Tavira Garden

... security passes that had to be scanned on exit and entry. If you had not used a card to get out you couldn't use it to get in and going out or in the car required that you hand over all three cards to one of the gate attendants so that they could scan the cards for you.

We walked into the town through a nature reserve that was adorned, in what we now recognized as normal Portuguese style, with plastic bottles ...

Op de rechteroever slaat de torenklok een keer vaker dan op de linkeroever: in Spanje is het een uur later.
Drie stukjes film: weer dolfijnen, de eerste die we in de Algarve tegen kwamen, blijft voor ons erg leuk, ik hoop voor jullie ook. Dit keer een wat grotere varieteit. Het tweede stukje film is uit de zoutwinning bij het plaatsje Tavira waar kluten, reigers en lepelaars fourageren. Het derde stukje film zijn wat beelden in en rond de Guadiana, de grensrivier.

... I talk briefly with a receptionist in a Best Western hotel. She's actually quite interested to hear my story, and takes my email in case she knows anyone that needs a bit of work done in exchange for room and board. This is the only beacon of hope, in an otherwise very bleak situation.

I eventually find the Youth Hostel, and thoroughly abuse their complimentary internet service. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

In Albufeira, we went to a Portugese bullfight, not the real deal as in they don't kill the bull, rather they stab them in the back with a bunch of arrows. I thought it was mean, especially the first bull because it was pretty much still a baby and looked scared instead of angry. Jon ...

... about perfect and the most direct. QF9 Mel to Lon, then switching airports in London to catch BA2694 to Faro), and the timings meant we missed a lot of the crowds and traffic, particularly in London - so well done to Yvonne who pulled together our travel arrangements.

There were a few things we had to watch along the way - mainly in London, for instance, there is now a shuttle bus service that runs between London Heathrow and Gatwick airports (so no longer a ...

... to make the (rather optimistic) 1km from the station seem like 5km. Finally we reached the end of a dusty road were our 4 star, 2 pool, 2 bar, 55 Euro bargain sat in all its air-conditioned glory. Whilst not exactly oozing charm, it was certainly good value. We're only here for the sea sand and Sagres afterall.

Tavira, a resort town, with a certain charm, a hint of Spanish chav and a short boat ride to the beach to dissuade the properly ...

... discovering a gem of a local restuarant with amazing bbq chicken. 6 euro for dinner!!

The next day to fill in time before departing we looked at the Chapel of Bones, which was built from the bones of the monks from the local cemetary. Over 1200 skulls. Definite goosebumps eh!

... senkrechten klippen eingebettet. herrlich !
am abend wurden wir mit einem leckeren selbstgekochten nachtessen begrüsst. super fein! am anderen abend in einem herzigen restaurant direkt an einer lauschigen bucht und gutem fisch. Dazu üppige Zmorgenessen mit allem was man sich wünscht....das alles tat eben doch auch gut :-) (ah ja,und sogar nachrichten auf SF1 im tv schauen.hapimag ist ja ...

... 1755). Faro oli looduslike jõude poolt täielikult maatasa tehtud.

Algarve piirkonna pealinnas käisime vaid korraks õhtul. Mulle jättis see nn piirkonna suurima linna kohta ikka väga väikse linna mulje. Jalutasime pisut vanalinnas, kindluses ja sadama ääres. Elav koht oli Shopping Mall, kus olid taas esindatud samad brändid nagu Lissabonis. Ostukeskuses oli hängimas palju noori ja lastega peresid.


Parque Natural da Ria ...

... pans, the mosquitoes found us.  This was our first encounter with them. Tavira is quite small and mainly a fishing village.  It is transforming into a tourist destination but right now it only gets packed in July and August.  We could practically taking the walking tour of the city standing in place.   There is a nice park along the river with a new plaza.  We noticed that many restaurants were closed but we eventually found a good Chinese place near our apartment.  6/6 The ...