To Tavira

We landed in Lisbon at around 10:30 a.m. The flight was okay, but sleeping on the plane wasn’t that great. It was cold! The air blowing down from the ceiling was bothersome. We took the blanket that was given to us and draped it over our heads for the night. Brrr. A warm scarf or hat would have helped.

A meal was served at midnight but few people ate it. In the morning, we were served ham sandwiches but it was too early for us to eat so we passed on that. In hindsight, I should have brought some egg salad sandwiches and fruit.

Going through the Lisbon immigration line was something else. There were hundreds of people and we moved in a Disneyland style line to get to the front. I think that took us about an hour. Back and forth. Back and forth in a moving line.

Now we had to wait for the connecting flight. It was fairly warm and the sun was shining through the windows so it wasn’t all that bad.

At 3 we caught the flight to Faro and arrived by 4 p.m. it is a tiny airport so it was easy to find our way out.

We had heard that we could get a Vodophone chip for our phone a the airport and we easily found their kiosk. The girl was helpful and we paid €20 for 5 mg data and local and long distance calls. A good deal.

Walking out into the sun and 18C weather was great. Ahhhh. Almost to our destination.

We picked up our 2 week rental car at the Luzcar kiosk. It was all pretty easy and straightforward as everyone spoke English. They gave us a toll monitor which tracks any road tolls that we may encounter. We set it up with €15 to start.

Then we filled up at a local gas station. The tank was empty. Why they do this, we will never know.

Our 31 km drive from the Faro airport to Tavira was an easy one. Not like the 401 in Toronto at all. It was a little country road with careful drivers that wandered through fields of carob and almond trees. Our google maps app brought right to our apartment in less than 1/2 hour. It was great.

Tavira is a small town of 26,100 people. Our apartment is perfectly located in the historical area close to a seven-arched Roman bridge that crosses a river with two names (Gilao and Segua) depending on which side of the bridge the river is on. Why two names? We read a legend about two lovers, one Roman and one Muslim, who would meet secretly. One night, they were caught on the bridge by members of their armies and knowing that the consequences of their tryst would not be good, they decided to jump into the river to their deaths. He jumped on one side and she jumped on the other. Thus the two names of the river.

During the Moorish era (10-12th century) Tavira was an important defensive and fortified town, and the castle and ancient city walls date from this period. Later, in the 17th century Tavira was the largest port of the Algarve and the grand mansions, funded by the trade wealth, were constructed close to the river. Along with all of the historic buildings, there are over 36 churches, a series of scenic viewpoints and a lively daily market. Tavira may be relatively small, but it is full of character and is a pleasure to walk around.

Our apartment is very sweet - a one bedroom apartment on the second floor of a row of houses. It has everything that we need including a t.v., microwave, washing machine and an expresso maker. The sun pours into the apartment all day and when we open the doors to the bougainvillea covered balcony, we can watch the daily happenings on the walking street below. It is very peaceful and relaxed here. What a great find in a wonderful location.

The building is very traditional - whited-washed walls with a tile roof. We have two decorative wrought-iron balconies which are topped with pine cone finials. The doors on the street are all different colours and are adorned with fretwork. Our door is green.

Once we settled in a bit, we walked across the street to a small restaurant called Tonel and had a lovely dinner of an bread, olives and tuna appetizer, green salads, main courses of sea bass and steak, and big glasses of wine. That was the best way to end our travelling day.

We were thrilled with the comfort of our bed and enjoyed a great sleep on our first night in Portugal.Read more