A friend of mine had recently moved to the Eastern Algarve.
The Eastern Algarve? What’s that all about then?
When you go to the Algarve, you fly into Faro. When you hit Faro, you go west don’t you?
At least, that’s what I thought.
But when I spoke to him about it, he smiled knowingly and said: “no… go east, young man!”
(Does he really speak like that? Bollocks does he! But memory is a weird thing…)
Anyway, I had nothing to lose, and so I went east: Olhao, Armona, Fuseta, Tavira…
Bloody hell! He was right!
Tourism is a part of life on the Algarve. On the Western Algarve it’s everything. But on the Eastern Algarve the towns and villages don’t live for tourism. They exist. It’s fishing that’s everything. Fishing doesn’t stop. There’s life on the Eastern Algarve all year round. The bars and restaurants (most of them at least) stay open. The locals use them. The markets carry on. Life carries on.
And what’s more, the beaches are stunning, the food is fantastic, and the people so welcoming.
I bloody love it!
So I had no choice – I looked for a house.
After very little looking, I found it. Yes, yes! A house in Fuseta! With a view! By the market, by the water, by the beach….
And so I bought our house in Fuseta. Bloody hell! The dream was becoming a reality!
So here I am now: I’m on the roof terrace.
I’m sitting here with a cold beer in my hand and a smile on my face.
I’m looking over the Ria Formosa. I can hear the sounds of the village around me. I can see birds flying around: cormorants diving, gulls squabbling, mallards swimming, swifts flitting, pigeons flocking in some sort of murmuration , and …
Flamingos!
Blinking Flamingos!
I can see Flamingos from my roof terrace!
They take off and soar into the air, a pink slash across the orangey-blue twilight sky.
What more can you ask for when you’ve made a life-changing decision…?
Blinking Flamingos….
Blimey…
“Blinking Flamingos! The musings of a middle-aged bloke living in the Eastern Algarve: one who has no idea what he’s doing…”