movingtoportugal

This week I am continuing the personal A to Z of Portugal that I began last week. Today, I present you with letters D to F:

D is for Dona Barca:

Dona Barca in Portimao is one of our favourite Algarve restaurants. We found it thanks to a guidebook whilst on holiday, long before moving here. The place has changed a fair bit since we first visited. It’s fame and popularity amongst tourists and locals alike has led it to expand into a larger area in the pretty square of Largo de Barca, and corporate touches like postcards and logoed uniforms have crept in.

Dona Barca Restaurant Portimao

It’s still the same place though, offering wonderful fresh fish (especially sardines), great house wine in generous carafes, and low prices. For more details, you will find a review of Dona Barca on my Food and Wine Portugal blog.

E is for Espanha:

Now I realise that Espanha may seem a strange choice for a Portugal A to Z, but it feels right to include it amongst my personal choices.

When we first moved here, I used to find it tremendously exciting to see “Espanha” on the road signs. After living in the UK, being somewhere where you can just set off in the car and keep driving until you are in a whole different country gives you a wonderful sense of freedom (and I know that we could have always driven to Wales or Scotland – it just doesn’t feel the same, somehow).

Seville - Just Down the Road from the Algarve

We often head to Spain for weekend breaks, when we would previously have headed for Cornwall or Norfolk. We have enjoyed cheap weekends in Seville, Marbella and Cadiz already, and are soon off to see what Jerez is all about. Espanha, being only 20 minutes away, is also our go-to destination for taco shells and Iberico ham (Carrefour), tealights and furniture (Ikea), and langoustines by the sea (Punta d’Umbria).

F is for Farturas:

The arrival of a van selling farturas and churros in Portugal usually signifies that some kind of local event or festival is about to happen. Farturas and churros are the southern European interpretation of donuts. Churros are essentially the same as a UK seaside donut, but they are squeezed into the hot oil with a piping bag and served as straight sticks, rather than rings.

Farturas and Churros in Portugal

Farturas are similar, but stuffed with a filling, usually a nutella-style chocolate sauce or something fruity. Visitors to Portugal should make a point of trying one of these sweet treats – but try to get them while they’re hot – a cold fartura left sitting on the counter for a while is not especially pleasant!

This time last year I was complaining in this post, about the chill in the Algarve air – which is interesting as I was doing just that when I spoke to my mother on the phone this morning. The headline temperatures do not tell the full story when you live in accommodation with only reverse-cycle air-conditioning to remove the chill from the air. Also back in January 2011 I had just discovered Brisa do Rio – probably still our favourite restaurant in the town of Tavira. It’s hard to believe it was only a year ago, given the amount of times we have eaten in there since!

Image Credits: Visit Portugal, Renata F. Oliveira.

Technorati Tags: dona barca portimao, farturas, portugal a to z

Bom Dia and Bom Ano Novo (Good morning, and happy new year)!

Apologies for my absence over the Christmas period. I took a bit of a blogging break, but am now back refreshed and reinspired.

After a week or so working in London and delivering presents to friends and relatives, we had a fantastic, if slightly hectic, Christmas back in the Algarve. The festive season was full of wonderful moments, so I have decided to list a few of the highlights:

1. Taking my mother and mother-in-law to Praia de Tres Castelos beach on the 22nd December, where our car’s thermometer read the temperature as 23 degrees Celsius. The weather was beautiful enough for us to eat lunch at a beach café, paddle in the sea whilst watching some amazing light bounce of the water (see photo), and even for us to get slightly sunburned! Returning home to make mince pies and wrap gifts after a day like this was surreal, to say the least.

Sparking Water at Praia de Tres Castelos

2. Meeting our new, seven week old great-niece while we were back in England. I must, however, admit that the term “great uncle” makes me feel very old indeed.

3. Having time to cook so many things at a relaxed pace, including some foodie gifts for relatives such as spiced nuts, gingerbread and Christmas dressing. Sadly, even slow-paced Portuguese life manages to frequently leave us short of time during a working week so having plenty of kitchen time was a real pleasure. Our Christmas cooking included bright pink beetroot hummus, a sinful banoffee pie, and the pictured garlic flatbreads!

Homemade Garlic Flatbreads

4. Our neighbours coming round just before Christmas with smiles and Christmas gifts for us. This was an extremely kind and touching gesture that we will never forget—it made us feel so welcome in our new country.

5. Having two barbecues during the course of the Christmas period. There’s something wonderfully decadent about BBQing in December.

Finally, though it’s not a Christmas highlight, as such, I feel I have to point out that whilst driving near Maragota the other day we drove past something you don’t see every day in the Eastern Algarve – a camel!

Algarve Christmas Camel!

Now the festive season is out the way, it’s time to look to 2012, a year that everyone is telling us is going to be a tough one.

Algarve 2012 Weather

There are already some visible signs of the truth of this, and a good example is the Gran Plaza shopping centre in Tavira. Stores both large and small have been dropping like flies in the past month. The shopping centre will be half empty if retail businesses continue to fail at this pace. On the bright side, the smaller stores in our area seem to be hanging in there and we have seen several new businesses start up recently. As I am a “glass-half-full” kind of person most of the time I am going to try to focus on this fact instead.

My wife and I don’t “do” New Year’s resolutions. Grand undertakings in times where it’s depressing to be back at work and the apartment is still full of leftover booze and chocolate can only be doomed to failure. Regardless, we are conscious that times are hard, so intend to buckle down to a year focused on working hard, spending minimally, and enjoying all the inexpensive outdoor pursuits the Algarve has to offer. Given that the next fortnight promises relentless sun and temperatures around 20C, that shouldn’t be too difficult. Happy New Year!

THIS TIME IN 2010:

Continuing the theme of keeping old posts alive, at this time in 2010, things weren’t going quite so well! We were in the middle of the Algarve’s wettest winter since 1870 and feeling rather unsettled. Read the post here!

Moving to Portugal with ExpatFinder.com

Technorati Tags: christmas in portugal, living in portugal, new year in portugal

Those readers who follow the Expats Portugal blog will have probably seen a long recent thread about the opening of an Iceland store, down here in the Algarve.

I’m sure when the original poster typed his short message to share the news of the opening; he never expected it to generate 21 forum pages of comment, opinion, and, at times, vitriol. I myself voiced some strong opinions, but these were more in disagreement about the discussion’s descent into something akin to a class war, than about the opening of a British discount store and freezer centre.

The whole debacle raised an interesting question though, which is just how much us expats / immigrants should integrate or do integrate into our new home countries?

Various aspects of the culture of Portugal were strong factors in our decision to move here; strong family values, a relaxed pace of life, and a cultural existence that compels citizens to revere famous authors more highly than X Factor “stars” being just three examples. Simple, high quality cuisine was another reason we were likely to highlight when asked the “so why Portugal?” question.

Portugal Weather - Another Deciding Factor!

We have been here around two years now, and have worked very hard to integrate. Our stuttering Portuguese has enabled us to make friends with our Portuguese neighbours, we don’t huff and puff when held up during shopping or driving because those in front of us have decided to have a chat, and we are familiar with the works of Saramago and Pessoa. If you were to walk into our home at around 9.30pm (because that is now when we usually eat dinner) you would be as likely to see us tucking into bacalhau a bras as beef stew and dumplings.

However, none of this means that we don’t get excited when we spot a jar of mint jelly, a frozen Yorkshire pudding, or (as joyfully happened last week) the opening of an English style butchers. I was perhaps initially surprised just how much you do come to miss things from “back home” once you have lived abroad for a while.

If you think about it, there’s nothing unusual about this. If you go for a wander around Stockwell in south London, you will find plenty of Portuguese shops and restaurants. The culinary variety that can be found in London is made all the more rich by the immigrant populations. Everybody wins, because the restaurant and food stores that provide comfort and familiar products to those populations also provide variety and new flavours to all.

Sometimes Expats in Portugal Miss British Food

Now, I know that Iceland is hardly a home of epicurean delights, but I’m not going to complain about increasing availability and value of products that add variety to our daily meals. After all, when we lived in London, we didn’t “eat English” every night, any more than we “eat Portuguese” every night here. Chinese, Indian and Italian all make at least a weekly appearance.

Integrating, to me, is about showing respect for our new home, contributing to the community, ensuring we operate our fiscal affairs according to the laws of Portugal, and respecting the cultural differences of our new country. I don’t think we’re really going to offend anyone by buying the occasional packet of smoked mackerel from Iceland (something I am greatly looking forward to, as it happens).

I do take the point that large stores make it more difficult for independent local businesses, but that situation is far too advanced for one more chain to make any difference. In fact, despite the recession, small businesses continue to pop up everywhere in our area, with low overheads that still, in my opinion, make it easier for entrepreneurial types to try something out here than back in the UK.

Are signs with no Portuguese respectful?

I’m quick to moan when I find myself in touristy areas such as the Albufeira strip, and see wall-to-wall English breakfasts, menus with no sign of any Portuguese, and sunburned Brits shouting “two large beers” without attempting so much as a “bom dia.” That does display a frustrating lack of integration. But I refuse to be judged for being pleased that I will soon be able to buy inexpensive Branston Pickle. And, who knows, some Portuguese people may even get a bit of a taste for frozen “double stuffed takeaway style pizzas with a sweet chilli layer.” Sometimes, after a hard day, crappy junk-food in front of the TV is just what the doctor ordered…..

Image credit: higgot

Technorati Tags: iceland, integrating abroad, living in portugal

We had a week off work last week, and beyond a vague intention to have a break in Lisbon at some point, we had no firm plans.

Our plans accelerated on Friday evening, just hours after switching off our laptops, when a quiet drink on our terrace was disturbed by the appearance of a scuttling rodent. Long term readers of the blog will be aware that I am not exactly a fan of these things, so I quickly found myself safely locked indoors, booking a hotel in Lisbon for the following day!

We spent five days in Lisbon, a brief account of which follows. I do intend to write a more detailed account of our stay there, which will form part of a forthcoming Kindle book – stayed tuned for details.

SATURDAY: After arranging for our relatives to remove some plants from our balcony, with our beautiful peach tree believed to me the main attraction for the newly discovered vermin, we headed off up the A2 toll road to Portugal’s capital. Our planned arrival time was scuppered by the level of traffic approaching the main 25 de Abril bridge into the city. So after a couple of hours of traffic jam, we only had time to settle into our hotel and enjoy a light dinner, consisting of a Greek mezze platter (something we would never find down here in the Algarve), and a couple of very overpriced cocktails.

SUNDAY was exploration day. We purchased a one day public transport pass and boarded the clean and efficient metro into the Baixa area. I was delighted that, although it had been some time since I was last in the city, I instantly knew where I was, and had a rough idea of my way around.

After a scarily expensive toastie and iced tea, which reminded us instantly that we weren’t in the more affordable sticks any more, we set off on a wander to explore downtown Lisbon.

Santa Justa Elevador

First stop was a free-to-enter design museum, which included some fascinating exhibits including iconic 70s furniture and HiFi systems. We then boarded the Elevador de Santa Justa, a huge vertical lift that, in seconds, takes you from the low-lying baixa district to Chiado and Barrio Alto, located on a steep hill above. We walked though Barrio Alto, Lisbon´s main nighttime restaurant and bar area, which is strangely quiet and residential during the day, and onto the pretty park at Praca do Principe Real, where we stopped at the Esplanada café for a cooling drink.

When we settled at our table, I was a little disconcerted by the guy sitting across from us, who kept catching my eye, but all was explained when I read my guide book and found the café described as a popular gay pick-up spot!

We failed to find our way into the very well hidden botantical gardens, and started to get hungry, so we decided on a picnic in the Parque Eduardo VII, which we reached via metro, stopping en route at the huge Corte D’Ingles department store for provisions. We enjoyed our picnic of cheese, bread, chorizo and bola de berlim (Portuguese cream donuts) in blazing heat….or at least I did – my wife ate most of her food standing up to avoid the ants….

Amazed at how much we had achieved in one day, we headed back to the hotel for a quick swim before dinner, which turned out to be a very quick swim due to the vast numbers of noisy children in the hotel pool.

Late in the evening, we ventured out, again by metro, to the completely transformed Barrio Alto district. Packed with tourists when we went into our chosen restaurant, these were largely replaced by locals by the time we left around midnight.

The noise and atmosphere carried us along and we visited several bars and drank numerous cocktails. By the time we stumbled out of a cab and into our hotel, people were already in reception checking out ready for early morning flights.

MONDAY was a bit of a write-off, after the excesses of the night before, so we enjoyed the TV in our room, a room-service pizza, and several overpriced but rehydrating juice drinks from the minibar. In the afternoon, we started to feel guilty about wasting our holiday time, so set off by metro to Centro Columbo, a shopping center described in our guidebook as the largest in Iberia, located next to Benfica football stadium.

Benfica Stadium Lisbon

I don’t know how much of our distaste for the place was due to the hangover, but we couldn’t get away quick enough. It was packed with people and almost impossible to find our way out of. Our shopping trip turned into a military operation to source a DVD, bags of popcorn and soft drinks. We were quickly back at our hotel, the only saving grace of the entire jaunt being a large tub of green apple sorbet which finally started to make us feel human again.

TUESDAY: Cautious of having squandered one day of our break, we were up early and headed off to the Parque das Nacoes, a huge area of Lisbon developed for Expo 98 and dedicated to leisure. We enjoyed views of the river and the stunning Vasco de Gama bridge whilst walking around and then headed to the large Oceanarium via the rather disappointing and poorly maintained water gardens.

Lisbon Oceanarium Penguins

The queue at the Oceanarium looked horrendous, but actually moved very quickly, and we were soon inside to look at the marine life in Europe’s second largest aquarium. We enjoyed the Oceanarium, but it was packed, and quite hard to get near the windows to the main tank. However, we were particularly taken with certain species, particularly the impossibly cute otters, who I swear were enjoying the attention, seadragons, and brightly coloured jellyfish.

For what its worth, although we enjoyed the oceanarium, I probably enjoyed the aquarium at the Algarve’s Zoomarine more, because what it didn’t have in sheer scale, it made up for in additional space to relax and enjoy looking at the fish. Had we visited at a slightly quieter time, I may have had a different view.

Otters at Lisbon Oceanarium

After a quick mobile lunch of crepes and waffles from Oriente station, we headed back to the hotel, aching all over from walking up and down the steep hills of Lisbon. It seemed like a good time to visit the hotel´s spa. After this we didn’t fancy going far, so took the chance on a local Chinese buffet restaurant, which was surprisingly good quality, compared to the disastrous meals we have had in similar establishments, such as the one I talk about here.

WEDNESDAY was our last full day in the Lisbon area, so we decided to venture a bit further to explore Sintra, Estoril and Cascais. Details of our explorations of these areas follow in next week’s blog post. Please come back and read it!

Technorati Tags: algarve zoomarine, benfica lisbon, benfica stadium, lisboa, lisbon, lisbon oceanarium, oceanarium

Last weekend here in the Algarve was a good one. It was lovely to have a car again after feeling rather isolated at times in our little town.

On Saturday we ventured out and headed west to Praia da Gale, just past the tourist mecca of Albufeira. We were pleased that even here, the crowds had subsided and it did just feel

Praia da Gale

like a busy Saturday.

Praia da Gale is a west-facing beach with the signature orange cliffs, typical of this end of the Algarve, with just a few beach restaurants. One of these, actually just called Praia De Gale, we enjoyed on our last visit. We had exactly the same light lunch – bread, olives, clams and white wine. Simple and delicious and some of the best clams we have had this summer.

The only difference to our last (off-season) visit to Gale was that the sands were almost completely covered in sunbeds and sunshades for hire. Although this detracted from the natural beauty of the beach it gives us more reasons to come back to these places when the weather is not so good later in the year.

One “benefit” of the touristy stuff being there still was a small watersports hire company down one end of the beach. While we swam, we noticed a young couple climbing onto a long yellow banana boat. Riding one of these things, which is pulled along ridiculously fast by a boat in front, has been one of those things we have always intended to do, so completely on the spur of the moment we ran to the hut and asked if we could take a couple of the spare seats.

Five minutes later, we are bouncing along the open sea, in my particular case hanging on for dear life. Maybe I am getting old but I have to say it was just a little bit too much! Perhaps because there were only adults on the banana, the people driving the boat made no concessions for fear – particularly when they manoeuvred the boat in such a way as to deliberately send us all flying off the boat and into the deep water.

Banana Boat - Terrifying

My wife thoroughly enjoyed the experience, despite having to be helped back onto the boat after we were all thrown into the sea, so I was a little embarrassed to admit I was counting down the seconds until we got back to the shore. It would be wrong to say I didn’t enjoy it at all, because it was certainly an experience, but my favourite part was when we were near enough to the beach that I could dive off the thing and swim back to solid ground.

I held on so tight to the boat that it was a couple of hours before my arms stopped shaking and the vibrations of the boat seem to have pulled every muscle I have. I am still, two days on unable to straighten my arms, or open the terrace doors without wincing!

After Praia Da Gale we headed to the Apolonia supermarket. Expats tend to have very strong opinions on Apolonia as there is really nothing remotely Portuguese about this upscale establishment that exists to sell expensive imported products to wealthy tourists. However, we make no excuses, we were celebrating our eleven year anniversary on Saturday and fancied a treat – and for that purpose, this cross between Waitrose and Harvey Nichols food halls is the perfect place. I will be posting a report on Apolonia over at Food and Wine Portugal, later in the week.

On Sunday we headed over to the new property that has been purchased by our relatives, who are, as I type, driving down to the Algarve through Spain, having just arrived on the Santander ferry.

We were greeted by the old owners – truly lovely people who reminded us of one of the biggest reasons we wanted to move to Portugal in the first place. They had left the place beautifully for when our family arrive and I am so excited for them to be starting their own Portuguese adventure in a few hours.

On the way home we had a quick beer overlooking the fishing boats on the sparkling sea in the village of Santa Luzia.

On return home I must confess to reading an English Sunday paper, something I promised myself I wouldn’t do once I moved here, that has now returned to being part of my Sunday

Roast leg of lamb

routine!

We finished a really special anniversary weekend with a leg of lamb we procured from Apolonia. It was very good indeed, especially after experiences of a lot of rather tasteless lamb we have come across since we have been here. My wife has already said this is what she wants to eat again on her birthday. Luckily, given the prices in Apolonia, that isn’t for a few months!

Have a good week!

Images credits: Jun Acallador, Filipe Rocha, dps

Technorati Tags: algarve beach, apolonia, banana boat ride, moving to portugal, portugal supermarket, praia da gale, roast lamb

As someone who frequently bemoaned the lack of individual shops in England when we lived there, Portugal is a bit of a treat when it comes to shopping.

We always used to say the only cities in England that offered anything better than the dull identikit high street were Cambridge, Brighton and York. A recent visit to Norwich would make me inclined to add that to the small list, but generally, shopping in the UK was a rather dull experience.

Here in the Algarve, browsing the shops is far more rewarding. There are all manner of small shops, some of which have clearly been in families for generations and seem to

Portugal Shops - Butchers

be selling the same quirky mix of products they were probably selling decades ago.

True, a lot of these shops sell typical tourist tat, but in this hot weather you can’t have enough inflatable dolphins and wakeboards to play with. In amongst the tat there are some lovely craft shops, delis and wine shops, as well as plenty of privately owned boutiques and shoe shops.

Best of all though are the quirky shops, usually run by wrinkly eccentrics and selling some of the oddest mixtures of products you will ever see in one place.

There is a shop in our local village that my wife has named “the magical mystery shop.” As well as cigarettes, lottery tickets, wine and spirits (but strangely, not soft drinks or beer,) this shop sells the strangest mix of household and hardware items. On one recent trip my wife came back with a bottle of ginginha (Portuguese cherry liqueur,) a lightbulb and some tweezers – a strange mix.

On my last visit to this shop, tucked away up a corner I found a small bink bicycle, a pile of barbecues, a used outside floodlight, and an inkjet printer that appeared to date back to the late 80s. It is a strangely enchanting little place.

People wanting a more modern shopping experience in the Algarve can always visit the huge shopping centres which are just like American malls, but to shop exclusively there would deprive them of some of the quirky finds in the towns themselves, not to mention the fact that some of the best cheeses and chorizos you can find come from these little independent places.

The last shop that deserves a mention in this post has to be a small butchers that we found in Tavira. Along with the small selection of meat they also had, on sale, a large pile of toilet rolls. This combination of offerings did serve to make us a little uncertain of the meat on sale, it has to be said!

Image credit: Paul Keller

Technorati Tags: algarve shops, brighton, norwich, portugal shops, shopping, shpping in portugal, uk high street