Jo’s Monday walk : Praia de Barril

Such a familiar sight, and one that I love, especially when the heather is in bloom here at Barril.  The salt marshes can be a wallow of mud and scurrying crabs, but catch it right, with the tide in, and it’s very beautiful.  The temperatures have been steadily rising this week, and with them the temptation to visit the beach.  We parked at our usual spot, looking out to the bridge, and the Ilha beyond.

The path over the causeway is narrow, and has been closed while emergency measures were in place, but the time has not been wasted.  New signboards describe the antics of the bocas cava-terra, or Fiddler crabs, and the wading birds that happily fish these waters.

Track maintenance has taken place too, sand being always anxious to reclaim its rights, and the engines and carriages have been given a shiny new coat of paint.  A 15 to 20 minute stroll brings you to the beach, Praia de Barril, on Tavira Island.

A fringe of green weed decorates part of the shoreline, and in the distance a heat haze.  We turn to walk in the opposite direction, aware of other footsteps in the sand, but not a soul in sight.  The haze persists on yonder horizon too.

The strangest thing!  As we walk, the haze expands to meet us, and before too long we are shrouded in a fine, damp mist.  Turning back, we can’t help but chuckle that it’s just like the sea fret on the north east coast of England.  Only once before has this happened to us here.  I can remember the eerie feeling as we sat on the beach, engulfed in a sunny fog.  Then, as now, it had rolled away again within half an hour or so.

The graveyard anchors clung on, unimpressed.  I’m sure they must have seen much worse in their many years.  The beach bar was newly reopened and we stopped for a drink and chat to the young waiter, who had had no work or income for 2 months.  He shrugged and smiled, glad to be working again, even if custom was poor.  ‘We have to try!’  And in bright sunlight we started back.

The engines, in various stages of undress, made me smile.  Hopefully they will be pulling full coaches again, before the summer is over.

Back over the bridge and homeward bound, where I can offer you a choice of something sweet, or savoury if you prefer.  And shade!

Now and again I like to spoil you.  🙂  The heat has reached a crescendo around 30C this weekend, and an evening stroll by the water is a luxury.

walking logo

Let’s see what my walkers around the world are up to.  Many thanks to all of you for continuing to share.  Your company is always appreciated.

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Start at ‘Ye Olde Fighting Cocks’, with Debbie :

Wandering around St. Albans again

Janet appears to have found an oasis in the desert :

Monday walk…at the olive mill

But Rupali doesn’t need words :

Wordless Wednesday Walk

And Drake is all at sea!

Foreigners missing

Natalie doesn’t have any problem with getting out among the Spring flowers :

Life with Moments of Beauty

And I didn’t mind a few grey skies in Berwickshire, with Anabel :

Duns Law

Mel takes us silver mining in the Outback :

Walking through history in Broken Hill

While Denzil takes us on a longish walk from a pretty Belgian town :

Walk from Diest to Loksbergen (and back)

Ending with Cathy, in one of the loveliest cities I know :

A first glimpse into the glory of Florence

Next week we’ll go and look at a reservoir, to see how well they’re faring.  I hope you’ll come along.  Meantime, enjoy your week!

118 comments

  1. Funny, we have a ‘fog’ here tonight after a very lovely day when even I managed a walk on a beach! Pretty much like your beach really, a few people sunbathing or with children but plenty of space between them, unlike scenes in Whitley Bay yesterday! And surely that purple stuff is not heather? Looks nothing like our ericas on the heathland. Maybe Portuguese heather is something different! Sadly my walk did not end in cake as no cafés are open yet – though I did notice that Philps the pasty maker and a fish and chip shop were open this afternoon. Not so good for my diet though! 🙄 Sounds like your life is almost back to normal.

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    1. My life is as crazy as it’s ever been. Today I renewed acquaintance with a lady I met on the return coach from Sevilla. I had her email wrong. This evening I did a 2 hour riverside walk with some lovely friends I haven’t seen since all this began. We had supper together and now I’m home and tired. And I seem to have lost my mask last night. Caramba! Won’t matter for croquet tomorrow. Yes. I think you’re right 🤔💕

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  2. Yet another glorious walk. I am loving all your Spring blooms as I walk the Autumn leaves fall outside my office window. I love the anchors too – all lined up waiting for their boats. A professional photographer would have a field day with that view. Thanks for taking me for a stroll and thanks a million for the share/link. Melx

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  4. Pingback: The woods are lovely dark and deep… – Heart to Heart

  5. Thanks for taking us for a walk to Praia de Barril on Tavira Island. I love those open landscapes. And so different from what I envision a southern European landscape to look like. Beautiful and breathtaking – as you photos.

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  6. You’re fantastic, Jo! Thanks for taking me on this virtual walk. The flowers, long beach, and that gorgeous blue was just what I need. Your pictures are looking better with each new post. xoxo

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  9. For some reason, lately I’ve been unable to “Like” your (and others’) posts because “Loading” continually appears where “Like” should be. So, this is just to let you know that I still enjoy your offerings even though I can’t “Like” them!

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  13. Pingback: Back for a Walk at Coulon Park – Cats and Trails and Garden Tales

  15. I can see why you’ve lost your heart to places like these in Portugal. Combine that with the heat, the lovely food and relaxed atmosphere and yes, you did make a good decision even if the extreme heat will melt the cream and chocolate on the cakes you like so much! The heather looks different to the one we have on our mountainsides. Am I right?
    We are having 24-26 degrees here this week but with it all there is a sharp northerly breeze whic, if not behind a shelter, can be a bit chilling. My roses are all bursting forth now and as most of them are perfumed, I’ve got some lovely smells in the garden. Roses, combined with jasmine, is good.

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    1. Love roses, and jasmine… together or apart 🙂 🙂 I’m not sure if it’s not more accurately described as broom, but it only grows around the salt marshes, Mari.

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  17. Jo, The beaches are so beautiful and what a phenomenon to be in a sunny fog. It’s warm and humid, feels like 35C here for the first three days of this week, too. Thank you for sharing your walk and mentioning mine. Have a wonderful week!

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  18. Hi Jo, hope you don’t mind me ‘dropping in’ uninvited. We’ve only been to Barril once but I agree it’s an amazing place. I love the idea of your Monday walks. We’re just slightly inland from Armação de Pêra and our morning walks have kept us sane throughout lockdown. We’ve walked from the house (we moved in end of November 2019) and explored all sorts of little footpaths and tracks. I blog too and I thought you might be interested in one of the blogs I wrote recently. https://tracyburton.co.uk/montes-mourinhos-pera-circular/

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    1. Lovely to meet you, Tracy! When I first came here I imagined I’d meet lots of Portuguese bloggers, but I only know a handful. 🙂 🙂 Aside from Sand City I’ve not been to the Armacao area much. A full on day today- morning walk, hairdressers after lunch, and restaurant with a friend this evening. I’ll happily come and spend time with you tomorrow.

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  19. I especially liked the anchor photos, very interesting images. I also liked your words ‘locomotives in states of undress”, how poetic! I ground my way up a hike yesterday at Giants Head in Summerland BC. I thought I would take more pictures on the way down but we took a route back on the east ridge of the mountain, it was a goat trail not much wider than my feet so I concentrated on not falling. I will post a few pictures I took at the summit soon that I hope you will like. – David

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