Farewell Faro

 I last visited Portugal twenty years ago. And it was the perfect time to return, to slowly get back into travelling, to enjoy gentle adventure with great food, history, culture and a large glass of Super Bock. I will be back! 

Would you like to try my spicy sausage?

 A great recommendation for a restaurant in the old town of Faro was to head to the Old Tavern. There’s so many restaurants to choose from and this was a popular one, with a queue forming at lunch time to sit at their outside tables.

Their signature tapas dish here is a flaming spicy sausage and it was delicious! Love a good recommendation.

It’s the wrong season for Storks

 Everyone I have spoken to who has visited Portugal, which is practically half of Cornwall, as there are direct flights to Faro from Newquay airport, have said that you must look out for the storks on the roofs of the houses. 

I saw nothing, no nests, no storks, they’ve gone to North Africa. Still it gives me a reason to return. 

The 60km Ria Formosa Nature Park is a protected lagoon and home to a wealth of wildlife. Protected areas for sea horses and samphire tidal flats teaming with crabs and fish for the birds. It’s not the best timing to see masses of wildlife, but on a bird watching cruise we saw spoonbills, storks, a black osprey, flamingos and an eagle.

This is my office

All best laid plans can unravel. I was keen to see the storks and other bird life in the 60km lagoon national park. I went to on the day, only to be told that it was cancelled and there was a 6 hour cruise around the islands. So of course I joined that. 

I had half an hour to do a supermarket sweep and get breakfast and enough water that I didn’t melt. So I arrived on board with two pastel de nadas’s and water. It was a long wait until coffee, but me and my new best friends Sue and Scot from Scotland, sitting opposite me on the luxury boat laughed and gossiped as we sped across the water. First to a man made island, with prestine sand, the second to a fisherman’s island where we tucked into a plate of sardines and then to a deserted island. All so beautiful.

The guide was great, very friendly and kept on saying “this is my office”. Wow!  

Did you book this on line?

 Cash is king in Portugal. I can’t remember the last time I used cash at home. All transactions are just an easy quick tap. 

I grabbed with the app for the trains and downloaded my ticket to my Apple wallet, only to see all the passengers with their paper ticket. “Did you buy this on line?” asked the ticket inspector. We I certainly didn’t just make it in canva. 

And that’s another thing - train travel is so affordable, just another thing that our country fails at. It’s crazy that flying to Portugal is less than the train to London! 

No need to ask for directions

 I feel so grateful that I come from a generation where we had to plan our travel, as you know I absolutely love a spreadsheet! Well that’s not the case now. Everything we need to know is in the palm of our hands. 

No need to ask for directions, as you just follow google maps. No need to head to the tourist information, you just search the internet or ask ChatGPT.

We’re loosing our fabulous interactions. No one is chatting on the trains, they’re all glued to their screens. 

I still want to ask for directions!!!!! 

I shook the bishops hand

 This morning I explored the old part of town, fuelled by strong coffee and a pastel de nata. 

The cathedral was closed, but the square was buzzing. A large screen with chairs around was broadcasting from inside. A red carpet went around from the nearby museum and it was lined with scouts on guard. The new Bishop of the Algarve was having a special service and as I stood by the red carpet he came along and as he did with many in the crowd, he shook my hand.