The Military Bridge, Tavira
Seen from the quayside
And I guess you all know this one? Ponte Romana.
But this is my favourite. The umbrellas look like ghosts.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist being drawn into this week’s photo challenge. As soon as I saw the theme I was back on that riverbank in my head. Hope you like the results.
Who wouldn’t want to take photos at this delectable time of day? Check out the numerous wonderful entries at The Golden Hour.
Tavira council organises Verão em Tavira, a running programme of free outdoor events in the evenings over the Summer months. Just as the day starts to cool a little, the whole world takes to the streets. Click on the gallery above for a closer look.
And when your holiday is enlivened by the presence of another blogger- well, more of that to follow, but here’s my favourite photo of Cathy.
We went birdwatching on the Ria Formosa boat tour
Appropriate really for someone who calls herself Catbird. She was great company. She flies back to the States on 25th July so I hope she’s enjoying every last moment of Portugal. Wish I was still there.
Thanks Cate, at Show My Face, for being my kind hostess again on Six word Saturday this week. I’ll be round later to see what you’ve all been up to while I was away. Wonder what next week will bring?
From here
Hartlepool, viewed from Christ Church tower, on a sunny day!
Tavira, in the Eastern Algarve- not quite so sunny!
In fact, a little moody.
But with a strong promise of blue.
As you can see from the centre photos, the weather was quite temperamental when we were last in the Algarve. I suspect that will not be the case this trip, as it’s in the 30’s currently. Oddly enough the Summer has arrived in the UK too (yes, even the north east!) so I won’t have to feel guilty about leaving my English friends shivering. It’s a win! win! situation.
So looking forward to dabbling my toes, and sharing special birthday celebrations with my husband. (his- I’m just a youngster- secret smile ) I also have a treat in store. For a couple of days I’m playing hostess to Cathy or Catbird as some of you will know her. Having left Oman she is now romping her way around Spain, and then Portugal, before returning home to the States. Her exhausting itinerary is here, but won’t it be fun?
Enjoy Six word Saturday, as well as the weather, while I’m gone. Many thanks to Cate at Show My Face. Back soon!
I seem to have done quite a few posts on bridges. But Jake is back, so how can I say no? Jake’s Sunday Post is always a cause for celebration. I might even have to open another of those bottles of wine!
I love the violet hues of this photo. It was taken in Durham in 2011, during a biennial event called Lumiere. The light installations over and beside the River Wear were like nothing I have seen before. If you’re fortunate enough to be near Durham this November, I can promise you a beautiful evening of colour and sound when Lumiere comes to town.
Water flowing under a bridge will always hold me captive, drifting in the current. Where would it take me, if I let it? A lifetime has slipped past while I wonder. All just water under the bridge.
You probably recognise this bridge, but I can share a view of it you won’t have seen before. It hangs on the wall in my favourite cafe, Anazu, on the riverfront in Tavira. It’s in 3-D, though you really can’t tell from my photo.
Not that I’m often inside the cafe. The pavement outside has the view that I love. I have watched so much water pass under the bridge, but some will have seen very much more. I found this black and white photo in the Galeria Palace museum in the town. Times may have changed but the water flows on.
The evening light fades and the moon rises in the sky on a warm Summer’s night. I stand beside my bridge and look out to sea. I’m filled with hope that I might return. Well, who wouldn’t be?
It only needs me to remind you that Jake’s place is a good place to be, on a Sunday or any other day. Please click on the logo below or any link to pay him a visit.
I’m determined to be on time with this challenge. Truthfully I don’t have much choice because tomorrow I’m off to Nottingham, to attend a Steampunk book launch with my daughter. You can imagine what fun that’s going to be!
Last week I shared a few Polish windows with you, so it’s only fair that this week I do the same for Portugal, don’t you think?
You can pause the gallery to read the captions if you hover over it. Clever, huh?
But my very best Portuguese window has to be this one. Anyone who has walked through this gate and looked up will recognise it- fabulous Porta da Vila, in Obidos.
So what do you think, Poland or Portugal? I really can’t choose because I love them both. Many thanks to Dawn at Lingering Visions for hosting this challenge. Don’t forget to check out the other entries, and maybe add one of your own.
I guess it’ll have to be English windows next week? We’ll see.
Marianne at East of Malaga knew I was going to be predictable in her CBBH challenge this month. Well, when you know a lovely spot, why not share it? So here we have Tavira, in the Eastern Algarve, at different times of day.
Ponte Romana in Tavira
And in the evening, it just gets better
And better! I love those reflections under the bridge.
And when the tide’s in, it’s different again.
I can’t compete with the drama of Marianne’s disappearing mountain. It’s a stunner! But by this stage of things I’m getting mellow, with a glass of port and the swifts for company.
I like the view in the other direction, too, looking away from the Ponte Romana to the Old Military bridge. (which is so old it has holes in!)
It’s peaceful and calm as the sun sets
And sometimes the opalescent colours are simply stunning
Then the lights come on, and it’s different again
Maybe Cabanas is more your kind of place? You won’t often see it this empty.
No telltale clop of sandals on the boardwalk
Ssh, flip flops are quieter! Who IS that smiley lady?
Later in the day, there’s a little more vibrance.
I guess this is what’s called a rosy hue?
I’m not certain that this is quite what Marianne had in mind, but I’ve got 4 weeks before the challenge finishes, so I can always try again.
But first, let me introduce Ventisqueras. Sometimes a blog comes along that really excites me, and this lady does exactly that. We struggle with language because my Italian is just a few words, but sometimes that doesn’t matter.
I um and err when I have to choose blogs, but I know there are a lot of pet lovers out there. I found Bailey Boat Cat quite recently and it did make me smile. Such an elegant feline. Enjoy checking them out and have a great month!
Wouldn’t you know that it’s a perfect English morning (at last!) and my normal Saturday morning walk down through the park to zumba would be a delight? Instead I’m going to take you on an uphill walk which is the cause of my incapacity. Then I might sit in the garden with a book- a novelty in itself! (and ignore the pile of ironing just a bit longer)
Unfortunately I wasn’t wearing the right kind of footwear, and as we scrambled back down again I could feel the damage to my toes. It was the “quick route” down as everyone was starved and we were heading for a very nice restaurant as a reward for our efforts.
I struggle to get a shoe on and have been wearing flipflops ever since. Still, I did enjoy the walk, and the company. Hope you did too? Don’t forget to visit Cate at Show My Face to see what’s been happening to everyone this week. My Six word Saturdays are all on the button below.
You know I can’t resist Jake’s Sunday Post, don’t you, but I really can’t call this a Sunday Post on a Friday! Hence the title. My resistance is low today and I’m just going to squeeze in a few of the lovely windows I gazed at, or through, on my recent Algarve trip.
Click on a photo to start the gallery rolling.
Memories! Memories! Don’t you love them? Thanks Jake for brightening this grey English day for me. Soon be Sunday again.
Silves is a city with a glorious past. You can’t fail to know this from the second you set eyes on the rust red hilltop castle, dominating the town and its surrounds. Always a sucker for faded glory, it was one of the first places I visited in the Algarve. On my recent return, I wanted to inspect the castle gardens development.
My first visit to Silves in April 2007- Michael’s beautiful photo
From earliest times, the Arade River was the route to the Portuguese interior used by Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians, drawn by copper and iron, mined in the Western Algarve. With its strategic hilltop position, Silves was bound to attract the Romans, but wealth and prosperity began with the Moorish invasion of 714AD. By the 11th century, Silves was capital of the Algarve and a rival in importance to Lisbon.
Nothing lasts, and with the power struggles in the Muslim world, Silves was briefly restored to Portugal in 1189. King Sancho 1 laid seige to the city in a brutal and gruesome episode, only to loose it to the Moors two years later. By the 1240s the tide was turning again. The river began to silt up, cutting off the trade route to North Africa. In 1534 the episcopal se was transfered from Silves to Faro, and the power transformation was complete.
The Roman Bridge over the River Arade
The riverside, where there is ample parking, is a good starting point for a journey through Silves. The narrow 13th century bridge is a little reminiscent of that at Tavira, which perhaps explains my fondness. Wandering slowly upwards through the historic centre, the streets are still laid out as they were in Medieval times. The 16th century pillory, or pelourinho, is a reminder of harsher times.
The pillory on Rua Dr. Francisco Vieira
With its back to the ancient city walls, on Rua das Portas de Loule, you can find the Archaelogical Museum. It contains an Islamic water cistern, or well, from the 11th century. 18metres deep, a spiral staircase now leads to the bottom.
Climbing steadily on Rua de Se, you come to the cathedral, a stern looking structure. In red sandstone, like the castle, it sits on the site of a former mosque. The grandeur and sobriety continue inside. Opposite is the Igreja de Misericordia.
The cathedral, on Rua de Se
Manueline doorframe of the Igreja da Misericordia
It is when you finally arrive at the castle that your imagination can no longer resist the temptation to recreate the past. It is the finest military monument in Portugal to survive from the Islamic period. Of the eleven towers, two are “albarra”- solid structures, joined to the walls by an arch that supports the walk around the castle walls. They defend the double entrance gateway. The doorway of the “traitor’s gate” still exists.
The castle once housed the Alcacova, the Moorish “Palace of Verandas” so described in poetry of that time. A huge subterranean water tank is the main feature of the surviving remains, but excavation is ongoing. An attempt has been made to recreate the feel of those Moorish times, but with a modern twist. The rills and fountains beloved of the Moors today exist in 21st century red brick, and a restaurant has been installed, with modern seating. I think it’s a brave effort.
The cork industry, dried fruits and tourism were Silves’ salvation. In high season expect it to be a very warm place. Whenever you visit, the Mercado, near the riverside, will be bustling. You could purchase from its numerous stalls for a picnic. But the delicious barbecue smells of the neighbouring restaurants often prove irresistible.
I could hardly wait to get out of bed this morning to write this piece, having arrived back yesterday evening. Hope you like it. Thanks, as always, to Julie Dawn Fox for the A-Z personal challenge.
Following on from my last Six word Saturday, my feet have just about touched the ground and it’s Michael’s turn for a holiday. Lucky me gets to go too, of course!
Dad is still in Poland, sitting in Uncle Jakub’s garden if it’s sunny, and playing dominos. While I know he’s in good hands, it seems like a good time to escape for a little sunshine of our own. If you’ve seen O is for okropny and the Ojcow Valley you’ll know the weather wasn’t always kind in Poland.
I’ll be sharing more Polish tales on my return but for now it’s back to my postcard collection.
Exactly why I love the Algarve so- it’s pretty as a picture.
I’ll soon be strolling in the riverbank gardens again.
Checking out a few more churches
Especially the azulejos in Igreja da Misericordia
And you know most of my evenings will be spent beside this bridge.
Not hard to see what keeps taking me back, is it? And I haven’t even mentioned the beaches!
I’m catching up with as many of you as I can before I leave tomorrow evening. It’s Mother’s Day isn’t it, so have a good one! I’ll be frantically cooking, ironing and restocking the freezer for our son, but what a lovely present tomorrow evening will bring. Take care, all!
Thanks Cath for hosting Six word Saturday. Don’t forget to check out the other entries on Show My Face. Just click on the header or the link.
restlessjo 
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