Portimão

Portimão is a coastal town in southern Portugal in the region of Portugal called Algarve (The West). 

Here you can see it on the map.  It is at the southern tip of Portugal on the North Atlantic Ocean.

A lemon orchard that I barely captured a photo of as we were driving from the airport.

Ross has been backpacking through Spain and Portugal for a few weeks and we decided to meet him for a weekend at the beach in Portimão Algarve called Praia da Rocha (Rock Beach).

While it is a tourist destination, it is the only place we've ever visited where we were 3 of a handful of native English speakers. I heard almost no English the entire weekend.

The weather here is like none we've ever seen before.  The high temperature each day was about 75F and the low about 65F . There was a cool breeze, not only at the beach, but also within the city.  And the best part, it was full sun all the time.

We ate some good seafood, got plenty of sun and sand, even swam in a salt water pool at the hotel. 

The resident mascot at the hotel is a macaw named Laura. 

If you got close to her she'd climb right on.  I kept my distance, but Jim got close and I feared she would be attracted to his glasses, but instead she immediately snapped a button off his shirt!

We decided to venture up to the top of the ridge you can see in the distance.  There was no easy access and we walked and climbed about 10 miles there and back.   

We got some great photos from the top, but it was a little scary to venture very close to the edge.

As with most picturesque European destinations, you are welcome to venture wherever you like and as I've mentioned before . . . with the added bonus of falling to your death should you forget you have a brain. 

Europeans, in general, are very comfortable with their bodies.  They are in no way inhibited or modest.  I was a little surprised (no longer shocked) that quite a few women were topless on the main beach and we even saw a few nude men, but they were in a less accessible beach area.  Muito obrigado.  That's Portuguese for "thank you very much". 

I opted not to photograph any of this.  Você é bem-vinda.  That's Portuguese for "you're welcome".

When we got to this bar we had it all to ourselves, but within a short time we were joined by:

twin Irish guys at least as old as me who had been drinking all day - by their own admission

and an adult guy with Down Syndrome who ordered only a water.  

The bar had two video screens playing classic songs from the '70's and '80's.  When the songs Summer Nights from Grease and Five Hundred Miles came on, all three of them sang along - loudly.  

At the end of Summer Nights, the guy with Down Syndrome finished it off with this Travolta move.  It was great.

What I would give for a video.  You really had to be there . . . but it may have been the highlight of our trip!


We also learned that we spend way too much time primping in the morning.  We're usually about a half hour from bed to door, but on the day we left Portimao, that was not an option.


The only practical way to get from the airport to the beach is by taxi so we asked the front desk to arrange a taxi (they call it a transfer) for the next morning at 6:45.  We were asleep when the phone rang and I heard Jim say . . . "The transfer is here?  Okay, we will be right there."   The alarm had failed us! 


Since we had to catch a plane, we brushed our teeth, threw on some clothes, grabbed our bags and were at the front desk in less than 5 minutes.  Fortunately we (and by "we", I mean "me") had packed our bags the night before.  So I realized I actually can go out without combing my hair and putting on makeup or shoes!

And here's a video of our photos . . .  after you click the arrow to play the video, you may want to make it full screen by clicking the "square" in the bottom right corner.


Hope you enjoy.

The Recipe

When I googled "recipe for . . .", the first thing that came up was banana bread, followed by sangria, then by meatloaf.  

Sounds like a good menu for the day.

Our only real experience with Belgian family life is through an occasional conversation Jim has at work or an invitation to dinner at our neighbors house.  

I read recently that, traditionally, a wife who is a good cook is a source of pride for a Belgian man.  I'm not sure if that's true anymore as family life has changed in the past few decades.  Women don't just cook, clean and raise the kids . . . but for some, it probably still has some significance.

For the record, Jim is not a Belgian man and I am not a good cook.  Here's the thing . . . I can cook, but you see, therein lies the difference.  Following a recipe or simply putting food on the table in no way constitutes a good cook.  Good cooks love to cook and it has nothing to do with just putting food on the table.

Jim is one of those good cooks.  Those kind of cooks who don't need a recipe, who taste what they cook, alter it, add to it, invent a new recipe out of it.  Like my brother used to say - Jim's gravy would make an old shoe taste good.

Well, he had a good teacher.  His mother.  She is not only a bonafide good cook, she is the best!

And that brings me to the most important thing about today, 25 July:  it is her birthday.  

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Frazier!  I wish I was sitting at your table eating pepper steak right now :)

Protest

"Stop the bad weather."

This past Saturday, about 900 people in Amsterdam signed up via Facebook to run a protest march against the prolonged bad weather.  If only I were a Facebooker, I might have joined them.

The chairman of the Action Committee to Stop the Bad Weather said "We want at least two weeks of sunshine and 25 degrees (77F).  We are already seeing some results, so now we have to persevere."

This demand seems reasonable given it is nearing the end of July.  We do still consider July a summer month, right?

The Amsterdam sun worshipers gathered at the statue of Rembrandt (he was born in Leiden, Netherlands - not too far from Amsterdam), then they marched down several streets, listened to a sun speech at the Heineken Cafe and ended with an after party and press conference.

It seems that simply planning the protest was enough because the sun is finally back.  And I don't know about Amsterdam, but in Hasselt it was nearly 25 degrees yesterday.

All I can say is thanks to the Amsterdamers for finally playing the magic pipe.

Hasselt, Belgium Weather

TodayJul 23

78^°F

60^°F

Sunny

CHANCE OF RAIN:

0%

 

WIND:

SE at 4 mph

Details

TueJul 24

78^°

62^°

Sunny

CHANCE OF RAIN:

0%

 

WIND:

E at 7 mph

Details

UV OD

Last weekend it rained.  All weekend - pausing only for the drizzle.  We contemplated seeing a movie, but the only ones showing before our bedtime were animated or Spiderman.

So we decided to give each other a haircut.

Which can mean only one of two things:

a. We have a new hobby for rainy weekends

b. We have had our hair cut in Belgium for so long we had nothing to lose

Answer: b

So in addition to the weekend, we also had an additional 2 solid days of rain, breaking for drizzle, of course, then a day of complete overcast.  Or as the Brits would spin it - "white cloud".

Have I mentioned we have never needed to water the hedge or the crocus?

But today.  Today the sun shone.  Not all day.  Don't be ridiculous, but it did shine all afternoon so I did my damnedest to get a sunburn.

Success!

Now I'm ready for whatever the weather brings.  I may have this thing figured out.

Drie jaar oud!

Gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag!

Happy Birthday, Frazier!

Met veel liefde,

Oma & Opa