As I expected our days as beach bums came to a rapid end. While we are finding ourselves taking more days off on this trip than in the past, neither of us are capable of sitting still more than a couple of days before the itch to get moving takes hold.
We have shifted about 60km’s further east to a pretty coastal town called Tavira. The guidebooks all called it picturesque and they are right. It is the most beautiful small town we have visited in Portugal. We are staying on the new town side of the river near a bunch of salt flats that used to be a big driver of the local economy.
The river front is dominated by a bridge that goes back to Roman times, though it was largely rebuilt in the 1700’s. It is one of the biggest attractions in the town. The old town winds up to the castle and cathedral on top of the hill. The castle was originally built by the Moors, and after the reconquest was maintained by the Portuguese until it became obsolete. The remnants now are part of a beautiful park that we really enjoyed. The gardens within the walls of the castle are really beautiful and all of the trees and plants are flowering so it was really colorful.
As we were walking towards the cathedral we saw a sign advertising a Fado concert daily. Fado is the national music of Portugal. The theme of the songs are mostly tragic, and somewhat melancholy, but sung with great passion. We have heard it here and there as we have moved around Portugal so we decided to take in the concert. Unfortunately when we went to buy tickets for the show we were told that the concerts were on hold because one of the singers has Covid. We might have to write a Fado about our missed opportunity to hear Fado.
We spent a couple of hours exploring Tavira and really enjoyed ourselves. Tomorrow we are heading into Spain, so this will be our last day in Portugal.