It has been a few days since I last wrote a post, but I have been laid low with a cold/flu. I thought it was a cold but had a fever for several days so I think Brian was correct in calling it the flu. Of course a head cold at sea level is far more tiresome than at the altitude at home.
I did venture out yesterday to get more medication but I was pretty exhausted when we got back the apartment.
We knew that the cleaners would be in the apartment today so we walked into the old town for a walk and a late lunch. Today was the first day that didn’t start with overcast skies. It was sunny all day, and we had to use sunscreen for the first time.
We found yet another way down to the sea. The rule of thumb is that if you are going down, you will eventually reach the sea. More people on the beach today and even one or two brave souls in the water. In the older part of town, we did come across some of the tiled facades which we had seen in Lisbon and Oporto, but these are on a much smaller scale.
We saw a restaurant which had chosen vegetation as a facade.
We had lunch at a restaurant where we could look back over Fisherman’s Beach and Inatel Beach.
Next to the restaurant is a large area with lots of wild vegetation, and it seems to be a haven for some of the wild cats in the town. They are unlike other wild cats that we have seen on our travels in Europe. These are sleek and look very well fed. The Toms are the largest that I have ever seen. Many people have dogs, but there do not seem to be any bylaws about keeping them on a leash or picking up after them. Speaking of bylaws, Portugal must be one of the last places in Europe where it is permissible to smoke on the terrace of a restaurant.
Spring is definitely in the air and patches of wild flowers appear everywhere and in unlikely places like the edge of a cliff where nobody can get to them.
We arrived back at the apartment just as the cleaners were finishing up washing the floors.
hubertsineuropespring2020 