Sabine.se - Olhão, Algarve - Portugal

A very early flight (06.00 am from Nice!) to Faro and from there a taxiride to the hotel.
We arrived to early for check in so the service-minded staff took care of our luggage and we went for a walk

It started to rain heavily so we took cover and enjoyed the morning in a bar and waited for the rain to go away

We had a lot to discuss, as usual, so the time flew away and suddenly the sun was there again

We left the bar and moved on to this outdoor exhibition explaining everything about Olhão
(pronounced "oll-yow") 

In the old days it was popular to build a cubic chimney with four lateral holes to prevent the entry of rain,
the expo tabelau told me, and the bigger chimney the richer you were.

Because of this Olhão is today many times referred to as the Cubist village

As many other places Olhão also has a Chapel of Senhor dos Aflitos which had guests on its roof!
In this chapel the fishermen’s wives used to pray in stormy days for the safety of their husbands out at sea.

Two families of White Storks were nesting on the top, each on one side of the cross to keep balance, I suppose

After this exhausting morning a bottle of Vinho Verde in the sunshine was just perfect!

We continued our discovery tour and without knowing it we were, what I know today, on the Caminho das Lendas
which means the Tales Path which connects five of the main squares in the historic center

We bumped into Arraúl the only survivor of Atlantis, swallowed by a whale who swam him to Prainhas where
Arraúl immediately started to create Ria Formosa´s Barrier Islands. What a guy!

After this legend tour we ended up here and just looked at this astonishing mural; BUT there was more to come!

The whole neighborhood was full of them!

They are the work of four artists who specialise in urban art
Asur, also known as dgiphi, Pedro “Mistik”, “Gnose” and “Kaset”

The artists used old photographs as their source material

It was the council which commissioned them to undertake this work.

These murals have turned what were once dilapidated buildings into a fabulous street gallery

and has also brought Olhão’s past to life

A "good" example of neglected houses without street art

Doors in different conditions

Colourful entrance and to my mind Mexican-inspired street art

We walked the narrow streets - you need some shaving Hans?!

Narrow cobbled lanes in all directions

To my opinion a beautiful painted house but please put your sunglasses on!

Many old houses waiting for maintenance and many nice cobbled squares

Our tour in the historic center ended up in front of the Mercados de Olhão on the Avenida 5 de Outubro

Opposite the market there are lots of very good restaurants and I think we picked the best one!
I had razor clams with rice for lunch - ymmie!

You have to go here when in Olhão - Restaurante Prazeres Av. 5 de Outubro 94
It was so good so we went here twice!

After lunch we strolled around again and found this bar which in Swedish means hell

We went back to our mansion

and had a nice evening by the pool all by ourself

Next morning we visited the market which I started with inspecting the fruit and meat (!) area

and after that over to the best fishmarket in Algarve

I was flabbergasted by all the gasping fish

The Portuguese fishermen preserve the method of line fishing, gear, hook and small traditional nets.
This wisdom has been and is still handed down from generation to generation

It is this gentle way of catching the fish that allow it to preserve its fresh and tasty quality after caught.
The fishermen also know how to prepare and cook fish in a traditional manner, simply just with salt and embers.

By the existence of favourable conditions of the water at the Portuguese coast
the variety of great quality fish is plenty.

So even if you do not like dead or alive fish this is a market with history and a must be seen.

We continued our day with a long walk to

the Quinta de Marim a part in the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa

The information we got at the entrance was that it should take around two hours to go around in the park

It was promised that we would be able to see a a diversity of flora and we found one!

We followed the path and came to this ancient tide mill the last of 30 that used to operate on the Ria Formosa

It didn´t make a great impact on me

And for the wildlife which they promised us, this was the one we found, the famous fiddler crab

I think this park has seen better days, so a bit dissapointed we left and took a glas of wine before

we walked back through the outskirts of Olhão and were surprised how narrow they were living to each other

whilst others had more space

Finally we were back at the hotel and visited their nice bar and had a good nights rest

Next morning - This is the seaview we had from our room

and this over land but I didn´t mind because today

was our Spa-day and the hotel has a very nice section for that so we spent the hole day here