Mercado de Domingo de Manhã

Sunday morning started with a big blue sky, bright sunshine, and two very happy Canadian men! As it is Sunday we were thrilled with the weather as it meant we could head off to the Estoi market and not have to bundle up, or worry about rain showers. Not!!!!!

About 20 minutes before we were heading out, an unpleasant looking cloud front moved in and seemed to settle over us, it didn’t bode well. However, that was early this morning, it’s now 16h15 and we did not experience a single drop of rain and the temperature hit 17,5. The sun, unfortunately, did not return but that’s ok, we know it will arrive here sooner or later.

The market was not as busy as normal, both with vendors and visitors. I think that folks are a little gun shy right now because of the unpredictability of the weather plus, I suppose, many of them have been hit hard with the storms and could be at home cleaning up.

Marc’s cousins, and their significant others are here for a couple of months, staying near Albufeira. They don’t hesitate to head out and seek opportunities to visit places, markets, etc. and it wasn’t a surprise to see them at the Estoi market.

Benoît, Line, (cousin), Linda, Gilles, (cousin) et Marc. Marc is thrilled to meet up with family and we enjoyed a lovely Sunday together.

 

Of course being at the market is a grand place for people watching and I never thought about the fact that we tourists are probably being watched. Today I caught these two women (they were working in one of the stalls) people watching while snorting and laughing. I’d love to know what they found funny…..I think it was the outfit of one of the couples that had passed just in front of me.

I saw the funniest little thing……..I was walking around, simply taking it all in when about 20 meters in front of me I noticed two old men sauntering slowly, looking around them and obviously happy to be there. They were not together and in fact, were walking towards each other. Suddenly out of the crowd walks this tall, statuesque red headed woman. Long hair, tight clothing, high heeled boots, and walking quickly towards one of the stalls. I knew exactly what was about to happen………the two old men saw her, couldn’t take their eyes off her (from top to bottom and back again) and BAM, slammed right into each other and nearly fell backwards. It was way to funny…….for a moment they looked a little stunned, one said something to the other an motioned in the direction of the woman, who was by now nearly out of sight, and they both threw there heads back, laughed loudly, then walked off. I wish I could have videoed it but it all happened so quickly.

And then we spotted André, Carole, et Rejeane. We love it when this happens, when we bump into our friends unexpectedly here in Portugal. I guess it’s not really “unexpected” as we all tend to enjoy the markets but, you never know what time we all might be there and it is a big place. They were staying at the market for a wonderful grilled frango lunch, which we’ll look forward to hearing all about.

We reconnected with Marc’s cousins and all headed off to try and find a place for lunch, which turned out to be Chez Dinis’s. Lots of great conversation, many laughs, good food, we were even waited on by Dinis himself. I intentionally left my camera in the car to allow myself to be present, and part of the experience instead of snapping photos of food.

Another wonderful day is winding down, we’re debating whether or not to put on a fire. It’s not at all cold here but sometimes the fire is more about atmosphere and not always warmth. Do we or don’t we???

And in closing, my favourite character of the day………..I think I have to title it “Dressed to Kill”