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Published: April 11th 2010
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Today got off to a much better start. We got up late, had a late breakfast with coffee out on the upper terrace except for Renita, who’s having wine. We listened to a cacophony (this was Jo’s big word for the day) bird calls including that damn rooster across the road. We spent the morning looking through our tour books and maps and we discovered we’re not in any of them. Consequently, at noon we headed out without really knowing where we were going. However, we soon found directions to the Coelha beach that was about a half hour walk away.
The weather turned out to be beautiful - very warm and bright. We got to the beach with no trouble and immediately started to enjoy the scenery. There was something for all of us. In fact, we were treated to a couple of women who changed into their bathing suits right in the middle of the beach. The fact that they were at least 80 years old didn’t help the picture any. We got into the water, ankle deep, and took some pictures. It’s too bad we didn’t take our swimming togs because the water was actually fairly warm
and there were lots of people in the water. We were at the beach for about an hour and then made our way back home.
On the way back we stopped at a larger supermarket and did a major shop. We have enough groceries to last us two or three days and tonight we’re going to bar-b-q some chicken. Pete, Renita & Jo took a cab back to the villa as the cab driver wouldn’t take 5 passengers, so Cath & I walked back. Once back at the condo we had happy hour around the pool. Cath and I got into the pool for a swim (the water was colder than the ocean) and then we got supper under way.
Bar-b-qíng is a bit different here. Most of the bar-b-q’s are like small open fire places, quite like a fire pot. The briquettes are actually charcoal and are quite soft and once started they burn down quite quickly. Consequently we may go through our entire bag before the end of dinner. Oh well, it’s not a long walk back to the store.
We’re discovering that the Algarve is quite a large city. It was originally a fishing
port. Because of its proximity to the ocean, vast clean beaches and Spain, the area developed into the largest resort area in the south of Portugal. It’s very commercialized and expensive but a lot more people speak good English. We’ve been looking at real estate posters and villas are not cheap here, many in the half million euro plus range. Most of the radio stations here play western rock music and fashions are anything but traditional Portugese. It’s very different from the north.
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