Making friends and getting the terminology right
A few weeks ago, I met a new dog-owning friend who lives in Vila Real de Santo António (VRSA). Dina, a remote worker from the US, had posted on one of the immigrant groups in Facebook that she and her dog Oliver were keen to get to know other areas. This led to me inviting her to Tavira and we had a lovely day exploring the local dog-friendly beaches.
Incidentally, most of the incoming Brits I’ve met prefer to be referred to as ‘immigrants’ rather than ‘expats’. The largest Facebook page for Brits settling in Portugal has changed its name accordingly. ‘Expatriate’ is a less accurate term for us than ‘immigrant’ and has white-only connotations. This article sums up the thinking pretty well.
Birthday plans
When Dina found out it was my birthday yesterday, she suggested that Lottie and I should visit her and pop over the River Guadiana separating the Algarve from Andalusia in Spain for tapas in Ayamonte. She would also introduce me to a couple of Brits who’d recently arrived from Bristol with their two cats and two horses.
Railway fun
The Linha do Algarve railway line connects coastal towns in the Algarve from VRSA on the Spanish border to Lagos in the west Algarve and I’ve been dying to give it a go. The train timetable is here. You can buy an unlimited hop-on hop-off ticket for EUR 20.50, but my Tavira-VRSA return ticket was the princely sum of EUR 5.50 and the trip took about 30 minutes. Dogs were allowed and no one took much notice of Lottie.
After a scenic trip along the coast, which included a few flamingo sightings, we reached the end of the line. Lottie was delighted to see Oliver again.
Arrival in VRSA
VRSA was mostly rebuilt after the devastating 1792 earthquake and has some very imposing buildings along the water front with a busy marina.
There is also a massive main square, where work was afoot to prepare for an open-air concert.
This statue of local poet Lutgarda Guimarães looks out over the River Guadiana. The inscription quotes a line from her poem about the Guadiana ‘…there is no sky of such splendour. Nor a blue river so beautiful and bright. As the Guadiana…”
Ayamonte ahoy
We caught the hourly dog-friendly ferry (EUR 2.50 return) by the skin of our teeth. Dina’s hat blew off into the water in the rush. I noticed one of the ferrymen looking at it speculatively, and a few minutes later he presented it to her, dripping wet, having fished it out of the water.
We met Dina’s friends Helen and Nigel at one of the many tapas bars on the other side and I felt thoroughly spoilt when they sang Happy Birthday. I couldn’t have had a nicer first birthday in Portugal – or Spain to be more precise.
After some tasty tapas and a couple of glasses of sangria, it only remained to take the obligatory ‘posing with bougainvillea’ shot.
I thought it was an hour later than it really was because Spain is one hour ahead of Portugal, so after that great day out it was a happy bonus to find myself back at home by 7 after completing the journey in reverse.
