We walked through the deserted cobblestone streets just hours after many of the University students would've gone to bed. Parties in Coimbra get started at about 1am!!
It was an easy walk and we knew the way so we reached the bus station with plenty of time to spare for the 7:30 bus.
Much to our surprise the bus arrived in Faro 15 minutes early. Our host Silvia picked us up and drove us to her house.
Wow! Her house was beautiful. Her husband, Domingos had reached home at the same time. However he had to leave in a few hours for work. He's a policeman and he had an Easter parade to supervise.
We had soup and bread for lunch. But then, much to our surprise there was another course of Portuguese chargrilled chicken! Jay loved it! He was so full. But then.... dessert was served. Homemade oreo mousse. After that Jay was ridiculously full. It was funny.
Silvia then drove us to the Ludo trail where we saw the salt beds drying out and a HUGE mountain of salt. We also saw many birds. We tried to see the storks but couldn't get close enough. However, we did see their nests from afar.
On the way we saw some Roman ruins where they used to clean, dry and salt their fish. So salt making has been happening in the area for a very long time!
Once home Silvia cooked us a salmon dish. It had potatoes, egg and salmon. Silvia was amused when I gave Jay all my egg whites because she does the same.
After a day of overeating delicious food it was time for bed.
31st March
First on the itinerary today was the Olhão Markets. We strolled through goods and homewares towards the fruit and vegetables. There we bought a churrro to eat. Next we wandered to the fish market. There they mostly sell whole fish and they fillet it on the spot. Jay tried dried octopus eggs and we both tried dried tuna (too fishy!)
At Easter the Portuguese eat forla cake. It is dryer and harder than normal cake and has cinnamon in it. We bought it from the market to try.
After the markets we drove to the Museo Arqueologico. The museum was okay, but the highlight for Jay was what was on top of the museum rather than what was in the museum. A stork!
From there we walked to the Catherdal of Faro. There was a busker playing his flute on the steps outside the church. He was very good.
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| The tourist train in town |
Next we went to the roof of Hotel Faro to see the views of downtown.
From there we drove home as today Domingos was working at a soccer game. For lunch he cooked a dish with peas, chorizo and eggs in a vegetable broth.
Silvia, Jay and I then headed to Pousada Palácio Estói. It was a palace but now it's a hotel. The gardens were very nice.
On the way we stopped in to see the Milreu Roman Remains. We didn't go in as we'd seen so many Roman ruins on our travels already.
Silvia drove us to Mae soberana Loulé for the views. The church was located on a hill. We briefly looked around the church before we left.
Next we stopped in a town to see the castle. It had just closed but we were happy to look at the exterior.
After that Silvia took us to the Duarte Pacheco Monument for a walk around the park.
Her son had asked for a Starbucks coffee so we went to the mall before going home. Jay and I went to the supermarket there to buy everyone afternoon tea and buy ourselves some chicken and bread for lunch later.
But oh my goodness! These simple tasks took forever. First we didn't realise that the bakery/cafe part of the supermarket had a ticket system and queued for awhile before figuring it out. It took so long we split up to complete the tasks. Because of Easter the coffee from Starbucks also took forever. Once Silvia had the coffee we went home to enjoy the treats.
Today for dinner Silvia cooked a cod fish dish as it's a popular Portuguese ingredient. It was a type of fish pie with lots of mashed potato topped with baked sliced apple.
Domingos was in charge of the shopping. They live next door to the supermarket which is very handy. Jay went with him to buy some ingredients for the aloo gobi (cauliflower and potato curry) I was going to cook for the next day.
First he went for the codfish. Not long after he returned he realised that he'd forgotten the other kind of fish for his son who doesn't like codfish.
Not long after he returned he realised that he'd forgotten to buy the apples, so back to the supermarket he went. Domingos likes to buy just one ingredient at a time!!
After dinner I cooked the aloo gobi and then it was time to sleep.
1st April
Today we went to an Easter parade in Sao Brás de Alportel. On the way Jay picked some oranges from the side of the road. At the parade location streets were lined with flowers all ready for the participants to walk on.
It took a very long time to start and it was hard to see it was so crowded. It was interesting to see because I'd never seen anything like it.
Once we'd seen the parade go by we headed home to eat up the leftovers from the previous days.
After lunch we headed to Tavira. Domingos grew up in the area so it was his turn to be the tour guide.
First we headed to Tavira's Castle. From there we had a view of the town and a clock that showed the correct time and another time.
After that we walked around the town. Some of the door knockers were in the shape of a hand! Before we left Tavira we had some delicious ice-cream.
For dinner we had aloo gobi with raita and Jay's homemade roti. Delicious.
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