Faro, Portugal, Part II

Last week I wrote about our time in Faro, you can read that post here. This week I’ll follow up with more about our time in the Algarve. One of the highlights of our time there was a bird watching tour in Ria Formosa Nature Park along the coast of the Algarve. This 44,000 acre park is considered one of Portugal’s seven natural wonders, and includes four islands, wetlands, tidal flats, dunes, and is an important breeding and feeding ground for a wide variety of birds. We also learned that the area has the largest population of seahorses in the world.

There are many companies offering a variety of boat tours, but we went with Formosamar. There are several different tour options available depending on your interest, including sunset and island tours. Our skipper was an experienced nature guide and provided much information about the varieties and habits of the different species. We saw Little Egret, Spoonbill, Oyster Catcher, Grey Heron, and many more. The highlight though was seeing flamingos; wow! Balancing gracefully on one leg, like prima ballerinas or accomplished yogis, their colors were magnificent. It was an absolute treat to see them.

Sadly, due to a camera malfunction, most of my photos are gone. I got a few with my phone, but they’re not very good. Argh…

About 45 minutes up the coast from Faro is Quarteira, a lovely town with a long promenade, beautiful beaches, a wide variety of water sports, restaurants, shops, and much more. Here we had a delicious lunch and watched the activity on the beach.

Faro has some great restaurants and we enjoyed many good meals. Old Tavern serves delicious food in a fun, lively atmosphere. One of the owners told us this: “we are two sons and one mama”; that warmed my heart. Terry had roasted, grilled sausage and a cod salad, I had the fresh cheese salad; everything was delicious. At the end of our meal, the outgoing, friendly waiter brought out a bottle and three shot glasses, and we each downed a shot for camaraderie. As we were leaving, I wondered how many customers he shares a shot with each day…hmm.

Cozinha das Ilhas is a great spot for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, or a drink. The pastries are delicious and the owners are amazingly friendly and welcoming!

Restaurante Adega Dois Irmãos, serves some of the best meals we had in Faro. We even went back a second time and enjoyed lunch on their beautiful patio, where another customer’s dog was quite interested in our meals.

On our first visit I had shrimp risotto and Terry had lamb stew. On our second visit we shared grilled shrimp and some delicious sea bass.

Ostraria Lodo, also has delicious seafood, and an amazing attention to detail. This white tablecloth restaurant will not disappoint.

We flew back to Paris last Friday to spend the weekend before heading home on Monday. As you have probably seen in the news, there are massive protests going on around France at the moment as the retirement age has been raised from 62 to 64. We considered heading home a few days early to avoid the protests, but we’re glad we stayed. It seemed pretty much business as usual other than huge piles of garbage along the streets in some neighborhoods.

We visited the Rodin Museum (more on that in a future post), on Sunday had lunch with dear friends, and afterwards took a long, leisurely stroll through the streets of Paris.

We became friends with Pascal, Florence, and their darling son, about five years ago when Pascal and I worked at the same company in Seattle. Even with the age difference (we’re the same age as their parents) we became good friends and for several years we would get together once a month, along with other friends, for Sunday lunch, a long standing tradition in France, which we adopted many years ago. They moved back to France at the beginning of COVID, and now that we live here too, it’s even easier to keep in touch.

So all in all, except for my camera malfunction, it was a great getaway where we enjoyed sun, warmth, food, and best of all, time with friends.

All the best,

Tricia