My Place in Tavira

Sometimes words tumble around in your head, eager to evade the paper.  I’ve been following Cathy’s latest venture over at Wanderessence with interest, as she evokes a stream of memories.  Some of you may already know that I plan to move to the Algarve, in Portugal, this year.  Estate agents are almost at my door, the spur I need to start sorting through almost 30 years of squirreling stuff away.  What can I not bear to part with?

Sifting through a pile of photos, mostly of Dad and my Polish family, I pull out a couple of battered exercise books.  Evidence that I had tried to learn both Polish and Portuguese, unsuccessfully, I might add.  Several of the pages were loose, and came away in my hand.  I began to read…. not grammar at all, but the story of my early days in the Algarve.  It all came flooding back.

What is it that draws you to a place, asks Cathy?  She suggests that you keep a detailed diary to help you reminisce.  The pages I had stumbled upon took me back to 2004.  Our immaculate navy blue and white, new bathroom had plumbing problems and had to be bashed about to resolve them.  The whole street seemed to shudder and shake as our bathroom was ‘mended’.  It was an agony to listen, so we escaped while sanity was restored.

The previous October we had taken a one week holiday in Vilamoura and done a little scouting around.  I’d never been to Portugal before, but had liked the sound of Tavira.  A ruined castle overlooking the river, and a ferry to take you out to the beach.  Could it be as nice as it sounded?  Autumn that year was a little mischievous, but the patches of blue in the sky made up for the puddles of rain in the streets.  I lost my heart, right there and then.

February 2004 saw us return for a couple of days, to finalise a sale and rush around buying a few basics.  A bed and some yellow canvas deck chairs came first, I recall.  The plates, we brought with us from England, that April, our first proper visit to our home.  The excitement of  first outings and purchases!  A trip to Faro to buy an acoustic guitar, regarded as an ‘essential’ by our son.  The soft magic of the ilha.  And later, in July, a blow-up dinghy which gave such pleasure, as he and a mate paddled across there.  My heart was often in my mouth as a ferry chugged a little close, but they would emerge spluttering and teasing each other.  A repair kit seldom fixed the leaks for long.

The memories crowd in, one tripping over the next.  The joy of Summer fairs, paper flowers bedecking the bandstand.  Our first drive into the Algarve countryside, enthralled by the greenery and the rolling hills.  Balmy evenings by the riverside.  Azulejos, of course!  The pride in showing visitors all of our wonderful discoveries.  That never ending blue sky and sea.  Sunsets on the roof.

Fourteen years later, many things have changed, but our love for Tavira remains undiminished.  Neighbours have come and gone.  Our favourite cafe, Anazu, is now just a memory.  The garden we started so optimistically has fallen victim to the weather.  It’s time to move out there and give it the nurturing it deserves.  I hope I’ve given you a sense of the place, and what draws me back.  Many thanks to Cathy and her legion of ideas on how to enhance the travel experience.  Please pay her a visit.

128 comments

  2. Jo, I love this post written with such a lot of heart and soul. I can see why you want to move to a place that has given you so much pleasure, wonderful memories and a sense of belonging. I am sure your Portuguese will improve a lot once you live there full time. I could happily live in the Algarve…..you never know I might move there one day 🙂 Go for it Jo… you will never regret it.

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    1. Time is running out for me to contemplate such a move, Gilda. I need to be there, living the life that I love, before it’s too late and I can’t fully appreciate it any more. Thanks very much, darlin. I do appreciate your support. 🙂 🙂

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    1. I actually still have them going way back, Mari, but sometimes I run out and start scribbling in whichever notebook is to hand. So much for learning Portuguese! 🙂 🙂 I will try harder when I’m there.

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  7. It’s so nice that you have found your perfect place and I’m certain you’ll enjoy living in the Algarve on a permanent basis with its beautiful coastline and mild climate. I’m a bit strange in that f I was to move overseas, I’d head north to Finland

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  8. Oh, marvellous, Jo! The excitement! I wish you well for all the packing, and it’ll all be sorted before you know it! Looks like I’m not going to see you in England, then…unless we can squeeze in a meeting before you up sticks!

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    1. The next 5/6 months are uncharted territory, Sue. There are many things I’d like to do and am a bit undecided about, so you never know. I’ll keep you updated and thanks for the lovely wishes. 🙂 🙂

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  9. Oh Jo! How I love this piece. I love your photos and your words, so evocative – your feelings, your first experiences, your rendering of Tavira’s essence. I can sense how enthralled you were with Tavira, and having visited you there, I know firsthand what it’s like and why you fell in love with it. I also know firsthand of your love for Portugal, but seeing it written here makes your enthusiasm contagious! I’m so excited about your upcoming move. You are living my dream for sure. Maybe when I take Mike to Portugal, I can convince him that we should have a place somewhere in the Mediterranean, quite possibly in Portugal. Thank you so much for participating in my invitation to write about your call to place. This post is just what I was looking for. I’ll be linking it to my post on Nashville that will publish tomorrow morning. 🙂

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    1. Thank you for your enthusiasm, Cathy. It’s a long way from the States, but then you are truly a globe traveler and I know that wouldn’t phase you. I struggled to keep this post to a sensible size, and I could have gone on and on with the photos, but as you say, you’ve seen it at first hand. 🙂 🙂 I’ll have to flip a coin for where next.

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      1. I do love it, Jo. I’m so glad you wrote about it with so much wonderful detail. And of course, you have thousands of pictures you could use. But it’s nice to have the shorter post with so much depth to it.

        I know it is a long way, but I’m always floating the idea to Mike that if we had an apartment in Europe, we could stay there several months at a time and travel around easily. I haven’t convinced him yet, but I’m working on it! 🙂

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  10. It will be brilliant, Jo. And although the sorting and clearing out of things can be tough/saddening/exhausting, there are as you say, the little finds that prove to be signposts to the new life. Besides, you are doing nothing that can’t be changed again if need be. It will be good (and different) to spend prolonged time in one world rather than dipping between two. A whole new safari through familiar territory. Who knows what you will discover next.

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    1. Thanks for those words of comfort, Tish. 🙂 🙂 It is exciting but there are always the people who shed doubt. Stay fit and healthy wherever you are is half the answer. Hugs, darlin! You will, of course, come and take a look at some point.

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  11. Beautiful and more beautiful…. follow your heart, Jo!! And I’m on my way … so soon you have settled down for good. Have you got your UK house sold???!!!

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    1. The first estate agent is coming to assess it today, Vivi. 🙂 🙂 We have lots of decorating to do but it should be on the market soon after Easter. Thanks, darlin!

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      1. Well done … I really hope that you will be able to sell and make your dreams come true. So happy that you two have taken that finale step. Good on you … we only live once!!!!

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  13. So, is that your little garden at the top? I have no idea what your Tavira home looks like, whether it is a villa or an apartment, in the centre of the town or on the outskirts. It certainly sounds as if you are heading to the right place and I wish you all the luck in the world for the move. It’s a big thing to do, leaving England. But not irreversible. I first visited Portugal slightly before you, in October 2002, escaping all the boxes that needed unpacking after my move to Shrewsbury. We fell in love too, but having just bought a house we had no money to buy another one. Now I toy with the idea of having somewhere in a sunny place for a few months of the year, but deep in my heart I know it is not going to happen. I think I have found my happy place. And Australia still calls.

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    1. Yes, it’s just a small half tiled patio with the mandatory barbecue that we don’t use, Jude. Street house, 2 bed, 3 floors, the top being the sundeck where I took my sunsets. Nothing to get excited about really, but it’s home. And it needs lots of painting and TLC right now. 🙂 🙂 I like some aspects of your happy place but the isolation and cows for neighbours not so much. We’ll have to arrange a house swap in a year or so. 🙂 You probably wouldn’t like the yappy dogs.

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      1. Perhaps you’ll find your perfect home once you are out there. One of those charming Portuguese houses, or a doer-upper. And yes, you are quite right, I do not like yappy dogs 🙂

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  14. Jo, if I didn’t already spend so much time around Tavira, you would have persuaded me to fly out to visit! Lovely photos as usual, you just manage to capture a perfect shot😊x

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    1. Diane, it’s so nice of you to have ‘joined’ to be able to write this! I do appreciate it. We share a love, don’t we? Hoping your Greek travels go well and we’ll see you in the Autumn. I’ll be following along on Facebook. 🙂 🙂

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  15. Oh Jo your feelings for this beautiful place come over loud and clear, it is where your heart is taking you. The packing will be traumatic and you will have moments of doubt, but once that is all behind you you will be where you are meant to be. Enjoy the sorting and packing and savouring all the hidden memories you find as you pack. I wish you all the best for your move.

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  18. What an exciting time for you. We only discovered the Algarve on a long weekend in February 5 years ago, but we had offered on a house before we went home. In England our 3 grandchildren are in walking distance so we won’t be moving permanently, but I do envy you.

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    1. That’s a key difference, Liz. Our daughter is in Nottingham and doesn’t have or want children of her own, and our son is in Leeds. He is the big ‘pull’ but he’s settled in a happy relationship and it’s time to let him grow. 🙂 🙂

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  19. Beautiful photos and memories Jo. I can see why you fell in love with the place. A lovely way to relive and remember the places of our past and present. 💜

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    1. I’m a little nervous now that it’s happening, Miriam, and I’m sure there will be tears as I say goodbye to this home and good friends here. But it’s time to move forward. 🙂 🙂

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      1. Of course there’ll be tears Jo, that’s only natural. But you’ll always have those special memories. And yes, time marches on doesn’t it. Take care xx 🙂

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    1. I know, Andrew, and it isn’t for everybody. It’s simply that the life I have there is generally better than the life I have here. 🙂 🙂 I may be proved wrong and I suspect if I had grandchildren close by there would be a bigger pull to the UK. But after all, I’m a half Polish nomad. 🙂

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