Pat and Gary have arrived and are quickly settling into life in Estoi. They, like us, are happy to have a reprieve from the Canadian winter and are looking forward to sunshine, blue skies, wildflowers, and of course, inexpensive Portuguese vino!
Today, being the second Sunday of the month, meant the Estoi Market. In all my times visiting it I don’t think I have ever seen it as heavily populated with vendors as it was today. We thoroughly enjoyed the aimless wandering, the cacophony of vendors calling out for customers, the scents and sounds, and all the smiling faces.
Just as we were more or less wrapping up we bumped into Pat and Gary who had arrived a bit later than us. They had finished their shopping so the five of us headed off for a small cafe in the square near our house and enjoyed a coffee and catch-up. It was still quite early in the day and I had a project in mind and with that P&G headed back to their place while Marc, James and I hopped in the car and headed off into the mountains.
I was trying to find a particular house that I had found online but sadly, couldn’t actually locate it. I had the GPS coordinates and I did follow them, however, if you could have seen the tiny little dead-end street they took us down, and then watched me trying to turn the car around, you would have either peed yourself from fear or laughter. One or the other!!
By now we were hungry and nothing to be found in Santa Caterina but we were close to Bemparece and a favourite restaurant and off we trekked.
Sadly the patio was quite full, which meant we were relegated to inside, not all bad but certainly not what we would have liked. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and then decided to take a short walk along the main road to take in the views before heading back down the mountain.
And my last photo of the day, probably a bit sacrilegious for some but……the Blessed Virgin worshipping a bunny rabbit!!!! The composition of both in the corner of the restaurant dining room amused me greatly!
Marc and Randys Travel Adventures 
Des pompons pour les francophones?! J’aime bien le titre de ce post! Et le marché, comment tu fais pour rien acheter! Better not be any Talbot merchants in Portuguese markets because if I ever get there it would be the death of my budget!
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To be honest, I don’t look at the women’s clothing so I don’t know what brands of clothing they have. There is however, lots! The Portuguese economy might appreciate a visit from you!
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Oh, oh, oh. The shirts! Marc should get the orange one and you should get the lime coloured one!!! They would look amazing on you both.
I just love that mixture of flowers! What a brilliant splash of colour it is. How wonderful would that look in a little garden.
LOL at the name on the underwear. That’s quite funny.
James and Marc seem to be having a blast, I love it.
It’s a shame you didn’t find that house you were looking for. I would have enjoyed seeing it I’m sure.
Thee Three Musketeers are looking pretty happy with life.
If you were close by you’d hear a big sigh coming from me. It’s always a pleasure to see the beautiful blue of the sky and the brilliant colours of flowers, shrubs and market items and sharing in the daily activities you all do. It’s as if I’m right there sharing it all. A nice little break from what I see out my window and the dullness of what my life is. lol
Love to you all.
xoxoxoxox
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Yes, you would go mad at the markets but you’d also be upset with all the animals in cages that we don’t post!
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Very fond of the market in Estoi; just had some figs I bought there on my oatmeal this morning! Colourful, lively, interesting and fun! Great scarves, as I recall. Ahem! Love your smiling faces, Fellas, as opposed to my jealous grin! LOL! xoxo
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Yesterday it seemed that every other vendor was carrying scarves!!! We would have had to leave you there and come back for you later in the day, unless of course you simply moved on with the market crowd!
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Great photos of the market in Estoi & so nice to hear there were lots of vendors. I do love the shawls with the pompons – neat. When you got lost with the GPS, I laughed as it reminded me of the time we were in Northern Spain and we ended up in the front yard of a family with chickens etc & about to be led down some cow path – good memories!
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LOL. I often think back on that incident and laugh. It was so much fun and I will never forget the looks on the faces of the old man and woman as we drove through their chickens!
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