Rick and Marie's Travels: Albufeira

Remember, you can enlarge pictures by clicking on them.

September 27 to October 6, 2017

Mural on side of fire station.

Ya, that's the Atlantic at the end of the street.

Albufeira pier.

Great sculpture that honors the fishing history of Albufeira.

We liked the color of the evening sky.

Continente is a massive store that carries everything from
groceries to beach towels. It's a super store for sure.

On the lower level of Continente is a food court with this,

Pizza Hut, and a gelato store that also sells cocktails. There's

something not seen in Seattle.

View from our balcony.

The seagulls are the crows and pigeons of Albufeira.

The Pingo Doce (Portuguese grocery chain) here in Albufeira
has a cafeteria that serves traditional food and specialty meals
such as grilled salmon at unbelievably low prices. This lunch
fed both of us for $6.25.

And of course you can have a carafe, small or full bottle of

wine with your meal, or like this guy, supersize it.

We love Pingo Doce.

Name a cheese and Pingo Doce has it.

In addition to the cafeteria, Pingo Doce offers prepared foods.
We purchased some frango chicken, a traditional favorite in
the Algarve, and it was delicious.

Rick's favorite potato chips.

Old Town Albufeira from atop the escalator down to it.

Ingreja Matriz (Mother Church)

This is what Old Town is all about.

This shop doesn't need a name. These grot shops are geared to
kids. Albufeira has something for all ages and Portuguese
families come here in August for their holiday. Brits retire
here in large numbers as is evident by what's on restaurant
menus and the sheer volume of bars catering to British tastes.

We walked through Old Town last night
and couldn't believe the number of bars.
Mainly Brits, Irish, and Germans drinking
themselves silly. In the morning Albuferia
is a sleepy town but after dark...look out!

And here's a small sampling of our walk last night.

The main square is surrounded by restaurants pumping out
music and each one competing for the biggest portions at
unreasonable prices.

It's actually evening, but the "Vegas" lighting from restaurant
row here on the main square, makes it seem as if it's afternoon.

Yep, that's the Rock Cafe (not Hard Rock Cafe) adjacent to
the Tic Tac Bar.

Sir Harry's seemed to be the hangout for
single men. The single women were at the
next bar over.

Nothing but shops and bars as far as the eye can see in the

old town. It's not our thing, but folks were having tons of fun.

Tunnel leading to the beach and our escape.

The Atlantic is warmer than up north at Peniche.

Since we have a studio in what is considered the heart of Albufeira, which luckily means not in Old Town, we can prepare simple meals at "home" after our morning walk followed by a lie about at the pool, reading and swimming—what's become our routine.

Looking out to the marina breakwater just beyond Old Town.

Close up of decoration above door to the right.

Looking down stairs attached to the

elevator that also goes to beach.

Elevator to beach.

From lookout adjacent to elevator, looking
back to the beach that fronts Old Town. The
mound standing alone was once part of
cliff. Signs warn that wind erosion and land-
slides are a danger.

Cliff at foot of elevator and stairs

to the beach. It's crumbly.

It's another sunny morning. Here are some pictures we took on our morning walk; we walk one to two hours each morning before it gets hot. Today (Sunday, October 1st) it's supposed to be 80 (26.6 celsius), but it's about 65 (18c) when we head out each morning. We walked toward the new area of Albufeira today and were amazed at all the new hotels and homes, one after the other stretching for miles along the coast.

This picture was taken back toward Albufeira at a crest of a
hill as we made our way back to our apartment.

This building seemed appropriately named.

This is a typical menu outside restaurants in Albufeira.

Chalet Santa Rita sits on a large
corner lot 50 feet from the Atlantic.

This little "car" sells artisanal popsicles, Albufeira's version
of Seattle Pops.

This apartment looks out to the Atlantic and has a garden,

unusual here.

Our apartment building sits above this, the Belle Vista
Commercial Center.

We'd walked over an hour and decided to stop for a toasted
ham and cheese breakfast sandwich and orange juice. This
McCafe is right of the main counter where Big Macs and
fries are sold. Here, you can get a good latte or espresso.