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| Sunrise
over the lagoon in Cabanas de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal. |
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In September 2000, we had the pleasure of playing hosts to Will’s Aunt and Uncle from the Netherlands. During their visit Tante Riet and Oom Cor told us that they go to Portugal every winter to get away from the cold and rain in the Netherlands. They invited us to join them if we had a chance. In February, we took them up on their offer. On Thursday, February 8 we flew TAP Air Portugal from Newark Airport to Lisbon, Portugal. We arrived in Lisbon on Friday morning, Feb 9, and it was cold and rainy. We had a three hour wait for our connecting flight to Faro in the most southern province of Portugal the Algarve. We arrived at 12:30 and the sun was shining and the temperature was what we hoped to find as well. Our hosts, Cor and Riet were waiting for us at the airport. We collected our luggage and picked up our car at Avis. It took a little bit getting used to the stick shift of our Volkswagen POLO. After navigating through the narrow streets of Faro we followed the scenic Route 125 along the coast towards our destination, Cabanas de Tavira, a small fishing village about 45 miles east of Faro. We drove past Olhoa and Tavira and left Route 125 at Conceição to head to the coast. Cor and Riet rent a beautiful apartment right on the lagoon. And to our surprise they had managed to rent the apartment next to them for us for the 11 days we would be in Portugal. After a quick nap we walked around Cabanas we found that there are lots more Dutch retirees getting away from the winter weather in Northern Europe. I heard more "Goeie Dag" than "Boa Tarde" that afternoon. We had a nice café con leite and talked to some of the Dutch visitors. That night we had dinner in the "Piano Bar" restaurant. The menu was in Portuguese, English and Dutch. The "Piano Bar" restaurant is owned by Lawrence and Ana. Lawrence is from England and Ana is from Portugal. Most restaurants in the Algarve have menus in five or six languages. On Saturday, Feb 10, we went to Loulé to visit the Gypsy market. Afterwards we had a wonderful lunch on an outside cafe while listening to a band performing on the town square. Sunday we traveled to Sagres, the most south westerly village in mainland Europe. We took 125 to Tavira and from Tavira followed the new super highway, the IP1 as far west as possible and from there back on 125. We visited Cape St Vincent and Lagos that day. The Castle at Castro Marin, build in the 13th century, and the town of Villa Real de Santo António were on the schedule for Monday. We had an other fine day with beautiful sunshine. On Tuesday, Feb 13, we visited Tavira with its beautiful Castelo, rooftop garden, roman bridge and the old fish market which has been replaced by a brand new one and the old one is converted into a shopping mall. The following day, Wednesday, Feb 14, Cor en Riet decided to stay home and take the day off. So Margo and I went to Spain. Visited Huelva and Punt Umbria. Huelva is a busy bustling city, we arrived just in time to have lunch, after lunch the siesta started. And in Huelva that means that every thing shuts down from one to five in the afternoon. So we went to the beach at Punta Umbria. A Dutch couple, traveling through Spain and Portugal with their motor home, who we met in Cabanas had told us about all the seashells they had collected on the beach there. Thursday we went back to Faro, the capital of the Algarve and the largest, busiest and one of the oldest in the region. The first day we had just picked up the car and driven to Cabanas. This time we went to see the old city, which is spectacular with it's old city walls, buildings and the like. Silves and Monchique were as far north as we would go during our stay in the Algarve. It is a beautiful ride into the mountains. The Monchique area is known for it's cork trees. We wanted to see the medicinal baths at Caldas de Monchique but that Friday because of construction the road to Caldas de Monchique was closed. Saturday everybody was tired so we rested. In the morning Margo and I went out for a ride and did some shopping. We picked up some fruits and vegetables from Fruta Suzy. Fruta Suzy is a Mini Mercado owned by Suzy, who lived in Kearny, NJ for several years. The following morning was spend at Cacela. The big Gypsy Market was in town. Because all the streets are used for the market it gives the town an atmosphere like a street fair. That afternoon Margo and I went sight seeing on our own. We went to Casela Velho, Manta Rota and Monte Gordo. Monday, Feb 19, Margo's birthday, we went back to Monte Gordo. Even though the weather for the first time during our stay was cold and windy we had a good time. On our way back to Cabanas it rained so hard that a lot of cars pulled over. Tuesday morning we said goodbye to Cor and Riet. Drove the car back to Avis at the airport in Faro. In the afternoon we flew back to Newark airport with a stopover in Lisbon. |
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While we were in
Portugal the weather in Northern New Jersey had been relatively warm for the time of year.
The weather forecasters predicted a snow fall of 1 to 2 feet for Sunday, March 4. Than
they changed it to Monday, the 5th. Now, Tuesday, the forecasters have updated their
predictions, they expect between 4 and 6 inches. This picture was taken Tuesday, March 6,
2001. A Cafe con Leite or a glas of fresh orange juice at Antonio's in Cabanas de Tavira
sounds very good right about now. Maybe next year, who knows? |
