The End of Our Time in Algarve is Near

Our last 2 days in Faro were easy ones.  Perhaps we reached a point where we were experiencing some fatigue or perhaps it was a bit of burnout on touring or perhaps it was that Faro has been unexciting.  Whatever the reason, we did a surprising outing on Monday morning - a walk through the newer part of Faro to the mall, the Algarve Forum.  There were a couple of things we were looking for.

And, even more surprising, we actually ate lunch in the food court at the mall.  It was a good falafel lunch.

Let me step back to dinner the night before.  We ate at McDonalds:

Just kidding.  We ate at a restaurant along the water, O Careto.  We had sangria, Linda had bream, I had sardines and a nutella crepe for dessert, but the highlight was the sign in the men's room.

Now, back to Monday.  It was a sad circumstance that led to a wonderful dinner.  I have mentioned Paulo previously.  On Oceania, he fills the role of barista in the morning and the guy with the olive oil cart in Toscana, the Italian restaurant, in the evening.  Paulo, who we've cruised with several times, lives in the Algarve, in the town of Albufeira.  He was very excited when we told him that we would be visiting the area and he provided us with many ideas of things to do and places to eat.  Here is the map he drew for us:

When we were on the train to Lagos, we passed through the station for Albufeira so I took a photo and sent it to him (have I mentioned previously what a handy app Whatsapp is?).  Paulo replied with the sad news.  The morning that we got off Marina in Barcelona, Paulo received the news that his brother had passed away.  He was home in Albufeira helping his mother take care of affairs.  We remained in contact during our stay.  Here's where the story takes a nice turn.  Paulo found time to drive to Faro to meet us for dinner.  Let's just say that there was much drink and seafood in the evening.  I felt it in the morning!  It makes us feel good that we have developed special relationships with so many of the staff and crew on Oceania.  It's what makes our cruising with them so comfortable. 

So, today, Tuesday was a really easy morning as we recovered.  A bit of walking around town and the chance to check out the nesting storks was about it.

This afternoon we took a boat ride through the Ria Formosa National Park.  It was an interesting 1 hour cruise where we could see many birds and fiddler crabs.  And our guide was excellent.

For our last dinner in Faro, we opted for no fish!  Why, you ask.  Well, a fisherman once told us to never buy or order fish on Monday since the fishermen take Sunday off and the fish won't be fresh.  To compound that, Monday was a holiday so we figured that any fish we got would be 2 days old.  So we went to this nice vegan restaurant, Outro Lado, that was almost the proverbial hole in the wall.

Their menu contained vegan twists on Algarvian cuisine.  It was quite good although Linda thought that her Roasted Tofu with Cornbread had a bit too many turnip greens.

After 10 days of eating fish, it was a nice change.

Tomorrow, we fly back to Barcelona to pick up our 2 suitcases and to eat tapas.  Then it will be off to Rome and Vista.  Let the next chapter of our adventure begin!

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry