Eat till you bust.

Over a pint in the pub a couple of nights ago my old friend Les Healey took me to task and I suppose pretty much chastised me over the way I have neglected this blog since September last year.
It pains me to admit my guilt but he is of course absolutely right and my dereliction of duty is unforgivable.................................I am however forgiving by nature so I have no hesitation in granting myself a full pardon.
My six month contract with Jet2.com finished on the 31st of October but as the company took over it's own baggage handling on the 1st of November I applied and was successful in obtaining a new position as a baggage handler.
Now as you will realise I am not exactly in the first flush of youth and I can assure you that within days of starting my new vocation I was aching in places where I didn't even know I had places!
It was thus quite opportune that I had pre booked a three week visit to Santa Luzia prior to my appointment and set off on 5th of November to rest my newly discovered muscles and hopefully catch some late Portuguese sunshine.
Our old friend Darren came along for the first week for what must surely be his eighth or ninth visit but my stay once again involved brush and paint in the never ending battle against the seemingly unstoppable "salts" that seem to ooze out of render and plaster on Portuguese buildings of every type and age.
The weather was kind to us during our stay and we spent much of our leisure time in Cafe Santa Luzia as Fergus from bar Mundo had had to return urgently to the UK to be with his parents who were both seriously ill.
The highlight of our visit was definitely the couple of visits we paid to the latest addition to Santa Luzia's restaurant offering Casa Da Picanha (the details of which I have added to the restaurant list lower down on the left of this page).

Rodizio

The speciality of this restaurant is Rodizio A Brasileira. Rodizio means rotating and I am not really sure whether this refers to the way the meats are cooked on a rotisserie or the unique way of service where experienced Passadors (meat carvers) pass from table to table expertly carving different cuts of meat from skewers onto your plate.
An extensive selection of meats are offered including lamb, a variety of cuts of beef , gammon,chicken thighs and turkey along with authentic specialities such as chicken hearts, juicy sausage, spare ribs and grilled pineapple dusted with Cinnamon. Everything is expertly grilled and full of succulent flavour and should you like your meat in a particular way the passador will carve from different parts of the skewer to provide either well done or rare meat to your preference.
The feast is accompanied with boiled rice, Feijoa preto (brazilian black beans) and Farofa (a coarse toasted maize flour). There is also an extensive selection of salad and pickles from the serve yourself salad bar.

Farofa

A carnivore's paradise the Passadors will continue to offer carved meat untill you indicate you have had sufficient so a hearty appetite is essential.
At 15 euros per head it is also very economical, better still at lunchtime Tues to Saturday a slightly scaled back version is offered on the lunchtime menu economico at just 7 euros.
A little off the beaten track you should head through the largo do Igrejia (church square) onto the barrio social ( council houses), when you arrive at the water tower look to your left and the restaurant is there just across the open ground. Well worth seeking out this eating experience is highly recommended.

Watching the birds.

Another year has stealthily slipped by and on the 12th of September I became entitled to yet one more candle on my birthday cake. Thanks to a 5 o'clock flight from Ryanair and permission from my manager to finish a couple of hours early Joan and I flew out on the 10th to spend an extended weekend and celebrate my birthday in Santa Luzia.
In actual fact I returned home on Monday the 13th in order to commence work at 5.30 am on Tuesday, Joan remained in town until the following Sunday, ostensibly to prepare the house for the string of friends who will be visiting over the next month or so.
Whilst we do not rent the house commercially we do regularly allow friends and family the use of the place and it gives us enormous pleasure when they report how much they enjoy Santa Luzia. Over the years that we have known Santa Luzia we have introduced more than sixty people to it's delights, many of them returning on more than one occasion, and we like to think they have all done a little to contribute towards the local economy during their visits.
During the 2 days we were in town I struggled to obtain any fishing bait from either local outlets or the usual places in Tavira. As a consequence the fishing rods remained at home and instead I made a couple of excursions by bicycle to observe the bird life of the Ria Formosa through my newly acquired binoculars. We spent the afternoon of Saturday the 11th at Torre de Ares and on the day of my birthday I set off under a blazing sun and peddled to the Pedras Del Rei entrance to Barril Beach. After tramping several kilometers across the sand dunes of the nature reserve I was rewarded with some excellent views of a flock of about 30 African spoonbills.

Spoonbill on the Ria Formosa.

I also observed Flamingos, willow warblers, Herons, storks, plovers and seabirds galore.

I returned home that afternoon with that feeling of inner peace the splendid isolation of the Ria Formosa reserve provides along with two very sore upper arms due to my wearing a cap sleeved tee shirt in the deceivingly fierce September sun.

The Algarve Tourist association have recently launched an English language brochure promoting the Algarve as a birdwatching destination and Santa Luzia is an ideal location for such a holiday. Many species of waders and sea bird can be observed without even leaving the village and the marshes of Castro Marim and the wetland habitats around Olhao are all less than 20 minutes drive away.