Faro, Portugal

Our plan for today was to see the church that is completely tiled in blue tiles on the inside.  But it was closed on Sundays.  A picture of this church as been on Alexis' bulletin board for over a year - so this was a great disappointment.

Next on the list is to see Ruinas Romanas de Milreu.  These Roman ruins were a surprise in how much was still preserved and how open they were to damage.  They were in the open air – some roped off, but others you could walk on.  They probably don’t have the funds to preserve them better.  It was originally a farmhouse in the 1st century.  The mosaics are probably from the 2nd to 4th century.  After many iterations it became a large villa at the end of the 15th century.  The girls were very interested in following the map and figuring out what was what. 

The remains of a painting on a wall in the photo below.

It is amazing how well preserved the tiles are - you aren't supposed to walk on them - but they are exposed to the weather.

This is the remains of a temple.  There were a lot of fish mosaics around the temple area.

Rob had scouted out another fish restaurant in downtown Faro where the adults enjoyed fresh fish and the girls ate from the kids menu.  Neither one will eat fish.  After being replenished took a walk to the old town area.  A carnival had been held early in the week and so their were still decorations 

up.   We passed some street art along the way.

 Of course we had to stop for ice cream at the water front.  I just realized I didn’t take any waterfront photos.  The sun was blazing down and I would have had to take photos looking at the sun.

The gate to the old town was picturesque.  It also had many stork nests on the top.  This was the case all over Portugal.  A favorite place to nest has on the power line supports.  Some of the large ones had 5 or more nests on them.  Then we walked through the gate and around the old city. 

Can you find the four stork nests below?

The side streets inside the old town were not well preserved.  There is a lot of decay and I think also squatters living in the buildings.  Lots of graffiti all over.  We were tempted by men trying to sell us boat trips, but they sounded pretty boring.  Not much to see in the area.

Our last stop was for cake at a café along with drinks.  This was to celebrate Rob’s birthday. Alexis had brought sparklers to put on top of the cake.  But it was too windy and they would not light.

We then headed to the Faro airport.  Our flight back to Amsterdam was scheduled to leave at 7:45pm.  We would get to Amsterdam around 1am on Monday.  On the way to the airport, Alexis got a text saying our flight had been canceled and we were rebooked on a flight 24 hours later.  What!  That means we wont get into Amsterdam until Monday – actually Tuesday at 1am in the morning.  My flight for the US leaves at 10 on Tuesday morning.  The reason given for the delay was a sandstorm in the Canary Islands and the planes could not fly to Faro.  I saw some pictures of the storm and am glad that we were not tourists there during the storm.

So we spent Sunday night being bused to a resort hotel somewhere near Faro.  The resort was empty and the area very spread out.  The restaurant was actually about 1/2 mile away from our sleeping quarters.  We received dinner at almost 9pm after being bused to another part of the resort to the restaurant for a buffet meal.  Same for breakfast and lunch.  We were to be bused back to the airport, but It kept being delayed, until Rob and Alexis decided to take an Uber to get back before the buses and long lines to check in.  

This flight did take off and we arrived in Amsterdam around 1am and took a taxi to their apartment.  I had to repack everything as I had left some things in their apartment so did not turn off the light until after 2 am.  Got up at 6 to shower and catch a 7am taxi back to the airport.  After that all has gone smoothly.  But I am very tired.

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Today we are visiting Faro, Portugal.  This is because our flight is supposed to leave out of the Faro airport at 7:45 tonight going back to Amsterdam.  First stop is to see some Roman Ruins just outside of Faro.  They are quite interesting and better preserved than I expected.

Next stop was a walk to Faro old town and the old town itself.  Notice the storks and their nests on top of the gate into the old city.  It looks like there are squtters living in some of the buildings here – lots of griffitti as well. 

Our last stop before heading to the airport was at a café for cake and drinks to celebrate Rob’s birthday.  On the way to the airport, Alexis got a text saying our flight had been canceled and we were rebooked on a flight 24 hours later.  What!  That means we wont get into Amsterdam until Monday – actually Tuesday at 1am in the morning.  My flight for the US leaves at 10 on Tuesday morning. 

So we spent Sunday night being bused to a resort hotel somewhere nearby Faro.  We received dinner at 8pm after being bused to another part of the resort to the restaurant for a buffet meal.  Same for breakfast and lunch.  We were to b bused back to the airport, but It kept being delayed, until Rob and Alexis decided to take an Uber to get their before the buses and long lines to check in.  We arrived in Amsterdam around 1am and taxied to their apartment.  I had to repack everything as I had left some things in their apartment so did not turn off the light until after 2 am.  Got up at 6 to shower and get the 7am taxi back to the airport.  After that all has gone smoothly.  But I am very ti