Here are the only New Year’s resolutions you’ll ever need – courtesy of Dougal.
Wise words from a Westie
Algarve in the autumn
We have been living in the Algarve for a couple of weeks now, so we thought you might like to see where we are and what we are doing.
We are currently house-sitting for relatives of friends of ours, in the central/eastern area of the Algarve – the southern most part of Portugal. John and Prue built this house more than 30 years ago, and at that time, this was all just countryside…
Palms and pools – not such a bad life
The garden of our house
Our house
The courtyard
Our main job is to take care of Dougal – a West Highland Terrier – aged about 4 years old. He’s quite a character.
Dougal
We have discovered that he likes riding in the car and rubbing his nose in the dirt, but mainly he likes sleeping wherever we are sitting!
Walks on the beach
digger Dougal
The garden has fruit trees – oranges and limes – as well as olive and avocado trees. The pond is a magnet for dragonflies, birds and even two turtles, but we found them in an amorous embrace – so didn’t want to stare for too long!
Oranges aren’t the only fruit
We are still waiting for this grapefruit to be ready
Olives abound right outside our bedroom window
Straight from the tree
The elusive blue birds
The dragonflies love the garden pond
Oops – sorry to intrude
Nearby is a great beach alongside a little pine forest – our first taste of the Atlantic ocean on this trip and fabulous long views along the coast.
Geoff and Charlie meet the Atlantic
The water is calm in this sheltered part of Portugal
Taking the long view
There are plenty of local markets most days of the week. At nearby Loule this weekend they got into the Day of the Dead / Halloween vibe in amongst the cheery pots of honey, fiery red piri-piri oil, local fish, veggies and other local goodies.
The Day of the Dead at Loule market
The Saturday market at Loule
Plenty of pots – a Portuguese speciality
Piri piri sauce by the gallon
Old friends, like bookends
Local produce gives heat and colour to the food
Local favourites – salt cod and garlic
A lettuce leaf doesn’t make them better looking
Traditional baskets of beans
The Algarve – originally an Arabic settlement called Al Gharb or “the West” – is a massive tourist destination. It’s population trebles in the summer months. It can be hard to find places that aren’t developed, but there are some that we have found so far – like Ferragudo, a little fishing village and the hillside retreat of Silves.
Ferragudo fishing village
Looking across from little Ferragudo to vast Portimao
Up the hill to Silves
Down the hill from Silves
Next week we plan to visit the west coast of Portugal – where record breaking waves are mastered by the brave and crazy on some of the best surfing beaches in the world, battered by the massive Atlantic winds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGaNUA-lpAc
The wind and the sun (by the way, it’s still 24 degrees here!) make up another powerful force – renewable energy. Portugal is a leader in green energy provision. In 2005 the government made a pledge to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. In the first quarter of 2013, the wind, waves and sunshine produced 70% of Portugal’s energy needs. Nice work, Portugal!
