Ilha de Tavira / Tavira beach
The ferry from Tavira to the Ilha de Tavira was 1.9 Euros return per person. It is a really well run service with a friendly crew. In a couple of weeks it’ll close for the end of the season but to have it running mid November was excellent. Although there were still 2 maybe 3 places to eat/drink open depending on the day there is a interesting feel to it, like you aren’t supposed to be there. Would the menu boards wrapped in cling film get through the winter? Magpies taken over from the seagulls, flaky paint and sun shades with no shades.
Its a great place though, order a toasted sandwich and watch the little birds come for the crumbs. Stroll on the beach that has a sign with one bullet point being:
“Preserve the natural sounds. Avoid noise”
Second trip we carried on along the beach to Santa Luzia, the reverse of the walk we made last year. There are a few people on the top deck but you get a sense of how quiet it is.
You over shoot the fishing village of Santa Luzia when you walk along the beach. A little train takes you inland and from there you can get to the town on a pleasant walk with water on one side and some farms on the other. Crossing the road to the orange tree farm I spotted some snails on the fencing. Luckily I’d brought a Achromat close up lens to screw on, with the little Sony lenses having a 49mm filter thread it is lightweight and cheaper than buying one for a larger diameter lens.
The tree in the village square I’d photographed last year seemed unchanged. I’d happily stay in Santa Luzia again.
Fuzeta
Two years ago we stayed in Fuzeta and really enjoyed it. We visited for a market which turned out to be more of a really large garage sale / car boot sale. Felt like we’d had long enough there and carried on along the train route to Faro. There were cute cats though so all was not lost.
Polarizer or not, that’s a really deep blue sky:
Estoi Palace
From Faro we took a bus to Estoi palace. As well as having grounds open to the public it has been turned into a hotel by a chain that buys up historic properties. The coffee was good but at three times the cost for the classic toasted cheese and ham (5.70 Euros) you were definitely paying for the view. It was the only (of our almost daily) toasties we had that was burnt, you don’t always get what you pay for.
A taxi shared with some other tourists also stranded by the bus schedule took us back to Faro in time for the Sunset. A week this year than meant that the Sun set before the 6pm train back. You get a handful of people on the little pier every night.
A girl runs along and notices her shadow:
Planes, Trains Automobiles. Catching the plane as it went through the Sun wasn’t quite successful. You try these ideas, sometimes they work, sometimes not.
Manta Rota & Cacela Velha
A little walk from the Cacela train stop we found Manta Rota, a town in a parish of 4000 people and yet manages to have a huge square. UK councils would have had a car park on it on a block of flats before you could blink.
From there we tried to get to Cacela Velha along the beach but the tide was high and we had to back track along quiet top roads.
A slither of Cacela Velha beach separated by water from the tiny coastal hill village:
Oddly the towns restaurants had notes suggesting they were opening back up December 1st, so other than public toilets (with cunningly drilled holes at the top of the door to let in the Sun) nothing was open. If they had I would have bought the cats some food. A church, some pretty traditional houses and a fort that was also closed. Definitely the sort of place more reachable by hire car with food and water in the boot, we’d walked 4 hours or so in the Sun by the time we got back to the train station.
