Three Favorites in Tavira
Because of our delayed departure from Morocco that randomly placed us in the middle of Andalucia, we ended up meandering around Andalucia instead of following our original plan. So when we ended up in Seville, where a car was a hindrance instead of a help, we weren’t sure where to go to put our car to good use. We wanted to see the eastern part of Andalucia such as Granada and Costa del Sol, but it seemed our car would get in the way. Plus, we were less than 2 hours from Portugal’s border. In the end, the call of a new country beckoned too loudly, so we headed west. It fascinates me still that you can cross a country’s border just as easily as if you passed from Pennsylvania to Ohio.
We landed in Tavira, one of the first towns along Portugal’s Algarve region. Our friends Brad and Rachel recently visited Portugal and were smitten with the Algarve, and we could see why. Supposedly in July and August this area is overrun with tourists. While we weren’t the only visitors, it seemed like the perfect time to visit, as it was not crowded but the weather was warm and sunny (in the 80s) each day.
Tavira is a small little town with good vibe. It is not right on the coast, and you have to take a ferry to the beach, which is located on a nearby island. A small river runs through town, with pedestrian bridges leading you to each side. The buildings lining the river shine with the sunlight and reflect their images onto the water. Many of the buildings in town are white with red roofs, and those that are not are covered in colorful Portuguese tile. There seemed to be many ex-pats who have settled there, such as the British B&B owners, the shop owner from Wales, and the German woman running the Laundromat.
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| From Eastern Algarve |
We sensed a strong UK presence. We saw magazines geared to British tourists, pubs with British and Irish beers, and English on all of the menus. Many of the tourists spoke English, but with a much different accent than our English. A waiter wanted to know where our unique accent was from, because we didn’t sound like the others. He said he didn’t see many people from the United States. We’ve heard that many tourists skip Portugal because it is just a sliver of land bordering Spain, and there is so much to see in Spain. While we love Spain, Portugal was fun and different and definitely worth seeing in its own right.
Some of our favorite things about this trip so far are located in Tavira. Every meal we had in Tavira was good, but our dinner at Restaurante Patio stood out. We ate dinner up on the terrace. The prawns I ordered were huge, and interspersed between grilled vegetables, sausage, and juicy chunks of pineapple. They were brushed with nothing more than a few spices, olive oil, and the pineapple juice. Sean equally enjoyed his traditional Portuguese dish, some sort of steak with a flavorful sauce. Unfortunately, although we heard rumors of Portugal being cheap, we found the meals to be more expensive than many of the meals we had in Spain. This is mostly because they practically force feed you starters. They will bring starters and charge you for them, whether you order them or not. There is a charge for bread, a charge for butter, a charge for cheese, a charge for olives, a charge for sardine pate, and a charge for marinated carrots (this charge I could forgive, because they were tasty).
Tavira also had a number of cute shops, but again, one stood out in particular. Casa das Portas is a small shop, but it is chock full of many treasures. Every direction in which you looked was filled with beautiful objects. I wanted to buy the whole store. Between the bags, the wall hangings, the pictures of Tavira’s doors taken by the owner, the scarves, and the jewelry, I was in heaven. The whole shop was filled with color. You can take a trip around the world right in the shop, because many of the items are from artists around the world. The owner, Jane Gibbons, told me she tries to buy items that are fairly traded. The owner is a very sweet and helpful woman with an adorable accent. She is originally from Wales. She began visiting Tavira a number of years ago, and opened the shop in 2007. She went out of her way to show me all of the options, and even volunteered that a necklace I was looking at came in a smaller, less expensive version in case I wanted to spend less.
I made a separate trip back without Sean so I could spend time lingering over all of the beautiful things in the store. To Sean’s dismay (but not surprise) I did not walk out empty handed. In my defense, we were headed to the beach later that day, and if I had not bought a purple and rose striped tote bag from London, we would have had to bring our small backpack and gotten it all sandy. It also came in handy for our trips to the grocery store for our picnic lunch. In my further defense, it is not like we planned to visit Columbia, so I could not have bought the bright, multi-colored necklace made from tagua (vegetal ivory) and dyed with natural dyes anywhere else. Nor was Indonesia a definite on our list, so the purple three strand bracelet made from coconut shells was a good buy. Believe me, only purchasing three items was restraint. If the multi-colored beaded or silver necklaces from an Australian artist hadn’t been over a hundred euros, I might have given them serious consideration. And then there was the spiral wall hanging made from recycled paper in Brazil…if only it wasn’t too big to fit in the backpack.
We also loved the place where we stayed. We did not have a guidebook for Portugal, and picked a hotel/B&B on a whim. We are very glad we did. The place where we stayed, Residencial Hotel Por do Sol, is hands down the best place we stayed so far. It had everything but a hairdryer. (I’ve only encountered about 4 or 5 hairdryers on this trip. Except for Matt’s Parisian apartment, all of the hairdryers have been puny, wimpy ones – nothing to get excited over). We had booked a room on the terrace, but Miguel, the owner, upgraded us for no charge into a bright and sunny room on the second floor. The room was stylish, and had a desk and two chairs in addition to the comfortable bed. (It gets very old having nothing but a bed to sit on all of the time). We had a television with English speaking channels. We had a balcony, which even came with a clothesline so we could dry our laundry in the sun as the Portuguese do. We had a small refridgerator. And after a stretch of many rooms without wifi at all or only in a common area, it was glorious to have wifi right in our room. The hotel was in walking distance to all of the shops and restaurants of Tavira, and Miguel was full of advice about places to eat in Tavira and things to do in the Algarve. Breakfast (fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, croissants, meats and cheeses, and fruit salad) was served on the terrace overlooking Tavira’s rooftops. The best part? The room was only 44 euros per night (about $55).
We didn’t want to leave Tavira, and considered staying another night. But then the internet went down, so we headed West (you know, out Californee way) to get us some internet.
What is Algarve? Is it a place or a thing to eat? I’m reading this a little quickly as the kids are calling me…. but I was confused 🙂
I’ve heard great things about Portugal too. I’m glad you got a chance to visit there!
Sunday night I had a dream that you guys came home for the summer. You said you were going to continue your trip in September but didn’t wanna miss summer at home 🙂 We were really excited to see you!