Eastern Algarve

 

I got up with the sunrise to watch clam diggers head out in low tide along the Ria Formosa to fill buckets before the tide returned and in time to sell in today's market.  That gave me a head start on the day, which started at the Cemiterio das Ancoras, the anchor "graveyard" that was installed on the Praia de Barril in 1964.  That was the year that the tuna fishing industry ended and the 203 anchors are a monument to the tuna fishing boats they came from.  It's a really striking installation, reached by a 1.3 km walk across a bridge and through mudflats to the beach.  (I wondered why there was a little train that ran alongside the pedestrian walk, until I walked there.  Then I took the train back. ). Tuna is apparently nowhere to be found along the Algarve coast anymore.  The nearby town of Santa Luzia is now the octopus fishing capital of Portugal.  

From there, it was a short distance to Tavira past orange groves on all sides.  I hadn't planned on heading to Tavira so early in this week that I'm here, but it was a beautiful sunny day and the weather app had clouds and even - gasp - rain (which will make the local population very happy, it's much needed) later in the week.  I wanted to see Tavira in sparkling sunshine.

Every nice thing I've ever heard about Tavira seems true. It's beautiful.  The Roman bridge, which is actually a bridge from the 17th century on the site of a bridge that dated back to Roman times, is beautiful.  The Castle, which is in ruins above the city, still has some of its castle walls and I climbed to the top to view the city from there.  I will say what little I did see of shopping (still not really looking to acquire things), from the Praca da Republica (the main plaza next to the Roman bridge) up to the Igreja de San Francisco (a ruin of a church that makes a big impact on the skyline, seen above through the castle walls) didn't seem anything other than touristy.  That of course excludes the Tavira shopping mall where the Vodaphone store was located and clearly caters to local needs for basic life necessities and to people like me who need a new SIM card.

I did paint a little this afternoon, by which I mean both a small painting and a short time.  I was just catching the last rays of the afternoon sun and the beginning of the sunset from my balcony.