TAG you're art!

 Years ago, when we sailed on the Queen Mary II to Hamburg Germany, we got a taxi to our hotel, and when we got out of the cab, we knew we had chosen the wrong neighbourhood; all the building were vandalized with “Tagging” At the time you just didn't see this, especially in Germany. As it happened, our hotel was on the outskirts of the Reeperbahn, or the “Red Light” district of Hamburg, and the police or whoever controlled the “Tagging” just didn't worry about vandalization in this neighbourhood. Oh, (BTW)by the way, this was one of the best hotels we have ever booked and other than walking by the sex shops to get anywhere in Hamburg, everything was wonderful. It was Hamburg Harley Days and 55,000 Harley Davidsons descended on the city for the weekend – I had a great vacation.

This tagging has become rampant everywhere, and we have not found any country that has been able to control it. I think it gets worse as unemployment increases, especially youth unemployment, and Europe, especially Spain, Portugal & Greece are really suffering serious unemployment. Needless to say, the tagging is really bad here in Olhão. It is everywhere. Entire buildings are covered, and as the number of deserted or unoccupied building increases, so does the tagging. Even the trains have gotten a new coat of paint, sometimes even covering the windows. The train we returned from Spain on was completely covered on one side with tagging. There is a little unoccupied house on the corner that is completely tagged from top to bottom, and the wall of a long building down the road is a virtual 'Art Gallery' of tagging.

Now one question is whether “Tagging” is vandalism or art? Some of it is absolutely amazing in the artistry and complexity. No question, some is just ugly spray paint, but I must admit that some is actually very beautiful. Here in Olhão, there are some talented taggers, and I have tried to include some of the really interesting examples. In many cases I suspect that the tagging actually makes some of the crumbling buildings here look nicer.

People must at times find it frustrating. Across the street, the houses back onto the railway, and some people have cleaned off the concrete wall and whitewashed it, only to have it used as a canvas by taggers. I walked by one building with serious tagging covering all the windows, so those workers using the building have so suffer with their only natural light diffused through pink, purple and green paint.

I can't help wondering though, when do they do it? I have never seen a 'Tagger' at work, so I assume it must be late a night, and it must be a bit difficult to tag those moving trains, so it must be done when they are parked late at night.

Back To Spain

 

Portugal is nice, and we are really enjoying our time here, but it was Spain that really got us into this “Rent an apartment for a month” vacation plan, so since we are only an hour from Spain here in Olhão, we decided that one of the day trips that Regis loves to plan would be to take the train to the end of the line in Vila Real de Santo António, where you can catch a ferry across the river to Spain.

Taking the Train

Having taken the train to Tavira the other day, we knew how it worked and approached it with increased confidence, and were able to relax and watch the countryside go by through the tagged and dusty windows. Being able to watch the various train stations come and go was actually kind of sad. The larger stops such as Olhão, Tavira and Vila Real de Santo António are all tagged and looking a bit tattered, with cracked concrete and rusty iron, but many of the stops are closed completely with boarded up doors and windows, broken glass and terribly vandalized by the persistent taggers. The trains stop there, but there is no office, ticket booth or inside waiting area. The train stops, people get on and buy tickets on the train. The trains breezed right by some completely deserted train stops overgrown and crumbling, doors and windows bricked closed.

The train pulled into the station at Vila Real de Santo António, and we headed through an industrial area into a quite nice pedestrian shopping street, five or six blocks long leading down to a lovely riverfront park and Marina where we found the ferry. Regis and Linda made plans to come back across to Portugal with enough time to do some shopping on the way back to the train.

Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal

It is always nice to try to locate the Tourist Information Centre and get a few maps and information on the town you are visiting. We have not had much luck with this so far here in Portugal. There is a good office here in Olhão, but you can never tell when it is going to be open. The posted hours bear no relation to when the office is actually open – you go down and take your chances. In Tavira we finally found the office on the way home, but it was closed tightly. Even though we followed the signs we could not find any hint of an Tourist information Office in Vila Real de Santo António. One helpful fellow gave us nice explicit directions to a building with no apparent information office and at the municipal office I was told that the closest office was in another town back down the track. Across the river in Spain I had no better luck. I followed the nice big signs with clear arrows to where the office was supposed to be, but again nothing there. Perhaps these offices only open when there are more tourists.

The ferry to Spain was a surprise. A few years ago, a beautiful new bridge was built to cross the river so the ferry became a less important way across the river. In North America we are used to modern ferries even on small crossings, but the ferry from Portugal to Spain is a converted wooden freighter. There are metal ramps bolted onto either side and the cargo area has been roofed over providing a spot to park cars. The ferry pulls up alongside the dock, and the ramps allow cars to come and go. Not a lot of cars use the ferry; there was one on the way to Spain and two on the way back. The ferry may be an old converted vessel, but it works well, taking 15 minutes to cross the river, and like most european transportation we have used runs perfectly on time.

Spain

 

We enjoyed going back to Spain, and Ayamonte was a pleasant town with a maze of little streets filled with interesting shops and restaurants. As you wandered through these narrow tiled streets you came to beautiful squares with churches and tiled benches and children running and playing. We knew we were in Spain as all the shops started closing soon after we arrived; displays were moved inside, shutters were lowered, and lights turned off. Fortunate for us, most of the restaurants remained open and we found a place were Regis could get her Paella and tapas.

As we walked back to the ferry, the squares were silent, surrounding shops locked up tight, and the children gone home for a meal and a nap. Ah yes, I had almost forgot about living on Spanish time . . . .

Train to Tavira

Don't let the children play here . . .

 As much as we are enjoying our time here in Olhāo, we do want to see a bit more of Portugal. Pete and Linda returned from their Bridge game in Tavira reporting that it was a nice little town, and Linda's new contact there had been sending her newsletters about the town. She noticed a notification in the newsletter about a Medieval Market being held there on the weekend; this seemed to invite a train trip to Tavira on Sunday.

Like we found in Spain, the train system in Portugal is convenient and efficient. The train runs right by the apartment here and although it is an older, dirtier train than the lovely modern “Trams” that ran up and down the coast connecting the seaside towns in Spain, we knew that the trains seemed to run all the time, and were always on time. The trains are also very good value and a ticket to Tavira was only a few Euros. I however, wouldn't mind paying a bit more to have windows I could see out; the cars a seriously vandalized by tagging that often covers much of the windows, and the windows not decorated are still dirty enough to hinder sightseeing.

Donkey Steps

Tavira is a lovely town a couple of km inland along a river. There is also much more of a tourist town to it's nature. I was surprised to hear so much English and see so many foreigners after spending a week in tourist-free Olhāo. Money has been spent on Tavira to fix it up, and the central square is beautiful with new marble walks and lots of benches and statues. It doesn't take much walking however to leave the new and find the tumbling down buildings and locked buildings that my collection of door pictures illustrate. More evidence of the economic troubles so much of Europe is experiencing.

Walking down to the river from the train, we discovered Tavira's 'castle'. Some of the guide books suggest that it is not an original building but rather a rebuilt castle to show what was once there. Although it was interesting, with a beautiful garden, it really wasn't much of a castle. What I found interesting was the complete lack of safety additions. You could climb to the ramparts, but the stairs were narrow slippery stone with no railings, and the actual castle walls were completely open on the back side. I could imagine Portuguese soldiers scrambling up these stairs to throw boiling oil down on invading Romans. They would have had to deal with the conditions but this attraction would not be very child-safe.

Seven Arches Bridge

We wandered down an old cobbled street with built in stairs in the centre for donkey carts, and through the old section of town to the river. And along the riverfront where we found the only market. Hardly a “medieval” market – more a normal craft market in a row of tents along the river. It did however have a really outstanding selection of local craftspeople showing their talents, and Linda and Regis managed to find a thing or two to help support the local economy.

Lunch in the sun . . . .

We were warned to stay clear of the riverfront “Snack-Bars” and restaurants where the prices reflected the view rather than the food quality, and we crossed the seven arches Bridge and wandered up into another section of the old town. We found a very nice little town square there with a church at one end and eating establishments all around the outside. The day was sunny, but very cool, with a strong cold wind blowing and one cafe seemed to be getting all the sunshine and therefore all the customers. Although I felt sorry for the forlorn looking, empty cafe's in the shade on the other side of the square, we joined the people sitting outside in the sunshine for a couple of beer, pitcher of Sangria, some Portuguese cheese-burgers and a Toastie (Portuguese toasted sandwich).

Beautiful Town Square

Tired from exploring we had time to kill and walking back to the 3:30 train we sat in another cafe for yet another beer and some delicious Portuguese Café com leite (Expresso with milk). Only to find that someone had read the daily schedule instead of the 'holiday' one and the 2:00 train came while we were relaxing and we had to wait for a 4:30 train. No matter, we were in no hurry – working on Portuguese time . . . . .

Armona

Boardwalk to the beach

 When we were looking at properties to rent in the area we narrowed it down to two in Olhão, a little house on the Island of Armona and this apartment in the town itself. Because we were going 'off season' we worried that there might not have been much open over on the island so we went with the apartment in town.

The island is a short ferry ride from Olhão and today we went over to explore the island. You get off the ferry and there is one narrow sidewalk sized road through the town. The town is made up of little closely spaced Portuguese style cottages. They are mostly low, flat roofed (It never rains – you do not need sloped roofs), and made of concrete or adobe depending on the age. There are no cars on the island so the narrow streets are pedestrian only. You have to avoid the occasional ATV or small tractor, but the traffic is mostly people.

Now as we walked down the sidewalk, and then the boardwalk towards the Ria Formosa Nature Park (The beach) a difference in opinions emerged.

Relaxing on the beach

Pete commented “Am I ever glad we didn't rent the house over here, I would be so bored!”.

I had just been thinking, “Boy, it is a good thing we didn't rent the house here, I would never want to leave!”

At the end of the boardwalk, we entered the actual park with miles of sand and beach. I expect that there might be more people in the summer, but today it was practically deserted. The sandy beach went on as far as you could see in one direction with only a couple of people spaced out down the length.

Seashells on the beach

Down at the waterline, the beach is beautiful, with soft warm sand, but if you venture up a bit it is best to keep shoes on, as there are hundreds of interesting shells scattered about. This would be nice, but unfortunately there is also a lot of garbage scattered about. There are garbage bins spaced along the beach, so I think this is debris washed ashore over the winter rather than litter, but it does detract from the beach. As the real “High Season” has yet to start, and the only people wandering the beach in April are the hardy tourists from Northern climates, it is possible that the beach will get cleaned up before the season begins, but I have noticed that unless it is a 'resort' beach, the garbage that washes ashore tends to get ignored as just part of the 'setting'. It seems only North Americans used to pristine, hyper-clean raked daily, beaches are offended by a little garbage in the 'natural' setting.

On the way back to the ferry, we stopped for lunch at a little cafe on the edge of town run by a Belgium family where I sampled yet another helping of calamari that couldn't quite match the offering at the Mic Mac Tavern back home. Tired from another day here in the Portuguese sunshine and warmth we made our way 'home' to to Number 24.

Restaurant Day

 We are enjoying learning how to cook the local produce and seafood from the fabulous markets here in Olhão, but the best way to experience the local flavours is to go to the good restaurants and sample food cooked by the local expert chefs.

Via e Volta

Pete & Linda went to Tavira; a town up the coast towards Spain on April 25^th to meet us with some portuguese Bridge players (they are pretty serious bridge fans . . . . although they ended up playing with another couple from BC . . . . ) so Regis and I decided to make this a 'Restaurant Day'.

We wandered down to a little place called Via e Volta that was highly recommended by Colin & Suzanne. A little Family restaurant, it serves only seafood and only at lunch. They have a menu, but it lists only two items; “Adult 8.50 Є” and “Child 5.00 Є”, along with prices for various drinks. They do not give you a choice of fish; you get whatever fish was abundant at the market that day.

The restaurant is located two blocks off the main Avenida da Republica, but the neighbourhood is not especially inviting, There is a whole row of deserted, run-down buildings at the end of the street and you have to weave your way through a couple of bins full of construction debris to get to the restaurant. Now as you may have noticed by my pictures and descriptions of Olhão, this is not that unusual, and part of the charm of the place, so we were not put off and upon arriving we were greeted by a friendly waiter who gave us the only vacant seat (in itself a VERY good sign). We were asked what we wanted to drink, and a beer and glass 1/4 lt. of white wine was ordered, but we were not even asked if we wanted to order food – obviously everyone who comes here of course wants the fish.

Keep those fish coming

The restaurant is in a very tiny building, and there are very few seats in the actual restaurant, the main seating is outside under a large canvas room with roll up plastic windows. We have not seen anything except sunshine, but I suppose they might need these windows one or two days out of the year. To one side, against the actual building there is a large charcoal grill where someone is constantly grilling the fish. I could watch the fish being flipped back and forth until they reached 'grilled perfection' and then four of five were put on metal trays and taken to the next table waiting. Watching the fish being grilled and waiting for your's to arrive , you were provided with a delicious bowl of marinated olives and pickled carrots, a lovely tomato, onion and cucumber salad, and a basket of bread to hold you until your plate of fish arrived.

Once your first plate arrived, it never stopped. The waiters kept a constant watch over your table, and when you reduced one plate to fish heads, bones and skin, another was promptly placed on the table to replace it. After three plates, we had had enough, but they kept returning, looking positively heartbroken that you couldn't eat another five hot-off-the-grill fish.

GIANT Scrimp Kabob !

The evening meal did not start out so good. Linda had gone down the evening before to scout out the possible spots to eat. I told her to go down when it was busy at 7:30 and find the spots full of locals enjoying their meals. She not only used this criteria, she also asked about making things without tomato, and came back with news of Ria Formosa which not only was popular with lots of locals, but she was assured the kitchen could make their famous Seafood Cataplanas without tomato. When we arrived however, the waiter wasn't sure about the wine Pete wanted, they did not have white sangria Regis could share with Linda, and the red which Linda couldn't drink only came in a BIG pitcher, which would have meant we would have had to carry Regis home. Then when Linda tried to order the tomato free Cataplanas she was told “No, of course it couldn't be made without tomatoes, they were part of the base.”

Steak on a Stone

Now the evening turned out great actually. Pete & I found a delicious bottle of wine to share, Linda ordered a Tuna with Onions dish, Pete got to personally meet his fish dish before it was cooked, Regis had the most amazing giant Shrimp Kabob, and I got to try Steak on a stone. They should have given us the meal, because people were stopping to stare at Regis' giant shrimp, and the smell and sound of my steak sizzling on the stone started bringing passing folks into the restaurant. The Kabob was truly amazing, and I was served a square, inch thick, lava-hot stone with a piece of almost raw steak sizzling and smoking on it. I kept flipping it and cutting pieces off as it cooked to how I liked it. A really spectacular meal.

Regis did have to settle for a Coke, but she always enjoys that anyways.

Fast Food?

Olhao Fast Food Restaurant

 OMG ! We just realized that somehow we have journeyed to the end of the world . . . . . Regis and I just came back from a walk down along the Malecon, and chatting as we wondered through back streets and tiny cobble-stoned alleyways, we suddenly realized that there is no KFC in town. Wait a minute, there is no golden arches, no Starbucks. OMG we must have teleported back in time . . . . Seriously, there are NONE of the brand name restaurants. China had KFC, Japan had KFC, Brazil had KFC, Spain had KFC. There are none anywhere around us here.

Crepes with everything (Seriously!)

We actually have not exited the civilized world, Olhao actually has it's own 'fast food', and it is available in many popular establishments around town. The call it “Plata do Dia”. It is what ever seafood was plentiful at the daily market. Every local Snack Bar finds some delicious way to cook it up quickly. Want something quick and tasty – “Prato do dia” is it. . . . . . Portuguese fast food.

Now we have not suffered with this absence of KFC and Starbucks. One of the goals of the trip was to cook the local food and drink the local wine, and this we have been working hard at doing.

Fava & Chorizo

Day one was a simple pasta dish made with home-made tomato sauce and local Chorizo. Pete and Linda were happy with left overs when they arrived after their “Lost in Portugal” adventure. They even helped us finish off the bottle of “Welcome to Portugal” wine left by Colin & Suzanne.

The next day we explored the markets and had Pete figure our how to make the Sardines that this area is so famous for. He did a fine job, grilling them in local Olive Oil and the Popular local Port.

Linda made a delicious pork chop dish with a baby apple demi-glace reduction, Regis found a delicious recipe for a Portuguese Chick Pea stew, and I cooked up a local chicken with sea salt & Oregano with stuffing of chorizo, onions, mixed nuts and a corn bread from the corner bakery

We have even started serving appetizers; Sauteed fava beans with Portuguese chorizo and garlic one day and fresh crayfish boil with curried piri-piri mayo another.

Regis' Chickpea Stew

Yup, life is tough, and we have only been here a week. Pete is already planning to see how the local Salmon compares to his famous BC Salmon, I'm thinking about how to convert my Jambalaya recipe to use local seafood (I managed to get my seasoning mix through customs), and Linda is talking about a chicken with prune dish.

Is it happy hour again Pete? OK go ahead fill up my wine glass.

Sunrise over Olhao

Regis enjoying the shade on the balcony

When we planned this trip to Olhao we knew how we were getting here and where we were going to live for a month, but other than that we did not have much of an itinerary or plans. We thought we might go visit Lisbon some time, and we might take the train up and down the coast, but other than that our time was flexible. It is a nice relaxing way to travel after years of having to fit vacation into our week long March Breaks every year.

One of the relaxing things we have been enjoying is simply watching night fall over the town. Back home we love being able to sit out front of the house and watch the skies darken over the city, but there are not that many evenings warm enough to sit out until dark. Here you can sit out every night on the front balcony and watch the sun set, the town grow dark, and lights come on across the skyline.

The Back Balcony

The other morning, I woke up early, to a slate grey dawn, and with nothing planned for the day requiring a full eight hours sleep (Always time for a nap later . . . . ), I decided to get up and try to catch a sunrise. The front balcony gets the morning sun, and I thought I might get a nice photo of the sun coming up.

Lovely Sunset

As I rolled up the shutters, the town continued to sleep, but down towards the sea I could hear the drone of the fishing fleet heading out to a day of work on the sea. Although no birds were in the air, I could hear a symphony of bird calls. (Later Linda said it was those “early birds” getting the worms). Timex the rooster was crowing, but that didn't mean anything – I named him 'Timex', because he has no idea what time it is, and crows at 10:00, 1:45, 3:00 am; actually he seems to crow all the time.

Not much of a sunrise . . . .

I did see the sun come up, but it was a disappointing show with too many clouds to get a nice red sunrise, so I shall have to try again some other day when I have nothing planned.