the large swimming pool all to ourselves.

Our “early” walk this morning was through the resort’s large property to the river estuary (?), then along the estuary into town. As we wandered through town we stumbled across the municipal “mercado” (market), with produce vendors and a fishmonger. We selected some fresh vegetables and fruits, then I wandered over to take a look at the fishmonger’s wares. HMMM … nice looking fish. The female fishmonger explained, in fractured English, what the fish were, and how she would prepare them for customers for cooking. I was interested in Robalo (Sea Bass). She offered to descale and fillet the fish, and explained precisely how to marinate, coat, and cook the fish. SOLD !

On the way back to our resort to have lunch we stopped at a small grocery store and I bought a lemon, a small bag of seasoned bread crumbs, a small jar of olive oil, and … I was ready to make supper.

Around 5 PM we walked over to the resort’s Health & Fitness Centre for an aquatics exercise session. The swimming pool was a bit busy with “weekenders”, young and old. We exercised, each of us spent a short time in the steam rooms and saunas (no naked old women today … or so I was told), then returned to our suite, stopping on the way to offer some affection to one of the many semi-feral (?) cats that seem to live on the resort grounds. There are three that live near the exit door that we use from our building, one of whom comes running for attention and affection every time we leave the building, and one near the pool building who does the same. The one near the pool building has a severely burned ear, still in the early stages of healing. Poor baby ! I suspect the ear was burned by a hot exhaust pipe under a car. BRRRR … it’s winter … the cats are looking for warmth wherever they find it during the night, I guess.

I marinated, prepared, and cooked the Robalo / Sea Bass. Joanne prepared a garden salad and mushroom risotto. The meal was pretty darn good. Not only was it the first time I’ve cooked Sea Bass … it was the first time we’ve eaten Sea Bass. I think we’ll try another type of fresh fish from the mercado in a week or so.

Saturday ; Sunny and warm, a lovely “June 18” type of winter day in the Algarve. HA HA HA !

Our early walk today was to the Spar supermarket, then north on the highway leading into town until we reached the Pedras da Rainha Resort where there is a small laundromat. We wanted to check out how far to the resort, and what the laundromat was like. Joanne decided, after walking that far, and viewing the laundromat’s facilities, that she would prefer to hand wash our laundry for our four week stay here, as she did in Angra do Heroisma. We shopped in the resort’s attached grocery store, and she bought a small box of laundry detergent for hand washing of clothes, as well as a few other items.

She also decided that since today was Saturday, and many more guests checked in today, and the swimming pool was already fairly busy on Friday night that we should skip our aquatic exercise sessions on Fridays and Saturdays. <shrug> Okay. Far be it from me to disagree with my wife. <snicker>

Our late afternoon walk was wandering around the grounds of this huge resort, around the perimeter and the interior walkways surrounding the many buildings. <blink blink> Huge ! Accommodates thousands of people. Must be a zoo in the summertime !

DSK

January 8 to 14, 2023 ; Praia da Rocha, Portimao, Algarve, Portugal

 Sunday ; Low overcast, intermittent light rain, mild.

Another lazy day, thanks to weather and tiredness from yesterday.

Two exercise walks, lunch, nap, stretching exercises, post weekly blog entry, accounting, trip research/planning for next winter, etc.

Monday ; Mostly cloudy, a few drops of rain, mild.

See yesterday. Rinse and repeat. HA HA HA !

Tuesday ; Mostly cloudy and mild.

Rinse and repeat. Again ! We’ve definitely slowed down !

Wednesday ; Sunny and warm.

Mostly because of the improved weather, both of our walks today were leisurely and long. And thanks to the low tides … due to the moon’s cycles, I think … we were able to walk around beach “rocks” that usually are surrounded by about five feet of water.

Tonight we treated ourselves to a take-out dinner from the Turkish kebab & pizza restaurant next door to our condo building. Now we know how a Turkish pizza differs from a “regular” pizza. We had doner meat pizza and … a Turkish version of … French Canadian poutine. With “Indian gravy”! HA HA HA ! Vive la Turkiye libre. HA HA HA HA HA ! Both the pizza and the cheesy gravy fries were excellent !

Thursday ; Sunny and very warm, a really gorgeous day.

Because of that, our morning walk was exceptionally long. And pleasant. At the end of the walk Joanne wanted to have a gelato (ice cream) snack. We stopped at Gelataria da Rocha which we pass every time we go to Intermarché, which is pretty much daily. Joanne had a small cup of Gelato Chocolate, I had a small cup of Gelato Mento (mint with chocolate chips). Very refreshing ! And then we visited with the gelataria’s budgie, which is in a cage mounted on an outdoor pole on nice weather days. We chat with the budgie on the days it is outdoors when we go to Intermarché.

Our afternoon walk wasn’t as long, but … we went to the nearby cliff top miradouro (viewpoint) to watch the sun set on the Atlantic Ocean, a spectacular event on cloudless days.

I cooked a frittatta for supper. And struggled all the way through the process. My kitchen skills were off tonight. I struggled with the unfamiliar stove, both the range top and the oven. And the clock. And the timer. I blew the apartment’s electrical main breaker. I forgot one of the main ingredients, purchased specifically for this meal. I burned some diced potatoes and leeks to the bottom of an unfamiliar fry pan. I struggled mightily resetting the stove’s clock after blowing the breaker. Then I botched using the stove clock’s timer function. <exhaling deeply>

Friday ; Sunny and mild, cooler than the last couple of days. Our two exercise walks were shorter today.

I spent much of the day working on past year financial reconciliation and analysis, and new year financial planning. They go hand in hand. And become more complicated each year, it seems. Or maybe my intellectual skills are deteriorating due to age ?

We ended the day by having a “movie date night”, streaming/watching a “short” film from the “My French Film Festival” which started today.

Saturday ; Sunny and warm.

Our early/11 AM walk was east all the way to the edge of town, where the Arade River flows into the Atlantic Ocean at the old fort (built in 1631). Our late/5 PM walk was west to the spot where we watch sunsets and surfers. I’m sort of falling in love with this place.

This afternoon I continued working on financial/investment planning. Like everyone else, our investments declined in value more than 20% last year. <shaking head in disgust> Time to make some changes in our investments !

Late in the evening we watched four French Film Festival “shorts”. One good, two okay, one terrible.

DSK

January 1 to 7, 2023 ; Praia da Rocha, Portimão, Algarve, Portugal

 Sunday ; Cloudy, mild, windy.

Well ! ! ! Late night as we were going to bed (somewhere around 1 AM), I walked over to the bedroom window to close the blinds, and looked down on the courtyard behind our condo building at the crowds of partying drunks and hooligans below just in time to see a group of six young men, all dressed head to toe in black, each brandishing a bottle of champagne, each shaking their bottle and spraying one another, when … <sputter> … one of them took a run and flying drop kick at the sliding glass entry doors of the Spar grocery store. Not once, but … three times ! Until the doors finally broke and tumbled into the store.

A loud burglar alarm began to howl. The other five young men made a quick exit from the courtyard. The asshole who broke the glass doors seemed to be in no hurry. He strutted around for awhile, obviously proud of his achievement, then entered the store over the broken glass doors and came out after a few moments carrying two bottles of booze (grocery stores in Portugal sell booze). He proudly strutted around a bit more, then calmly walked away.

So … for the sake of a couple of bottles of cheap booze, he caused thousands of dollars in damages ! ! !

We are appalled and disgusted. And you wonder why we have evolved into being “anti-alcohol” ? ! ?

A few minutes later, ten policemen showed up ! On foot ! Having walked over from the nearby police station, I assume. <wince> It takes ten cops to respond to a small grocery store’s burglar alarm ? ? ?

Today was windy, making our two exercise walks not particularly pleasant. I baked ! And worked on trip planning for next winter. And worked on year end financial matters. And posted my blog entry.

Monday ; Sunny and mild.

Long walk in the morning. Shorter walk in the afternoon. A few grocery items at Spar. A few grocery items at Intermarché. Spar’s sliding glass entry doors being repaired. Quick service ! Worked on year end financial matters and next winter trip planning. Reading a book … on the i-Phone ! Napped !

Tuesday ; Sunny and mild.

Today was a long and somewhat difficult day of getting to, shopping at, and returning from Aqua Shopping Centre, one of Portimão’s two large shopping malls.

We left our condo suite around noon, and were back home at 6:30 PM. It seemed like a longer day than it actually was. And it seemed to be more stressful than it should have been, especially when compared to some of the other “adventures” we’ve had in the last couple of months.

We caught the #35 bus very near to our Praia da Rocha condo and rode it to the Aqua Shopping Centre near the north end of Portimao.

I got all the information I needed at the Vodafone store regarding cell phone service in Spain, Malta, and Greece, for next winter’s travels. And I bought a Vodafone Traveller SIM card to use immediately upon our arrive in Spain (or wherever) next November. Well done, Daniel !

I bought a notepad at an arts supply store. I shopped at a few different computer and technology stores for a computer mouse and pad. The touchpad on my laptop has died, and I wanted to buy a mouse as a replacement for the dead touchpad. Much faster and much cheaper than replacing the touchpad on a four year old computer. We went into the extremely large supermarket “Auchan” and found a mouse and pad in their electronics department that were cheaper than the computer and technology stores, and decided to buy them at the Auchan later in the day when we were doing grocery shopping.

We went to the mall’s very large food court and wandered around considering our options, eventually deciding to eat at Fourchette, a buffet cafeteria with traditional Portuguese foods. It seemed like a great opportunity to try a variety of traditional Portuguese foods. And we were right ! It was an excellent dining experience at a reasonable price.

After lunch we returned to Auchan. We selected a mouse and pad from Electronics. We selected a glass casserole dish and a wineglass from the Housewares department to replace the ones we broke in the condo. Then we spent too much time browsing the extremely large grocery store section. It was 5:30 PM by the time we paid and left the store.

We walked to the return bus stop location, then waited for the #35 bus back to Praia da Rocha. It was running about 15 minutes late, in rush hour traffic. It became dark as we were on the bus. We arrived back home at 6:30 PM.

Wednesday ; Sunny and warm, another lovely day.

This morning we had a long beach walk, this time to the west, on a new to us stretch of beach. HMPH ! As an old and (formerly) obese man, I hope I can get away with the following criticism ; obese women should not sunbathe topless on public beaches !

This afternoon I gave myself a beard trim, and with a great deal of coaching, Joanne gave me a pretty darn good haircut. We decided that it was more likely that I would get a decent haircut from Joanne with coaching by me, than by a Portuguese hipster barber / stylist whom I can’t communicate with effectively.

I have been in areas of Mexico where the hairstylists seem to have only one definition of what a man’s haircut should look like. And that style doesn’t suit me. The same holds true in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada. HA HA HA ! And it goes double here in Praia da Rocha, Portugal, where the barbers / hair stylists all seem to be addicted to cutting men’s hair extremely short on the sides, with a precision “fade” to longer hair on top. And “sculpted” razor cut beard trims. Thanks for the good haircut, dear. And your patience !

Late in the afternoon we went for another long walk, this time to the east, a little further than we have wandered to the east before. And discovered some interesting viewpoints that we had not seen before. This is a lovely and interesting beach resort town.

Thursday ; Sunny and warm.

Morning long walk to the west. Afternoon long walk to the east, then down to the beach and back home along the boardwalk. A bit of grocery shopping at Intermarché. Lunch, nap, early evening exercises. 2022 financial reconciliation and analysis. 2023 financial planning. Filling out U.S. IRS 8840 forms for the very last time !

Friday ; Sunny and mild.

Every day I read aloud my daily journal entry from one year ago. It gave me great pleasure to read this date’s entry from last year, when we bid farewell to our xenophobic, Christo-fascist, passive aggressive, winter home community of Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park in Yuma, Arizona. Farewell, assholes !

This morning we went for our regular long walk. And that included stopping at a local travel agency to buy tickets to a bus tour tomorrow to the weekend market in the town of Loulé, about a couple of hours east, about halfway between here and our next destination in the Algarve. That trip was what Joanne wanted as a Christmas gift. Merry Christmas, my love !

Another long beach boardwalk afternoon walk. And our regular pre-dinner exercise session. We bought salmon at Auchan a few days ago, and tonight I concocted a mustard vinaigrette salad dressing and brown sugar glaze to coat it with for baking. It’s cooking now. Wish me luck ! Joanne is making a Camembert risotto using a Camembert cream cheese I bought.

Saturday ; Praia da Rocha to Loulé, Algarve, Portugal & return

Cloudy and chilly in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon, cloudy, chilly and windy in the evening.

This morning we left our condo at 8 AM and walked a couple of blocks to catch a tour bus to Loulé, departing at 8:10 AM. The bus picked up a few more passengers in other towns on the way, then arrived in Loulé at 9:30 AM. We had three hours to wander, sightsee, and most importantly, shop. The Loulé Traditional Market has been going on for hundreds of years. And on Saturdays, there is also the Mercado de Ciganos (Gypsy Market) which in North America would be known as a flea market. Visiting this town and its markets was Joanne’s requested Christmas gift.

Our first destination after getting off the bus was the Gypsy Market. <blink blink> I bought Joanne the most amazing local product as a birthday gift. We are both thrilled about it. I won’t reveal it until her birthday. Stay tuned ! I found a suitable Thank You gift for our next door neighbours back home in Steinbach, to express our appreciation for them collecting our mail all winter. But … I was unable to reach a satisfactory, negotiated price with the vendor, and left without buying it.

We wandered from the Gypsy Market through town to the Traditional Market, housed in a large, old, magnificent Arabic inspired market building, and all around its exterior perimeter. We bought some fresh produce, items that we have not seen elsewhere in Portugal, such as artichokes and Brussels sprouts. After seeing as much as we could, we began to wander back towards the bus pickup point. We stopped at a pastelaria and bought a pastry and can of iced tea. We sat down in a nearby park to rest and have our snack.

We walked back to the Gypsy Market and I paid the vendor’s price for the gift for our neighbours. After wandering through town and seeing similar products I realized her price was more than reasonable. We got on the bus at 12:30 PM and were back home at 1:45 PM … hungry, tired, but had a great day !

DSK