Winding down...
Yesterday Betty and Sharon did the Historical Algarve bus trip so Val and I went to Praia da Rocha and played tourist for a couple of hours until the casino opened. It was a lucky day for me and I am a little richer ( and I don't like gambling), while Val contributed to the economy a bit. Such a generous lady she is!
Today we were up early and walked into the village just before 8 am to catch our tour bus at 8:15am for a half day shopping trip to Faro, the capital of the Algarve. There was frost on the roofs of vehicles we passed by!!!!! Bus was on time and off we went. We picked up two more people somewhere along the road but really there was no big rush because we got stuck in traffic going into Faro due to road construction. Three hours it took to get there. Once in Faro we got dropped off and were handed a map (in Portuguese) and told to be back in 2 hours. We had no idea where to go so just kind of wandered up and down some alleys, didn't buy hardly anything and spent the last 1/2 hour sitting on a park bench in the sun. Still and all, it was nice to see the countryside at that end of the coast. The photos above I shot from our drop off area showing bits of what they termed Old Town. I suppose back in the day, all buildings were erected close around the waterfront because that is where trade took place. Often the older parts become overshadowed by the new buildings, but I have to say that is not the case so much here. The old lane ways and narrow streets still abound along with colorful trim on white facades of the buildings. Everything looks so pristine and rarely do you see litter about on the streets.
Here in Ferragudo there are a lot of feral dogs running about, and you know what they leave behind on the sidewalks and alleyways. By later in the day it's all cleaned up though! There seem to also be a lot of feral cats around restaurants, the thing is they probably keep control of the birds and any lurking sneaky rats and mice! It's a fair trade off, they get tidbits from the patrons and in turn earn their keep.
Tonight we four walked back to the village to the Ferragood restaurant for dinner. It was verragood!!!! To say we waddled home would be an understatement as we imbibed a bit on Vinho, flaming appetizers.....shrimp in sauce so good we mopped it all up with bread. Sharon had prosciutto and Mellon. This was followed by our entrees which filled the plates.....and us. Still and all we had a bit of room for dessert, and a shot glass of almond liqueur! You now know why I say waddled. I seem to recall someone singing on the walk back to our villa about having a little drink and it went right to her head........so it's bed time and in the morning at ten, Jorge will come fetch us in his taxi and whisk us off to Albuferia to catch the EVA bus to Lisbon and then we just need to taxi to the airport for our flight to London. We expect the Queen will have us over for tea at some point. We spend Saturday to Monday night in London before our long flight home Tuesday. I will have to see what the wifi situation is like in London if I continue to blog or not. For now, good night and thanks for taking the time to read my blog!
Oh, PS....the last picture could make you wonder.....it is a pile of cobblestones which are still used on parts of the roadways and sidewalks here. They are very hard rocks, hand hewn for the most part and are always placed about three to four inches deep. Fairly sturdy to tred on and also drive on. They are usually squarish or rectangular in shape with a flat surface most sides. You can see them in some of the pictures. Once they are laid, they fill around them with sand and that just needs refilling now and again. Kind of a make work project in some respects.
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