Pateo Velho

          Would you like to join me for dinner this evening?  I’m going to travel back to July in 2015, to Lagos in the Algarve where I stayed with Hubby in the Tivoli Hotel and ate outdoors one evening at one of the restaurants available..  “PATEO VELHO” .

          I’ve booked a table, it might not have been necessary to book for a table inside, but I wanted to book the same table on the balcony where we sat before, come straight down the path on the left and join us.  Oh, mind the steps.

          Take a look at the menu, excuse me while I stifle a yawn, it’s not at all reflecting on the company, we were up early this morning to go “Shadowing Dolphins“. Oh it was well worth the early alarm call though, they’re beautiful creatures and once I relaxed I really enjoyed the boat ride too. I’ve never ridden on a saddle in a speed boat before.

          Is that your fish they’re bringing out to the grill? No, I think its Hubby’s.

          I didn’t notice the lights come on, did you, very nice they are too, I guess it would be difficult to keep candles lit on the tables of an evening, the breeze picks up quite bit, a warm breeze nonetheless and of course we’re sheltered by the canopies and the heat from the grill is making things feel cosy. 

          Sorry, the cosiness is bringing on another yawn, we were out late last night, it was our anniversary and Hubby booked us a table to eat at a little bar just outside the main hotel entrance, I forget its name right now, but it’s across the road and a little to the left.

          I had a saxophone for my birthday, Hubby says my wanting to play the sax is part of my mid-life crisis so I’ve named my saxophone “Harley“.  Anyway, there just happened to be saxophone music on offer on the day of our anniversary, so while I played like a local and took a siesta, Hubby booked us a table and surprised me.  “Rui Sax“, that’s the name our music maker went by, and he really did make beautiful music.  If I finally get my act together and maybe practice for forever and a day  that’s what I’d like to sound like. 

          Oooh, desert is here, always my favourite part of the meal. 

           We’ve got another boat trip booked for tomorrow morning, that will be our third since we’ve been here.  We were told, and you can see for yourselves, that the breeze picks up quite a bit here as the day goes on, a warm breeze yes, and it’s quite refreshing of an evening if you’ve spent the day out in the sun, but it does whip the waves up a bit so smoother waters are to be had by setting the alarm clock. 

          We’re going on a little boat tomorrow morning, apparently we’re going to be hugging the coast, squeezing into little gaps and caves that can only be seen from the sea.

          On our other boat trip we went “Sailing“. I think I enjoyed the dolphin trip best, but I’m pretty certain Hubby preferred the yacht. 

          Oh, sorry that’s another yawn, I think I’m going to have to call it a day.  Feel free to stay and finish your wine, I’m going to take a short-cut past the pool back to our room..  Bed is calling me.   Goodnight. 

          More from before: Lovely holiday in “Lagos“, in the Algarve, July 2015.

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Lagos lanterns

          One of the things which left an impact on the memory of our holiday in Lagos in the Algarve was the wall lights. They were everywhere.

          Well, of course there were lights everywhere, but they caught my eye wherever we went.  I particularly liked the plain ones, the ones which looked like they’d been roughly cut out of sheets of clay and such together to use,  not just to display, most were painted the same colour as the walls so that you saw the light before the lamp.

          There were later, posher lamps too, bought for effect,  and a lovely effect they had too.

         The hotel restaurant had a few rooftop tables and the whole outdoor eating experience turned into a lantern lit dinner as the sun went down.

            I found this smaller lantern whilst wandering around some if the older part of the hotel.

          But take another look at the plain white lamp on the blue wall…  Do you recognise my Kitchen wallpaper?

       I couldn’t resist finding one to bring home with me.

          More from before: Lovely holiday in “Lagos“, in the Algarve, July 2015.

Sailing

          What better way to relax than to set sail for the blue waters off the coast of Lagos with the sun on your brow and the breeze in your hair.

          Again we chose morning time for our boat trip, this meant booking a day or so in advance, but also meant a reasonably flat sea and a relaxing ride as the winds pick up across the coast towards the latter end of the day… Warm winds mind you, but they still make for choppier waters.

          We arrived at our arranged meeting place, clutching tickets, just as the sailing trip before us arrived back at the fishing harbour.  They all sounded happy, laughing and joking with the crew and each other, taking an age to move over for our turn, but in their obvious enjoyment reassuring anyone (me) that a sailing boat trip would be fun.

          We weren’t tied up with life jackets this time,  for someone who can only swim confidently with one foot on the bottom of the pool this was a little un-nerving, but I took the seat offered on the roof of the long cabin below deck and watched the first mate steer us out of the fishing harbour. We motored out way along the inlet and out to deeper waters.  

          The sails went up and we glided along in this beautiful boat.  Actually,  I don’t remember moving very far or fast, the calm morning waters might have been perfect for the dolphin trip but the sound of the motor chugging away below deck was sort of comforting.

          You may have noticed the little boat on tow behind us. After a while the sails were lowered and the motor turned off and we drifted just a little way off the coastline.  We were divided into three groups and this is where the little boat came into play.

          The cliffs along the coast here are full of small caves and hidden beaches.  The Grotto is the name these little caves go by, at least that’s the name used to entice visiting holiday makers to tie themselves up in life jackets and to sit in a little boat,  often no bigger than a large dining table,  then to go bobbing about on a pond big enough for whales to play in. Well it worked, and not only once but twice on us, the smaller the boat, the more you can see, the more little gaps you can squeeze into or under, and the more you can see of how the sea has carved the rocky cliffs into its own work of art.

          Don’t worry, like millions of tourists before and after me I fired off hundreds of shots with my camera and in a day or two (maybe a little longer) I’ll show you some of the best bits so you can “Ooh and Ahh” from the comfort of your own armchair.

          Meanwhile,  back on the sail boat… As one of our three groups set off to the Grotto, the remaining two groups were left to play. The picture above shows a chain strung across a gap on the side of the rails, the boat was parked, or I guess that should be anchored, a little way off-shore, with this side facing away from the buzzing little motor boats with their noses in the air.  The captain unhooked the chain and pronounced the swimming pool open.

           Just one young couple braved the impact of the cold water. We other more sensible (or possibly just less brave) people watched.  We were served drinks, alcoholic and not,  from the bar below deck and the captain entertained us for a while by fishing…

          He and his mate threw food into the water and we watched as the fish broke the sea’s surface and jumped up to eat it. The captain dangled a piece of string over the side of the boat and before long caught a fish. He held up his six-inch trophy to many cheers before throwing it back to the sea.

        Time flies when you’re having fun and the two hours on our sailing trip did just that.  After we’d had our turn on the little boat too, accompanied by little life jackets I’m pleased to say, there was just enough time to sit back and relax with another drink as we trundled along the inlet and back to the fishing harbour

          More from before: Lovely holiday in “Lagos“, in the Algarve, July 2015.