The List

Some random facts and info about the hotel, restaurants, pubs & other places. A handy memo for those about to travel to Albufeira!

PINTS, CIDERS & PUBS

• Atrium/Fast Net Bar: beautiful drinks, football on tv, fun bartenders. One (fast) internet pc. A few tables outside on a busy nightlife street (1). A LOT of clubs and pubs along this rather narrow alley, excellent place to spend your cider nights. Of course, since this is in the middle of Albufeira's old town, you'll meet almost everyone but the local people.
• Sir Harry's Bar (picture): a very, very friendly bar with fun bartenders and live music (usually a guy and a guitar) every night. A bit pricey since this is in the middle of the old town too, but not too pricey for a few pints and relaxation. A good place for people-watching and casual hanging around. Try the B-52 shot!!
• (Have to find out the name of this later): a small pub with a happy & talkative bartender! A pool table, small terrace, good drinks and a few tables inside. Good for afternoon pints. This was located a 100 meters up from a pub called Blue Bar.
  

FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!

• Indian Nights, old town: very, very good Indian food. There weren't many customers at the time we were there, but the service was really nice and the food excellent. Raita sauce was the best I've ever tasted! Different kinds of Naan bread, try the garlic Naan! Got a huge meal & soft drinks for 15e per person.

Just a few, will add more to the list later!

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Friendly Faro..

So, we didn't see any dolphins. Sucks. The boat ride itself was pretty nice but because waves were too high we didn't even get to see the caves. We felt pretty let down. For 35 euros should get SOMETHING! So, my advice to other travellers would be that if you want to go to the sea, try to find some local fisherman or someone who can give you a small tour. AND if you decide to go to the sea, protect your cameras and phones and other electronical vices very well - salty water can be DEADLY for these things.

After the boat trip and dinner we took a last tour around the city to say goodbye to all our new friends. The hairy, four legged tail wagging ones. Tiia can probably write more about that. I felt really sad to leave all the nice dogs and cats behind but yet happy about the fact that people will take good care of them here. Each and every one of them had given us more than a boat trips or souvenier shopping or sunbathing or anything. Nothing gives you a warmer feeling than getting a tail wag greeting from a cautios dog or a curious push from a shy cat. Try it.

In the morning we did our last packing and headed for Faro airport with 4 busses. I sneaked in as a rabbit but they didn't ask anything. Hope they didn't leave someone behind at the hotel because of me... I had to say good bye to Tiia and the folks around 10Am and cab it to Faro City. Cab driver was not so friendly, he made me wait and pay when he was filling up the car and when we arrived to the hotel he just threw my bag on the street while I was still in the car to pay for the ride.

My room was already ready that early which was very nice. It was tiny single room with a balcony but clean, all I needed. PLUS I learned that there was wi-fi in the lounge area! Yayyyy! That made my day already for sure. I dropped my stuff and went for a little walk breakfast in my mind.

Downtown area was only few minutes walk from the hotel and I was very impressed how nice and beatiful the city was. And there was storks EVERYWHERE! Not too many dogs and cats though, I guess that was a good thing. For the animals' sake. Totally different feeling from touristy Albufeira. Since I was hungry I just went to this mini market to buy drinks and snacks (the prices were third what we paid in Albufeira) and crapped a sandwich on my way back to the hotel. After I'd finished with the food I headed downstairs to the lounge with my laptop to make some research about the area and what's there to see and found very helpful site, www.algarvebuzz.com/faro-things-to-do-see. I also met Mr. da Silva, the owner of the hotel. He was having lunch together with the maids.

After a short while surfing online I decided to go to see that cathedral with the bones of the monks - the place was just around the corner, very convenient. Unfortunately it was closed due to siesta so I went to look for a nice cup of coffee and pastries on Rua San Antonio. Almost all the cafés were growded with locals but I found a chair to anchor my bottom on the terrace of Gelateria Fiesta. Instead of ice cream I went for double espresso and huge slice of apple pie. Delicious! It was a nice experience, watching the people pass by and listening the laughs of the locals sitting around me.

I had an hour or so to kill before they'd open the cathedral so I walked to old town area and found Faro Municipal Museum where they had several different exhibitions. Admission fee was only 2 euros. I saw nice paintings, old and new, cheramics and more. The building itself was really beautiful and later I learned that it's from the 16th century and it's one of the few things that survived from the 1755 earthquake.

When I had had enough from art it was time to go check the Igreja do Carmo. On the way I gave few euros to this old lady of the streets (she didn't want me to take any pictures, so be it) and watched a local painter at work in the harbour. I paid the 1 euro fee to see the altar and it was a small room behind the cathedral with creepy skulls and bones on the walls. All together bones of 1245 monks. And another thousand mosquitos.

Then after that I went to this other grocery store to check if they had some nice wine to take to my boyfriends mom. I was browsing the etiquettes when two young guys started to chat with me and asking about my tattoos. And offering me something else than cigarettes and a tour in the city... I said no thanks and rushed back to the hotel, surfed online bit more and got hungry again and went to Faro Shopping mall which was about 17 minutes walk from the hotel, opposite direction from the city. Mall was pretty big and there was this lovely shop called Loja do Gato Preto. Tiia would've loved the store, it was full of cat themed decoration stuff. I found my souvenier bottle from hipermercado Jumbo and mozzarella sandwich from Go Natural café (we ate few already in Albufeira and it is yummy) (I think I made Tiia half vegetarian on this trip) and as I was walking back to the hotel this one guy joined me and - offered me mushrooms and party. Oh, and a job too. Generous people in Faro, must admit, huh! Again I said no thanks and because he wasn't offensive in any way I just had a chat with him about Portuguese people and ironically about the mental problems they have there while walking to the same direction.

Because I had to wake up early I called it quits from that day and spent some more time in the lounge. Mr da Silva made me espresso for 50 cents and was concerned that I'd "work too hard". Well, no worries about that. Went to bed early(ish), woke up early(ish) for breakfast which was included in the 40 euro / night deal. Really nice! Nothing fancy: bread, cheese, ham, cereals, coffee, tea and juices... But that worked fine for me. I cabbed it to the airport (around 12 euros) and said good bye to Portugal.

-Aija-

PHOTOS! Lots of PHOTOS!

Here we go then! I decided not to add the photos here, since it would take me a YEAR to get them organized with Blogger's system. So, instead, you'll get a couple of links..

-- General pictures: Albufeira, beaches, local people, tourists, nature and a LOT of cats and dogs!
-- Artsy pictures: I took these at the Algarve Shopping, a big mall just a few minutes taxi ride from our hotel..

I'm gonna add a few more to both galleries next week, and also add Aija's links here if/when she gets her photos online!

Comments welcome! :)

--Tiia--

The (almost) Last Words

The neverending search for a perfect tan

To me it seems such a thing as beautiful smooth even tan doesn't even exist. No matter what I do, no matter what sunscreen I use or don't use, I always get the embarrasing spotty & half burned skin when I'm out in the sun. You know the kind - the colourful patterns you get on your skin when you keep changing the outfits depending on the occasion (walks, restaurants, sangrias, beach, feeding cats&dogs) and don't enjoy spending your days lying beside the pool in bikinis.

The lovely pattern of shorts and skirts, dresses and shirts, towels and rags, scarfs and handbags.. at this very moment (Sunday evening, 10pm) I have a fucken even SQUARE on my chest from a weird shirt I wore today.

Well, enough about that. I never travel for such silly reasons, ah, but yes. Who can deny they wouldn't like a beautifully tanned skin?



The love we have for these people for having the love for these animals

It came as a total surprise, and I still can't quite believe it. These people actually take care of the cats and dogs living on the streets! When we arrived and met the first street pets, we instantly noticed how healthy and happy they seemed to be. Then, after walking around in the narrow alleys we started noticing all the bowls and plates the people had left there on purpose. Fresh water and food for animals they don't even own. Or do they? To me it seems the animals just choose random people to hang out with. Some of the dogs (and sometimes cats) wear collars, but they're all wandering around free, in small packs or alone. Some of them keep following the same people, like this funny guy living on the streets (?), taking care of at least two of them fulltime. The other dog even has puppies somewhere, hidden, and the guy is making sure they have a safe place to be in. He's been hiding them and sneaking the dogs over the fence, cause apparently the landlord doesn't like to have stray dogs around.

Tonite, we heard some kitten noises too! They had a safe place under a table in someone's backyard (yes, we sneaked&peeked, isn't it obvious!).. and yes, we do realise it's not a good thing to let the cats run around and make more kittens who'll grow up to be cats who'll have more kittens who'll grow up to be cats and so on. But still! Kittens! Wish we somehow got to see them!

Tomorrow, we're gonna buy a bag full of quality cat & dog food and leave the whole thing on their doorstep.. maybe leave a note, thanking them for taking care of the animals. Or something. The Finnish pet fairies!

After seeing how happy and healthy these animals are, me and Aija even had this idea that some animal shelters should bring their homeless, miserable puppies to the city border and let them loose.

One day we went out and bought some decent dog & cat food and went out walking to a nearby alley where we had seen an old dog and a lot of cats. There they were, almost like waiting for us to arrive with our treats. The cute, old, shy dog got his very own can of food. He was very happy about it, ate it all and even stole some of the cat food when he had a chance. The eight or nine cats we fed were really cautious too, not allowing us to come too close, so we just stood back and took photos while they ate and sneaked around in the shadows. I think it's awesome that they don't trust just anybody - after all, some people are just full of shit and do the meanest things to the creatures weaker than themselves.

Which reminds me of last night. Me and Aija went out for a few ciders and met some funny Northern Irish guys, in their 40s or something. Had some laughs and a few pints. At some point a hen party posse joined us, a bunch of noisy, young women. At that point we kinda lost interest in all of them and were planning to go back to the hotel and get some sleep. But, just then this beautiful young golden retriever(ish) dog trots around the corner and comes to say hello to the ladies sitting around the tables. Naturally me and Aija were all ooh and aah and aww, but the closest bitch just slapped the dog away and said something about fleas. I think she kicked the dog too. Yes, the ever so dangerous and fatal FLEAS, oh my god. But the best part of this was the instant reaction she got from us: Aija gave her the finger and I kicked her pal's butt without thinking one second. I bet we looked really scary!! ROAR!

(After that we left the group and spent at least half an hour with the dog, playing with a plastic bottle. People bad, animals good!)
(We also met a skinny, friendly cat who purrrred to us! Spent another 30mins with her.)
(Of course we had to check Our Cat Valley too before getting any sleep.)
(Every time we are walking back to the hotel, the 10min walk takes us an hour at least.)

Oh, wait till you see the photos of these street pets! The cat with the different color eyes and everything! And CHARLIE! (Yes, we've named some of them).


Dolphins!

Tomorrow, we're hoping to see some wild dolphins up close and very very personal. We already booked & paid for a boat trip out to the sea. Gonna see the caves and everything! Of course, we can't be 100% sure the dolphins are gonna come over to greet us, but they just HAVE to. The thing that sucked about booking this trip was the fact you had to walk all the way to the marina (harbour) to book it and to pay it the day before.. sure, you can give them your credit card number if you want to, but we decided to be extra cautious with that. After all, the nice Oirish Guys from last nite had gotten a forged (?) 50 euro bill from a barman! It seemed pretty authentic, but after a closer look you just knew it wasn't right. He hadn't even noticed anything weird, but a waiter in another bar brought it back to him and showed the things that were wrong with it.

Aww man! That sucks. We were (and are) so sorry for the man. It's not a lot of money, but it's still money and a frustrating trick done to a happy tourist.

Things we should write about:
-- Food & restaurants
-- Beach & paths
-- Pubs & waiters
-- Locals greeting you on streets!

Anyone have any questions? We'll be GLAD to answer :)

--Tiia--