When we were living in England, Prince William and Kate were planning their wedding. We planned to leave the country. We knew after living there for only a year at that time that we did not need to be a part of that big hullabaloo. Of course we were happy for them but we were not exactly Royal followers. To fly to Lisbon was a mere two hour flight. Why not? Because I used to be a travel agent I love to do my research. We had heard that the Southern most area of Portugal was beautiful and people loved to vacation there. We checked a site online that we use almost exclusively when we travel. https//www.vrbo.com (Vacation Rental By Owner) We try to emulate the locals in that we enjoy cooking from Farmer’s market purchases in the morning beside eating at the local restaurants.
We drove from Lisbon to the Algvare, in the rain, which is about a 2 and a half hour drive. We stopped at a rest stop for gas and some sandwiches to hold us over. Big mistake, for two reasons. One I’ll share later on in the post. Back in the car, ready to head out again, we found that we couldn’t get the car in reverse. This happened to us one other time in France. With help from a store clerk, a mechanic, and a German tourist, we were back in business, in reverse and headed to the Algarve.
We arrived at the Villa and met our host, Martin. He offered to have us follow him on back street shortcuts to the grocery store. The name of the store was Pingo Doce (but will forever be Pingo Dingo to us). We bought 6 bottles of wine for approximately $10. Not bad and the wine was tasty. After unpacking food and luggage, we took a look around the Villa. It was beautiful and impressive on every level. Infinity pool, balconies out of every room, views of the ocean, amazing. We drank wine, made mushroom risotto, danced in the kitchen to the music of Owl City, and had a very nice first night.
Then it happened! All of a sudden, I noticed that my hands were swollen, red and I itched all over. An allergic reaction to something. Suspect number 1, food poisoning from the rest stop sandwich, 2, Guava nector, 3, weird Portuguese milk, or an Algarvian insect bite. I had scratch marks all over my body. We continued to enjoy the Algarve but soon it was time for me to be medically treated. Our host, Martin, had us follow him to the hospital in Faro because we spoke zero Portuguese and he told the Doctors what was wrong. I was given a shot, and a lotion to put all over my body. They did have a name for what I had though. It was Doenca! Which in Portuguese means Disease.
Suffice it to say, I was miserable but that wasn’t going to stop me from enjoying Portugal and my time with Jon so I soldiered on. One of the first places we stopped to eat was a very quaint cafe in Olhao, our host city. (By the way it is pronounced Ol-yowng) The restaurant was Casa Das Tostas and it was right across the street from the Olhao Farmers Market.
I ordered squid with garlic and Jon had steak with mushroom and cream sauce. Mine was good but Jon’s was fantastic. Why do I always want what he has?
We went back to the Villa and layed by the pool. I was running a fever but covered up and took a nice long nap. Feeling marginally better the next day we went adventuring to Tavira. Tavira is a small town not far from the Spanish border. They took a horrible hit by the earthquake of 1755. There were four bridges and only one remained, the Ponte Romano. During our walk through the village and across the bridge we came upon a trio of troubadours. One guitarist, one saxophonist and a tamborine player. They were attempting to sing the Beatles Oh Bla Di, Oh Bla Da and I think they maybe made up some of the lyrics, who would know? We drove back to the Villa and Jon made a very good Spaghetti and Meatballs. He drank the Portuguese wine, it wasn’t going to drink itself. I layed down, got lotioned up and tried to recuperate……again.
Each day I started to feel better so the next day we went back to Faro, this time not stopping at the hospital. Faro’s old section had parts of a Medieval City , occupied at one time by the Moors. We bought tickets to see the Cathedral and The Chapel of The Bones. 68 rocky stairs took you up to the observation bell tower. Storks like to build their nests there too, well they don’t have to climb the stairs every day. We finally located the chapel and sure enough there were skulls, femurs lots of bones, cemented into a cross/altar with people buried underneath. The guide book said that this Chapel is the ultimate in recycling……rude. After a little more meandering in the city of Faro, we came upon our favorite trio of troubadours. A little later we settled on a place to have lunch. Jon had a Pork Tenderloin which was so-so and I had the Steak with Mushroom and Cream sauce. As we were eating guess who showed up at our table. Yep, the traveling troubadours. They played 3 notes and our waiter shooed they away. After lunch we drove back to the Villa noting that wherever we ended up tomorrow we would no doubt see our musician friends.
The next day we decided to travel west to the city of Lagos. (pronounced La-Gosh) We never made it. We just were having so much fun on our way there. We stopped at a town called Loule (pronounced Loo-Lay) which is known for its marketplace. It is full of fresh seafood, vegetables, Piri Piri spices and collectibles. I found a round Provencal tablecloth that I just couldn’t live without.
Olhao to Seville Spain is about a 2 hour drive. I have to say the bridge we drove across to get into Spain was beautiful.
This was April and the closer we got to Seville the hotter it got. It turned out to be 93 degrees Farenheit and a much hotter sun than we were used to. Apparently, Seville gets to 120 in August. I’ll pass thank you very much. We drove in circles trying to find parking and ended up in an underground garage. When we emerged into daylight it turned out we were right outside of the bull ring. Yes, Plaza de Toros. They had a bull fight scheduled for that night but in Spain, in 2011 anyway, they still killed the bull. Just couldn’t bring ourselves to be a spectator of that sport. Plus, it was just plain expensive and the cheap seats were in the direct sun. We walked through the historic district and saw the cathedral which is touted as being the biggest cathedral in the world. No joke it was huge.
Outside of the Cathedral even El Diablo the street performer couldn’t stand the heat…..there’s a joke there……
One of the more romantic sights we saw were lots of horse drawn buggies. I think had we planned to be there longer a carriage ride at night would have been lovely.
After leaving Seville on our way back to Portugal we stopped in a little seaside town of Monte Gordo. We stopped for Pizza, just good ol’ onion pizza. There was a street side vendor across from us selling souveniers. We got a Cock of Barcelos toothpick holder for us and a purse for our niece Robyn, who affectionately calls her purse her Cock Bag. Oh, so sweet.
Soon we would be leaving the Algarve for a couple days in Lisbon before our return to London. Let me leave you with some of my favorite pictures of that region.
On to Lisbon, the town is so much like San Francisco, actually San Francisco is like Lisbon because Lisbon was here first. The bridge is “25 de Abril” is what our Golden Gate bridge is designed after and Lisbon is the city of the seven hills, so there are many similarities. We stayed in a very old, quaint hotel on the top of one of those hills with fabulous views and a rooftop bar. We made friends with Victor the bartender and we actually taught him how to make espresso martinis and chi-chi’s. He in turn told us where the locals eat and what a fantastic recommendation that was. “O Satellite ” did not disappoint.
Finally Tram 28 is the tram to take in Lisbon. It gives you the most opportunities to see the different neighborhoods in Lisbon. Portugal is such a beautiful country and the people are so friendly but above all……
It’s the Food! Bom Dia!
