Cheap Trainers And A Hike To And From An Anchor Cemetery.

 Looking up places on the Internet and the actual reality of getting there is completely different.

We felt brave enough to use the public transport in the Algarve this time.  We waited for a bus and eventually people gathered at the bus stop to wait to board.

Eventually it turned up and we paid the bus driver and he drove us to Tavira.

Tavira is a pleasant enough East Algarve town with a river running through it's centre.

We walked around for a while and then I suggested to J we go to the anchor cemetery outside Tavira.  I of course hinted at maybe catching a bus there?

J agreed and she followed the Google Maps route on her phone and the posh English lady voice guided us at every turn.

We passed lots of lovely villas, orange plantations and bus stops, but no buses.

Eventually we found the old little railway that took us to the seaside.  We paid our fair in a machine and waited for the little train.

This took us to the anchor cemetery:

 

The old tuna train now used for carrying passengers.

Gents toilets sign.

Nice gardens.

Ladies toilets sign.

The tuna stocks declined in the nineteen sixties and recently someone very clever and artistic  minded people decided to put the old anchors in the sand and make an anchor cemetery.

Anchor cemeteries sign.

The old tuna processing buildings are now toilets and a cafe/ bar and souvenir shop.

It was a beautiful sunny day and I had a large beer and J had a small one.  Then we caught the tuna train back and walked all the way back to Tavira.

J moaned all the way back about having to walk.  My left heel began to ache very much.  It's still aching.

I bought some cheap discount supermarket trainers before we went to the Algarve for ten Euros.  I had thought:

 "If I get a week out of them they will be fine."

Footwear are the tyres for our feet.  You wouldn't put cheap tyres on your car or feet or would you?

I think if you want wall to wall sunshine even in winter.  Visit the Algarve.  It really is beautiful.

"I've Never Seen Out Like Them. Have You?""

We were at Monte Gordo train station waiting for a train to visit Ayamonte in Spain and J walked up the platform taking photos of Flamingos in the river:

Flamingos shouting mating calls like:

"Are you putting the kettle on Elsie?"

I heard a West Yorkshire lady about my age say to her presumably grown up daughter:

"I haven't seen out like them. Have you?"

I could not think of a more appropriate saying.  The Flamingos were a sight for sore eyes.  

I had only ever seen them before in zoos and safari parks but never in the wild.  Makes a change from seagulls and crows.

Solar Street Lights In The Algarve.

Solar street lights in Castro Marim.

We saw the future last week and it was not garlic bread.

Us culchies or country dwellers in rural Ireland don't have street lights and from August until around now it's pitch black at tea time.

We were on a bus to Castro Marim last week and we saw these solar panels.  What a perfect solution especially for rural areas?

Apparently they cost around 2000 Euros.  Use LED bulbs and need no electricity supply.

Recently here in Ireland the county council's have been reducing  the speeds on rural roads from 80 K to 60 and changing the road signs.  This must of cost thousands nationally.  Perhaps they could look at solar power street lighting?

I would love to go a walk with Bronte at night like the people in the towns and villages can.

"Vorsprung Durk Technik" With The Condiments.

Sheer genius.  A pair of scissors to open the sachets of condiments. 

I had the repeat of the tomato ketchup murder scene in the kitchen the other day with the ketchup.  Except I was sat outside a restaurant and giving free entertainment for onlookers.

I squeezed the corner of the sachet with my teeth and duly sprayed tomato/🍅 sauce my T shirt and shorts with tomato ketchup.

So I washed them in the shower and left them overnight on the hotel balcony on a plastic seat to dry and of course they didn't dry, and we had to walk round the corner to a launderette, to pay 3 Euros to dry them for 18 minutes.  

We even walked to a supermarket to pass the time and there was still 9 minutes left to watch the dryer spin.

Then one day last week we sat outside a cafe bar and J ordered an ham and cheese toasty with chips and I had a Club sandwich and J had a glass of house wine and I had a large beer or Super Bock. 

The condiments came with a pair of scissors.  I have seen the future and it's not garlic bread!

 

Irish Pub Sign.

 

Yoghert For Dogs!

A photo took in Petmania in Tralee a week or so.

Yog-hert is the way yoghurt is pronounced in Ireland.

We were looking for dog treats to reward Heidi for bringing 3 fat puppies into the world.

They are doing fine and they are squeaking away like newborn human babies.

I was amazed to see a fridge freezer full of "dog" yoghurt!

Stop the world 🌎 I want to get off.  I think it was 8 Euros sixty for a tub.

Sorry girls but we didn't purchase.

Three Fat German Shepherd Puppies.

 Remember in December 2023 when Heidi our German Shepherdess bitch had ten beautiful 🐶 puppies 🐶?

Well we bred her again when she last came into heat.  Last Friday dear old Heidi Pied gave birth to just 3 fat puppies:

Proud Heidi with her 3 new Canine babies.

I call them her: "Three Musketeers".  

We were a bit disappointed when she only had the 3 pups.  But then we realised mother and babies are in perfectly health and we are going to have 3 bundles of fun to play with for 11 weeks.

J bought Heidi a full sized chicken and roasted it in the oven for her.  Heidi wolfed it down and washed it down with her dish full of milk pop!

Heidi needs her strength to feed her 3 fat puppies.