Faro Foodie Fun

Today is the last day of our Ireland/Portugal trip. Tomorrow is the first day of our Camino. We have a busy day planned as we leave our little cube house in Olhao.

First a food tour organized in Faro. Faro is the capital of the Algarve region and it is a large city, but the central part of town is very historic, lovely and well preserved/restored. We park by the old city walls and explore the old town as we walk uptown toward the Mercado Centro.

We have arranged the tour through Air BnB which now does “experiences”, it is a clever new business line. Sali is our guide. She is a nutritionist who has traveled extensively with the UN, primarily Africa. It is just the six of us, the other three are young engineers from Denmark. We visit some of the stalls, talk to the vendors, many who have been there for decade. We sample their wares, learning about the culture, the history, and some of the traditions.

We then hit the streets, learning a bit more about Faro on our way to lunch at a traditional restaurant where we get to know each other.

After lunch we walk around a bit more, find a pastry shop and then finish with espresso. After the tour we go to About Wine (an amazing little wine shop) to pick up a couple of bottles for dinner with our friends Mitch & Lynn at their little villa.

I worked with Mitch a decade ago and we have kept in touch ever since. They happened to be travelling to Portugal with some friends at the same time as us. They are staying an hour north of Lisbon, we are flying out of Lisbon. It is a 3.5 hour drive from Faro. We have a lovely visit, eat some tapas and drink a small amount of very good wine, before heading to our airport hotel for an early flight.

This portion of our overall trip has been great. Ireland was more touristy and Portugal more local, both were lovely in their own right. The entire trip so far, has been somewhat overshadowed by the Camino which looms larger and larger.Read more