When you read about Faro, you start to spot a common theme:

"Faro is often overlooked and underrated as a destination."
"Most tourists simply pass through the airport and continue west to the resort villages."
"Its a pity that more people dont visit Faro, although that is starting to change."

Etc.

Well, we would agree that Faro is certainly worth a visit. It's a great introduction to the Algarve region, and (how many times have I said this?) it would have been nice to stay longer, and done some trips out of town.

Getting to Faro from Lisbon on the train is a breeze (and -- if you book early -- really not expensive).









We're living in a spacious apartment a little way out of the centre.



Like so many Portuguese cities, Faro has had a tumultuous history:

"Held by the Moors from early in the 8th century until 1249, when it was recaptured by Afonso III, the city was the last Moorish stronghold in Portugal. It was sacked by the English in 1596 and was almost totally destroyed in the earthquakes of 1722 and 1755. Notable remaining buildings include the Renaissance cathedral (restored in the 18th century)... The former bishops palace library was pillaged by Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex, in 1596 and formed the nucleus of the Bodleian Library in Oxford."

Truly, there's always somebody stealing your stuff...

All this history, however, means there's a very picturesque old town to explore.












One of Faro's charms is its stork population:




It costs EUR 3.50 to enter the Cathedral of Faro. But it's worth it. Many worshippers and builders have made their mark on this site, and it's highly photogenic.















Outside there are also interesting things to be seen:



And don't miss out on the views from the bell tower:





Faro's coastline is a wonderful amalgam of islands, waterways, and ocean. So you really need to get On the Water somehow or other. The cheapest solution is the Animaris ferry, which will take you to Ilha Deserta (a scenic 45-minute trip) for EUR 5 per person per way.

There are birds everywhere:





Once on the island you can walk the track to the Cabo de Santa Maria, the most southerly point in Portugal.



We stopped for elevenses on the beach. This (and it's strictly not for low-carbers) is pao de deus (the bread of God). It merits its name...


Then on, via the boardwalk, to the southernmost beach and its rollers, and back to the jetty:







The other thing we've done in Faro is kick back... We're about half-way through our Lisbon Loop. Everything has gone well, but the need for a mid-way break has been perceptible (especially as we walked nearly 80 km during our stay in Lisbon...)

So here we've done lots of leisurely home cooking. (And in the course of that we discovered that leeks are a high-carb vegetable... Would you have picked that? They're green, for heaven's sake. They're not starchy. But they have 12.35 grams of net carbs per 100 grams of vegetable -- which makes them carbier than carrots. This is all a big shame. We'd been eating them quite a bit, as we can't get them at home, and they're really tasty. But not any more...)

I've also taken the time to finish the Agatha Christie I'd been reading. This was my first book in Portuguese.

I've long maintained that (for English-speakers at least), translations of Agatha Christie are the ideal first book in whatever language you're learning. The social context is familiar, the language is fairly formulaic, everything is expounded very logically, and the plot makes you want to keep reading (although this does, of course, mean you need to keep finding new titles). Over the years, I've read various Christie mysteries in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Indonesian -- and now Portuguese.

This one was O Assassinato de Roger Ackroyd, and for the only the second time ever in my Christie history did I guess the identity of the murderer pretty much from the beginning...

So, tomorrow we head back to Spain.

Here's our farewell-to-Portugal platter, full of fine Portuguese produce. Inter alia, we have those famous canned sardines, soft goat's cheese, cheese from cow/sheep/goat milk, chouricao (the big version of chourico), and more of that fabulous vinho verde.



Tchau, Portugal. It's been fabulous. Ate breve...