Three Favorites in Tavira
Because of our delayed departure from Morocco that randomly placed us in the middle of Andalucia, we ended up meandering around Andalucia instead of following our original plan. So when we ended up in Seville, where a car was a hindrance instead of a help, we weren’t sure where to go to put our car to good use. We wanted to see the eastern part of Andalucia such as Granada and Costa del Sol, but it seemed our car would get in the way. Plus, we were less than 2 hours from Portugal’s border. In the end, the call of a new country beckoned too loudly, so we headed west. It fascinates me still that you can cross a country’s border just as easily as if you passed from Pennsylvania to Ohio.
We landed in Tavira, one of the first towns along Portugal’s Algarve region. Our friends Brad and Rachel recently visited Portugal and were smitten with the Algarve, and we could see why. Supposedly in July and August this area is overrun with tourists. While we weren’t the only visitors, it seemed like the perfect time to visit, as it was not crowded but the weather was warm and sunny (in the 80s) each day.
Tavira is a small little town with good vibe. It is not right on the coast, and you have to take a ferry to the beach, which is located on a nearby island. A small river runs through town, with pedestrian bridges leading you to each side. The buildings lining the river shine with the sunlight and reflect their images onto the water. Many of the buildings in town are white with red roofs, and those that are not are covered in colorful Portuguese tile. There seemed to be many ex-pats who have settled there, such as the British B&B owners, the shop owner from Wales, and the German woman running the Laundromat.
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| From Eastern Algarve |
We sensed a strong UK presence. We saw magazines geared to British tourists, pubs with British and Irish beers, and English on all of the menus. Many of the tourists spoke English, but with a much different accent than our English. A waiter wanted to know where our unique accent was from, because we didn’t sound like the others. He said he didn’t see many people from the United States. We’ve heard that many tourists skip Portugal because it is just a sliver of land bordering Spain, and there is so much to see in Spain. While we love Spain, Portugal was fun and different and definitely worth seeing in its own right.
Some of our favorite things about this trip so far are located in Tavira. Every meal we had in Tavira was good, but our dinner at Restaurante Patio stood out. We ate dinner up on the terrace. The prawns I ordered were huge, and interspersed between grilled vegetables, sausage, and juicy chunks of pineapple. They were brushed with nothing more than a few spices, olive oil, and the pineapple juice. Sean equally enjoyed his traditional Portuguese dish, some sort of steak with a flavorful sauce. Unfortunately, although we heard rumors of Portugal being cheap, we found the meals to be more expensive than many of the meals we had in Spain. This is mostly because they practically force feed you starters. They will bring starters and charge you for them, whether you order them or not. There is a charge for bread, a charge for butter, a charge for cheese, a charge for olives, a charge for sardine pate, and a charge for marinated carrots (this charge I could forgive, because they were tasty).
Tavira also had a number of cute shops, but again, one stood out in particular. Casa das Portas is a small shop, but it is chock full of many treasures. Every direction in which you looked was filled with beautiful objects. I wanted to buy the whole store. Between the bags, the wall hangings, the pictures of Tavira’s doors taken by the owner, the scarves, and the jewelry, I was in heaven. The whole shop was filled with color. You can take a trip around the world right in the shop, because many of the items are from artists around the world. The owner, Jane Gibbons, told me she tries to buy items that are fairly traded. The owner is a very sweet and helpful woman with an adorable accent. She is originally from Wales. She began visiting Tavira a number of years ago, and opened the shop in 2007. She went out of her way to show me all of the options, and even volunteered that a necklace I was looking at came in a smaller, less expensive version in case I wanted to spend less.
I made a separate trip back without Sean so I could spend time lingering over all of the beautiful things in the store. To Sean’s dismay (but not surprise) I did not walk out empty handed. In my defense, we were headed to the beach later that day, and if I had not bought a purple and rose striped tote bag from London, we would have had to bring our small backpack and gotten it all sandy. It also came in handy for our trips to the grocery store for our picnic lunch. In my further defense, it is not like we planned to visit Columbia, so I could not have bought the bright, multi-colored necklace made from tagua (vegetal ivory) and dyed with natural dyes anywhere else. Nor was Indonesia a definite on our list, so the purple three strand bracelet made from coconut shells was a good buy. Believe me, only purchasing three items was restraint. If the multi-colored beaded or silver necklaces from an Australian artist hadn’t been over a hundred euros, I might have given them serious consideration. And then there was the spiral wall hanging made from recycled paper in Brazil…if only it wasn’t too big to fit in the backpack.
We also loved the place where we stayed. We did not have a guidebook for Portugal, and picked a hotel/B&B on a whim. We are very glad we did. The place where we stayed, Residencial Hotel Por do Sol, is hands down the best place we stayed so far. It had everything but a hairdryer. (I’ve only encountered about 4 or 5 hairdryers on this trip. Except for Matt’s Parisian apartment, all of the hairdryers have been puny, wimpy ones – nothing to get excited over). We had booked a room on the terrace, but Miguel, the owner, upgraded us for no charge into a bright and sunny room on the second floor. The room was stylish, and had a desk and two chairs in addition to the comfortable bed. (It gets very old having nothing but a bed to sit on all of the time). We had a television with English speaking channels. We had a balcony, which even came with a clothesline so we could dry our laundry in the sun as the Portuguese do. We had a small refridgerator. And after a stretch of many rooms without wifi at all or only in a common area, it was glorious to have wifi right in our room. The hotel was in walking distance to all of the shops and restaurants of Tavira, and Miguel was full of advice about places to eat in Tavira and things to do in the Algarve. Breakfast (fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, croissants, meats and cheeses, and fruit salad) was served on the terrace overlooking Tavira’s rooftops. The best part? The room was only 44 euros per night (about $55).
We didn’t want to leave Tavira, and considered staying another night. But then the internet went down, so we headed West (you know, out Californee way) to get us some internet.
Love in Seville
Seville, Spain has something special that all cities want. I’m not sure if is the fascinating culture, the sunny weather, the colorful Spanish tile, the river snaking through town, the wide streets lined with flowers and palm trees, the narrow winding streets in the old section, or some combination of above.
One of the things that Seville definitely has is romance. May must be wedding season in Seville like it is at home, because we saw brides and grooms everywhere. Strolling through the main square. Riding in horse-drawn carriages. Posing for pictures under flowers. At one point, everywhere I turned I saw a newly married couple. Their happiness and passion is infectious.
I was so entertained by the wedding couples that I turned into wedding paparazzi. I need to improve my surreptitious photography skills for sure, as I am sure more than one bride wondered why the crazy American tourist was taking her picture.
Kodachrome
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away
Au Revoir, Paris.
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| From Paris by day |
From the time we stepped off the train a little over two weeks ago, Paris has been disorienting. Like many big cities, it is loud, crowded, hectic. Further complicating things is the fact that Paris is in France. Our friends working in Paris told us that up is down in France and down is up, and not to question why. (This hasn’t stopped us from questioning why the light switches turn out upside down, why the spin cycle on the washing machine only actually spins every couple minutes, or why two light switches need to be in the correct position to turn on the overhead light). Every time we go into our favorite bakery around the corner, we feel like the people using cash who interrupt the flow in that credit card commercial. We stand there, debating our choices, while the other customers sail in and out. The girl behind the counter eventually gives up on us and walks away. When we finally make our selections, we awkwardly order. Meanwhile, the cashier continually calls out in a sing-song voice, Bonjour! Merci Beacoup! Baguette! Madelienes! Mer-ci Bea-coup!
I liked Paris from the start, but I couldn’t say it was love at first sight. Sure, I thought, Paris is a nice city, but what makes it different than any other big city? Initially, the highlights of Paris were seeing our friend Matt and Sean’s friends from work and the hairdryer, heated towel rack, and washing machine in the apartment.
We filled our days with all that Paris has to offer.
We admired the very tall stained glass windows at 13th century Saint Chappelle.
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| From Paris by day |
We viewed the flagrant flaunting of royal opulence outside the city at Versailles.
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| From Versailles |
We gazed at the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the distance at night.
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| From Paris by night |
We walked down Champ Elysses to the magnificent Arc de Trimoph, and strolled along the river by Notre Dame.
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| From Paris by day |
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| From Paris by day |
We had a picnic at the Eiffel Tower, surrounded by spring flowers. (And very aggressive French ducks).
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| From Paris by day |
We viewed Paris from up on high, from Montmarte and Printemps.
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| From More Paris… |
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| From More Paris… |
Sean went to the Louvre, and Musee de Orsay.
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| From More Paris… |
We visited Notre Dame.
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| From More Paris… |
We did sport in Luxembourg Garden, and watched others do sport, French-style, in Luxembourg Garden. (A woman at Matt’s work told him that she was into “sport.” When he asked what type of sports she liked, she said, “oh, I do fitness.”)
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| From More Paris… |
We amused ourselves by playing chicken with the French on the narrow sidewalks, once we realized we were the only ones constantly moving out of the way.
I visited La Patisserie Reves, where pastries are treated as works of art.
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| From More Paris… |
We walked around the Merais neighborhood, where Jewish shops abound.
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| From More Paris… |
I did a taste-off between the macaroons from Laduree and Pierre Herme. (It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it). I declared the verdict between the shops to be a tie, with the chocolate ones from either to be the big winner.
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| From More Paris… |
Somewhere between evening walks to fetch the different components for dinner, daily visits to “our” bakery, “wasting” time sitting outdoors at cafes, spotting a French model perform a fashion shoot on a crowded street, tasting the French and international flavors of the city, and visits to Luxembourg Garden, I think I fell in love with Paris. Often, the days we didn’t have anything in particular planned were the best ones, because something always popped up. I think this is what I like best about Paris. Paris is big, concrete and stone. I had to search for little bright spots. But they kept popping up.
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| From More Paris… |
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| From More Paris… |
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| From More Paris… |
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| From More Paris… |
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| From More Paris… |
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| From More Paris… |
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| From More Paris… |
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| From More Paris… |
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| From Paris by day |
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| From Paris by day |
I will be posting about our trip to Brussels this past weekend soon, but I must get to sleep now. Tomorrow, we are off to Morocco, a whole new country, a whole new continent. As fascinating as Europe is, it is much like the United States, relatively speaking, so our first foray into Africa should be interesting. We fly into Essaouria, and will be traveling throughout Morocco for the next two weeks.
