Wednesday,
November 28
After
early morning, online seminary and breakfast, we set out to explore
the Castelo de Loule. On the way we introduced the family to some of
our friends – the violin maker, the fruit store man, and our new
construction worker who is restoring an old shell of a house behind
us.
Merl and I have walked by the old castle walls many times, but that is all we thought was still standing. Shops and houses have been built up to and into the walls. Today, we paid a small fee and entered into a museum and court yard with a door into the castle. The museum had ancient relics and representations of life in the Algarve. We climbed all the stairs and walked along each of the walls enjoying the overview of the beautiful city of Loule.
We had been climbing and walking long enough that everyone enjoyed sitting on benches in the shade in the courtyard of the castle and listened as Rachel read a chapter from “Saints.” Preston found a tree with enough dirt around it to dig in before collapsing on his own bench.
We
decided to return home for lunch by walking down a back alley/street.
We passed a shop where women were weaving palm fronds into all kinds
of things. . . baskets, purses, lampshades, decorations. . . I
purchased a few stars to as an authentic Portuguese item to decorate
my little Christmas tree.
Our path took us past a lady sitting on the side of the street cooking her dinner and trying to keep warm. The kids stopped to take a picture with her.
Merl and I have walked by the old castle walls many times, but that is all we thought was still standing. Shops and houses have been built up to and into the walls. Today, we paid a small fee and entered into a museum and court yard with a door into the castle. The museum had ancient relics and representations of life in the Algarve. We climbed all the stairs and walked along each of the walls enjoying the overview of the beautiful city of Loule.
We had been climbing and walking long enough that everyone enjoyed sitting on benches in the shade in the courtyard of the castle and listened as Rachel read a chapter from “Saints.” Preston found a tree with enough dirt around it to dig in before collapsing on his own bench.
We
decided to return home for lunch by walking down a back alley/street.
We passed a shop where women were weaving palm fronds into all kinds
of things. . . baskets, purses, lampshades, decorations. . . I
purchased a few stars to as an authentic Portuguese item to decorate
my little Christmas tree.
Our path took us past a lady sitting on the side of the street cooking her dinner and trying to keep warm. The kids stopped to take a picture with her. After lunch, I walked to the park with the kids while Merl, Brian, and Rachel went back to Faro to rent a small car so we could venture out a bit more together. The climbing ropes are the kids favorite, and they spent a couple of hours playing tag up and down and around. I was exhausted watching them. A highlight of the park trip today was finding a herd of sheep being moved down from the hills into the city behind the park. A man with two dogs was controlling the movement through voice and whistle commands to the dogs. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a camera.
Brian
and Rachel came back home with a diesel Cooper that was very nice and
roomy. Brian and I put our heads together to make a concoction of
chicken, vegetables, and a yummy sauce to make burritos for dinner.
I laid out some juniper cones/seeds we had gathered at the park and
sprayed them gold. They reminded me so much of a jingle bell that I
wanted to add them to my “natural” decorated tree.
After
family scripture study, a chapter of “Saints,” and some visiting,
we were all ready for bed.
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Thursday,
November 29
After
school work, the destination was the beach. It was not a beautiful,
sunny day; and the high temperature was only predicted to be in the
low 60s. . . but that wasn’t going to stop the kids. We decided on
the Praia de Vilamoura.
https://www.travel-in-portugal.com/beaches/praia-de-vilamoura.htm
Today
there were just a few people on the beach, mostly just walking or
jogging. The cool temperatures didn’t stop all the kids from
getting into their swimming suits and catching a few waves. . . while some of the rest of "us" avoided as much water as possible. 
We were
there about three hours – and Courtney somehow managed to stay in
the water the whole time. . . she is a girl after my own heart, even
though I only managed to get in up to my knees. . . a little too cold
for me. We enjoyed collecting shells, chasing waves (away from), and
watching competitive sailboats as they filed out from the marina by
country to gather for a practice run.
There will be an international
team competition in January. There were even three boats from the
U.S.
We
brushed off as much sand as possible and loaded up our treasures for
the trip home. Everyone was hungry, so we started with bowls of hot
soup from the shop at the bottom of our stairs. Merl and I
frequently get a bowl of the soup of the day – which is the same
soup every day, with very little variation. It is actually very good
soup made from vegetables blended into a smooth soup with a little
cooked cabbage or spinach added at the end. I wasn’t sure if the
kids would like it, but they each ate their bowl, along with a couple
of traditional desserts (rice pudding and flan).
The
next stop was the waffle stand along the street where they each
purchased a waffle with their desired topping. Up the street, we found another shop that sells gelato with or without waffles or crepes. We ordered a variety of variations for the last course of our street meal.
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Friday, November 30
Tomorrow
(December 1) is designated as the church’s Day of Service.
Something that has bothered Brian about our surroundings I the
graffiti on some of the windows of vacant shops below us. So . .
armed with scrapers, rags, and water, we attacked the project of
removing the paint. Some windows were easier to clean than others.
I made a trip to a local hardware store to purchase some paint
remover – which helped some. I think some of our locals wondered
what we were doing and why. We got lots of questioning looks. All
in all, things look a lot better.
Who
would think that a local municipal park would be so popular! It is
only two blocks away, and the kids have enjoyed playing there.
Courtney and Hailey retured with another pile of “jingle bells”
that they want to clean and share with their friends back in the
States. We shall see how many actually make it into their suitcases.Merl and Brian enjoyed working on jig saw puzzles in the evenings or when they had a spare minute. They actually completed all three by the time the visit was over.
Pictures with the fountain at night have also been popular.
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