Dashing and Bold Adventure: Armação de Pêra; Settling in amidst bruises and sniffles

So, I happily left you with the statement that we slept nine hours and felt brand new. That was Tuesday. A lot’s happened since then. We spent that day trotting around town to all our favorite haunts. We came back to our place and changed for dinner. Feeling energetic we headed off for our twenty-minute walk to Café Império. Instead of waiting a couple of minutes for the next green crosswalk, we decided (with very little forethought) to trot to the crossing. Next thing I knew, I was flat on my face on the cobblestone sidewalk. It happened so amazingly fast it defies logic. Joe said I leapt back to my feet almost as fast as I went down. I knew I was hurt, but I had my pride to think about first. We went to the restaurant where I immediately went to the bathroom to wash my wounds. So, to make a long story short, I hurt everywhere. I landed on my hands, elbows, and knees with the bruises to prove it.

That changed our plans for the next day. We’d planned to go to Cascais for the day. Instead, we walked around our area, slowly. We discovered a new restaurant called Al Portofino. It’s a hole-in-the-wall place on Rua Morais Soares. They christened me by knocking a to-go pizza box off the shelf and dousing me with half my glass of wine. Oh well… I didn’t really want the whole glass—honestly. The poor waitress was so apologetic. I told her to not worry, I was wearing all black. We had a pizza that was enough for two, two glasses of wine (minus a splash or two), two beers, two limoncellos (for Joe)—all for 24 euros.

Thursday dawned a new day with less pain and we boarded our bus to the Algarve. Three hours goes quickly when you’re deep into a good book. I was reading The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain. Great book. (A little travel hack—I bring a tiny non-skid daisy with me to keep my Nook propped up so I can read it. It’s also good to keep your laptop from sliding around.)

We arrived safely with no further mishaps. I knew exactly where our Airbnb was because, nerd that I am, I’d googled it. The owner’s adorable mother met us with a steady stream of Portuguese, which we somehow understood. She called her son and he clarified a few things she couldn’t quite explain with body language.

This place is gorgeous. It’s a two-bedroom, two-bath condo with a massive patio overlooking the pool. ($3,200 for 6 weeks). First thing we did was hit the grocery store, Pingo Doce. We loaded up on the basics knowing we’d have to make a second trip. First thing this morning we power-walked over to Continente to get a few other things like barbecue sauce and chicken.

As I write this, the chicken is smelling delicious and the view of the pool is great. Jesse Cook is playing in the background. I think we may just refuse to leave. I’m hopeful I will actually get in and swim laps soon. I think my shoulder will feel up to it tomorrow. Today we went to the beach again to people-watch… and eat. It’s a very good thing we walk so much.

We have a little café we just love, called Tinirose. It has four great qualities; nice people working there, all locals, dirt cheap, and has my favorite red wine in Armação for one euro. One euro. Joe’s Super Bock Stout is only 1.50E. I could live here for a very long time. As a reminder, look for the signs on the table telling you they take cash only. For 2.5E you should be able to fork over the cash, but make sure you pay attention to this little sign.

I’m assuming you all know this, but I write this blog over a few days before I post it. And, of course, things change. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat. I took all three of my Airborns to hopefully avoid actually getting a cold. Today I woke up with a sore throat again. Oh well, colds are part of life I suppose. Thankfully I have some Nyquil from the states. I’m glad I seem to feel fine during the day. We swam a few laps and worked out on our patio, then spent the day wandering the coast and stopped to share a chicken wrap at a cute little beach café.