Tchau, Loulé

Bike is gone, panniers are gone, and no need to get up at 7:00 this morning. Just a quick stop at the Loulé market and I’m out of here.

WARNING: some of the following images may be disturbing for sensitive viewers.

The market is pretty small by European market standards, but it has pretty much everything most people need day to day. Several bakers, lots of fresh fruit, wine, fish, spices and even some toy stalls for the kids.

Next time you order a nice monkfish filet grilled with olive oil and garlic and topped with capers and a delightful lemon-butter sauce, see if can get this image of these monsters out of your mind.

In this day and age, the thought of walking to a papelaria like this one to find yesterday’s newspaper from your home country seems kind of quaint.

This is the main parking lot for the Loulé hospital, which was filled to capacity. But the odd thing I noticed (as shown in the picture) is that pretty much everyone around here drives beat-up Fords, Citroëns or Renaults. But this parking lot seemed to have nothing in it but shiny BMWs, Porsches and Audis. I don’t think doctors in Europe get paid anywhere near what American doctors get paid, but photos don’t lie.

And now I’m in Faro, the capital of the Algarve. Or as I call it, the place where many parts of the public infrastructure are crumbling, but the street signs are awesome.

I tried to go to lunch at a place on this street that was recommended – no way I could have found this street on my own – but the owners decided to take the week off.

But the big news is that I saw some guys setting up a large stage alongside a huge banner announcing the “Hellgarve Tattoo Rock Festival.” It starts tomorrow. I don’t know what it is, but you can bet that anyone who changes “Algarve” to “Hellgarve” and then adds the three words Tattoo, Rock and Festival has got me clearing my calendar.

And one piece of general advice. When you get to a hotel, any hotel, and the electronic key card doesn’t work, before you go down to the front desk and get someone to assist you, remember that hotel room doors open in, not out.