Tavira awakened slowly, this Sunday morning, which was great because we actually had a sleep-in....our first one this entire week! Our windows are directly over the central street and there was NO sound outside until 10:00 this morning......then, it was like the ants came marching two by two and three by three....out of buildings and alley ways....With voices and movements that suggested something was happening! It wasn't long before we joined the flow and found a mini market just down the street and around the corner, in the garden square, which seems to be a meeting spot for the locals to gather and be together as families and neighbours. I seems that many people live in apartments with no yard, decks or private outdoor space, so they come to the garden square to visit and spend time outdoors. It is a picturesque space!! It really creates a sense of community, when people are not living in their private silos! The language is beautiful....the laughter intoxicating, especially the laughter of children playing with their parents and grandparents! It is a universal sound, rich with goodness and everything nice! They have beautiful looking children here, in Portugal! They are all dark haired, darker skinned and facially very attractive! It is something we both comment on frequently!
Today, we have adopted the pace of this community and have been very relaxed and slow paced. We enjoyed breakfast in our apartment as we listened to a couple of musicians play guitar and some other stringed instrument, across the street while they sat outside at a table, having their coffee. It seemed this was a spontaneous thing....they were not buskers or anything like that. It was 2 middle aged people with instruments and as they drank their coffee, they filled our narrow, stone insulated street with beautiful music! It was SUCH a gift!! Speaking of buskers....we have been surprised and a bit disappointed that there is not more outdoor entertainment on the streets. Maybe it will start happening now that the weather has gotten nicer. W have been told repeatedly that it has been a cooler and rainier season than usual for them. The sun apparently just came out yesterday (just on time for our arrival!!) :)
Today, it was hot and sunny....about 24 degrees. I HAD to wear sunscreen and a hat or I would have been in big trouble with my sun sensitivity issues! It is 6:30 PM as I write this and it is just now starting to cloud over and it is cooling off.
We scouted out bike rental shops for tomorrow and we found an actual grocery store!! We only bought a few things to begin our self-catering adventure, because we plan to go to the bigger market tomorrow morning where we will get fresh produce, meat, baking, etc. It does not open on Sundays. There are number of businesses and restaurants that honour Sunday as the day of rest.
With our apartment being so central, we were able to come back here and enjoy a light lunch of fresh bread, which we bought at the mini market this morning, along with cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers, which we got at the grocery store. Then we had fresh oranges that we picked yesterday and a very tasty almond cookie (from the market) for desert!!! (Linda....you would have LOVED this bread as it had hunks of crisply fried bacon rind in in!!!..... when I was looking at the bread choices, I asked the girl what was in it ( I thought maybe it was chunks of cheese or peppers), all she could tell me was that it was "not sweet". When we bit into it....it had great bacon fat flavour but I had to extract the bacon rind, from mine, cause I don't like the texture of it.)
As we wandered the streets, today, we found new and interesting areas of Tavira....we enjoyed people-watching and we practised some Portuguese phrases in our interactions with market vendors! I ended up buying a bottle of some kind of liqueur instead of vinegar today....they were in pretty, vinegar looking bottles unfortunately, me and the seller could not understand each other so I just bought it, thinking it had to be vinegar because it was being sold in a public, outdoor market but....no, when I got it home and opened it....we had a flavourful sipping liqueur and NOT vinegar!!
Lawrence is enjoying a siesta as I type this out. We are going to cook supper for ourselves,this evening, then go out walking again for a couple of hours. It is VERY safe and quiet on the cobblestone streets at night. As in Lisbon, people eat supper((dinner) late....starting at 7:30 PM and most often later than that, so there are often people sitting at outdoor cafes enjoying the food and visiting. It feels very nice to be out and about!
Here a few pictures that capture some of what we saw and did today.....
I HATE wearing hats but it was so hot, I HAD to!!
One angle of the view from the riverside cafe we stopped and had a beer at this Afternoon.
Lawrence walking over the bridge that connects to the garden square near our place.
A man patiently spear fishing off a jut-out on the bridge. He had just shot the Speer gun and was pulling in the line, in this picture. He was not successful.
An interesting blooming tree, we came across.
Here are some not so prosperous homes.....this always breaks my heart!
People gathered in the garden square that also houses the mini market. This is like 1 minute from our door.
Lawrence....enjoying this restful Sunday in Tavira!
And the church bells are ringing once again, as I end this entry! Soooo beautiful! (This small city apparently has 23 Catholic Churches here. Unbelievable!)
Take care Everyone!!!
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