Another Wonderful Story for my Repertoire!

A lovely sunny day but cool. In all our years coming here I think this one has already given us colder nights and mornings than years past. That said, the sky is blue, the earth is green, the clouds are minimal, and I am retired and can do whatever I want, for as long as I wish. How could I possibly find any fault with any of that. Plus, it won’t be long before we’re whining about the heat. (Not true).

After breakfast I decided to bundle up and head off for a “tiny” walk on one the roads close to us. Joanne came along with me and what was supposed to be a short jaunt an hour and thirty four minutes and almost 9 km!!! I’ve warned Joanne, when I go exploring, I turn left or right randomly and as is the reality right now, I haven’t a clue for the most part where the roads truly lead, only a vague sense of direction. I think I wore her out this morning!!

Two things happened while we walked today. Firstly, two enormous dogs, a breed here in Portugal that I don’t know, came barking and barreling down a large hill in our general direction. It wasn’t until they were really close that we realized there wasn’t a fence between us and them!! My heart stopped for a moment and then, with my walking stick in the air, flailing about, I ran towards them screaming like a banshee. Stopped them dead in there tracks! Obviously I’d make a great banshee!!

There is always a tiny house tucked away where least expected, a splash of colour that catches the eye, and all against the blue sky is usually cause for me to stop and breath it all in.

Back to my story……and secondly, this morning before we left the house I took a moment to write a quick email to our previous “landlord”, Konrad, to let him know that we had returned to Portugal and weren’t that far, in fact, from him. Now, back to the mountain walk……we were literally in the middle of absolutely nowhere when we saw a small white house tucked away beyond a fence. As we walked past I happened to look back and who was getting in a car……..

What a small world it is. I had called out to him but he didn’t hear me. The woman who was in the window of the house did and then she called out to Konrad and pointed out at us. We were greeting and chatting when the woman came along and basically insisted that Joanne and I follow her and proceeded to take us into the house, which in fact turned out to be her mother’s house that she now owned and from it operated a bakery!!! She wanted to show us her ovens and explained to us (all in Portuguese) that she provided bread to all the locals and two businesses in Sao Bras. She bakes twice a day, early morning then again mid afternoon and not only breads. What fun it was. To enjoy this exuberant conversation, she delighted to share with us and us delighted to be receiving.

The odor of the freshly baked bread was intoxicating and as we were getting ready to leave she insisted on giving us two loaves (asking me if I liked white or brown) sand unbeknownst to me, tucked two of what turned out to be the best chorizo buns I have ever eaten in all my life, into the bag. My heart was truly full.

Once home we quickly devoured the chorizo buns while Marc made a sandwich with the fresh bread. Lots of ohhing and ahhhing.

After lunch we headed into Olhão as Marc was helping to hang and exhibition, of which he will be part of, and while he was busy, Joanne and I headed off for yet another long walk. (I think Joanne will sleep tonight)!

Olhão is one of my favourite towns in this part of the Algarve and I never tire of wandering and exploring. Joanne had not ad the opportunity to do that and for me it was fun to wander with her up and down the tiny winding, dead-end, or meandering streets in and around the harbour then back to the main street. A few shots from our wanderings.

Directly on the waterfront they have constructed a large new complex, which sadly indicates how much tourism is growing in the previously unspoiled part of the Algarve, however I am hoping it’s good for the economy. It’s filled with restaurants/bars/small boutiques and has really expanded the boardwalk that previously ended much sooner. They’ve dotted it with statutes, children’s play areas, and a few antique looking things…..anchors, boats, etc. One thing that amused me was the presence of two statues which I am convinced they used the face of Alexander Skarsgård to create…LOL

And here we are now, just after 17h30, back home, dinner underway, pellet stove warming the place us, Jazz24 playing in the background and life, as we know it, is simply GRAND.

And a shout out to Mineola…….delighted you are following along again this year. Hugs from Portugal.