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 69th 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 40th 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
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