Jared was up again until 5 or 6 doing work. I didn't even hear him come in. So, we both slept in pretty late (12:30) after yesterday's fun in the sun. I tried to push sunscreen on people, but I had no takers besides putting a little on Jared's head. Well, sun-burn city today so we decided to take a day off from the beach and hit a town 12 km away called "Tavira." It is supposed to be Algarve's most picturesque town.
I drove two groups of people down. This journal could turn into a list of near mishaps on the road, but I don't want to dwell or psyche myself out so I'll just say I got everyone to Tavira just fine. After a quick walk around town (to pick up the first batch of people dropped off), Jared, Jared's mom Pat, Glenn, and I sat down and had lunch. I ate a cheese crepe. But the real surprise was that the snack shop had a sweets counter. For $1 euro I had a beautiful marzipan treat in the shape of a pear. Yum. I wish I could sneak some marzipan home - would it keep? Is it USDA import approved? Hmmm...
At our lunch I found out that next week we will be three: me, Jared, and his brother J. I had thought it would be just me and Jared, and I was looking forward to some romantic alone time with my boyfriend. Don't get me wrong - I really like Jared's whole family - and especially like J - but I wish I had been told the change of plans since apparently everyone knew the plans had changed except me. Jared says to me, in front of his whole family, "Is it OK if J comes to Spain with us?" Really? Ask me in front of everyone? Now I know how my Mom felt when I would ask her if a friend could come over to dinner right in front of the friend. Sorry mom! I've learned my lesson!
After our quick lunch, the group split up and Jared and I went up top to look at the remains of a 9th century Moorish fortification / castle. It was pretty striking - several turrets were still intact and you could climb up them for a great view overlooking the town. The town is 3 km from the ocean, but a beauiful river runs down the middle of the town, making for beauiful bridges and riverside cafes. The castle walls surrounded a modern garden. The garden was well shaded and lovely. A real must-see in Tavira. Right next to the Moorish castle is a 17th century church which retains moorish architectural features. It looks quite Mediterranean, with the rounded white walls. The church was closed to visitors, as we were there past 5 pm. Oh well. We took loads of pictures.
From there we wandered the streets, occasionally running into members of Jared's family along the way. I bought a cork necklace at a handmade goods shop. Cork is a specialty of Portugal. They have almost everything made out of cork: hats, wallets, belts, pens. None of the cork items are cheap - but it will be my souvenier from Algarve. I still haven't found something for Mom, Dad, and others but both my mom and dad told me separately that I didn't need to get them anything. Usually I spend loads of time on the trip worrying about what to get people - it is kind of nice to have that burden lifted a bit. I'll still bring some things back, probably just not as many things as in trips past. Jared bought a 3 turtle sculpture that I hope doesn't break on the ride home. We did see some turtles in a pond in the middle of the main square of Tavira - an unusual sight.
At 8 pm we all met up at an indian restaurant (Jared's favorite) and Jared treated all 7 of us to a real indian feast. He tried to get me to order 3 vegetarian dishes, and I bargained it down to 2 considering his family aren't big veggie eaters. Well, I was right - and there are now pleanty of leftovers in the fridge.
As I promised earlier, I won't turn this into a blog about my car misadventures, but I will say that his family thought it best to drive all 7 of us home in one trip, rather than take two trips. So 5 of us had seatbelts and 2 people sat in the trunk. Yikes! Not my favorite - but I feel out-numbered and I'm perhaps overly cautious about the car since I was in a major car accident. As my friends know, I'm sort of a seat belt Nazi normally - so this was sort of out of my comfort zone. But as indian food was out of his family's comfort zone too - maybe I should suck it up? Who knows. It is hard for me to tell what is be being rightfully cautious and what is me being overly worried. One nice thing about being the driver is that I can listen to some classical music in the car, and I don't have to worrry about being a passenger in a car when someone has been drinking, or when someone is driving way too fast. So, being the driver has its perks!
We got home, and I was full of beans. I had so much energy from the big meal - so I took a nightime walk around Fuzeta. The town was bussling at 10:30 at night. Plenty of restaurants, and a very pretty church I hope to explore tomorrow.
It is now 1:45 and I think I will call it a night!
