Friday, October 25, 2024

Too much food

 We both woke up stuffed so we called off our dinner plans for the night and did a good sized brunch as the Meal of the Day....





Then we decided to go over to Praia de Luz where Laurie had first rented when she moved to Portugal.







We had a drink along the beach path and then headed home Casa Ella and little Martina kitty... always hungry!




around 3:30 I left for Sevilla and with the adverse time change in the eastbound direction arrived back home around 7:30 after dropping off the rental car.  Great to catch up with Laurie and spent time together. Now I am catching up with my class and training with Leslie and then prepping the guest room for our visit with Oscar who arrive tomorrow evening. Phil arrives in five days. 


I leave

So I had arranged to visit Laurie Estabrooks at her place in Portugal for a couple of days.  She lives at Casa Ella, near Carvoeiro in The Algarve. I picked up a rental car st the bus station car rental office of Sixt. Then headed out. 




When I arrived - since it was an hour earlier in Portugal than Spain- we went out for brunch. 





Then we went to a boardwalk cliffside nearby in the hills overlooking the sea. 



after a quick stop at her beautiful home to feed the kitties (especially the five month old who is always starving!) we headed to the pottery place where Laurie had all her dishes made. 









We had coffee and juice there and then went back home to rest for a bit before girding our loins for an enormous meal at a local 2 Michelin stars restaurant called Ocean. It was located in the Vila Vita Park resort/hotel complex. The grounds of the resort are beautifully landscaped and maintained. There are seven or more restaurants on the property but Ocean is the jewel in the crown.








































I am not sure how we survived this amount of food and wine and I am sure the Uber driver could tell us more about our condition than we remember but it was an amazing meal with carefully curated wine pairings of mostly Portuguese wines... But about five courses from the end I was really calling "Uncle!"