Change

When first visiting a new place you tend to think that the way it is now is as it has been and that if you visit again you will find it the same and, of course, this applies especially to those things you liked or people with whom you felt some attachment and hoped to see on return. But, of course, over time, things do change or even cease to exist and we have had a few such experiences here in Albufeira that have created a palpable feeling of loss - not devastating, but important nevertheless - which I would like to mention.

When Ruth first came to Albufeira the old town beach area, fishermens' beach, was the place where the local fishermen pulled their boats on shore after a "day's" fishing. The clutter, a bit like these 2 images from nearby Armacão de Pera, of characteristically colourful fishing boats and assorted equipment created, for her, an appealing ambiance of unique sights, sounds and smells, the atmosphere of the traditional occupation of so many Portuguese people and one of the mainstays of the Portuguese economy, fishing.

And because of the sea level location in this "hilly" community, one could either walk among the boats and paraphernalia or enjoy the view looking down from the adjacent hill on the bustling activity among the medley of coloured boats, nets and heterogeneous bits of equipment necessary for catching fish. Sadly, this link to the past is no more. It has been transformed into a large open beach and paved square for folks like us, the tourists, who now have more beach for walking, sunning and serious enjoyment without the clutter of fishermen, fishing boats and their accompanying stuff getting in the way.

Ornamental fishermen

The photo to the left shows what remains; one boat and a few stone sculptures representing those who, until recently, plied their trade in this space.
For us it is a disappointing loss. But, what about the fishermen? Is it worse for them? or better that they are sheltered now behind a nearby breakwater in a marina where, I assume, they no longer need to pull their boats up onto a beach? I don't know. 

While John and I were on our morning walk, during one of my early visits to Albufeira, we passed a low white building with a small yard. In the yard was a table with some stone carvings of fish and dolphins and other sea creatures that I have now forgotten. We stopped to have a look and Lionel emerged from the back of the building to greet us with his characteristically friendly orthodontically imperfect smile. He was a smallish, thin, kind of wiry looking man, and his dress and location suggested someone of limited means and likely limited education.

Pre-dolphin

Fortunately, however, his command of English far exceeded ours of Portuguese, so we managed to communicate and we were able to learn just a bit about him. It seemed Lionel had a dream or maybe more like a hope. His means of earning a living was doing odd jobs and during one of these he helped a friend who worked with rocks and in the process found that he had a skill for carving rock figures. At one point he decided that he would pursue his carving skills with the hope that he could do what he enjoyed and possibly earn at least some of his living carving sea creatures from rocks. We didn't learn much more about Lionel but here he was with a few of his sculptures on display around the small yard.

Our dolphin

We met and chatted with him several times on our walks by his place and one morning met him coming from the beach with a plastic bag full of pre-sculptured rocks. Another morning when meeting him at his gate I asked him if he would carve a small dolphin for us which he agreed to do, for 10 or 12 Euros, I think. 

Lionel doing the finishing touches

We liked it so much that the next year we asked him if he would do another for a gift for a friend - again he agreed this time showing us a bit about the process he used to place the eyes and to finish the piece. The next year he told us he was having problems - people would climb the fence and steal or destroy his sculptures which made it difficult for him to sell his work. We saw less and less of Lionel and his sculptures as he seemed to need to be off painting or doing some other odd job to keep enough money coming in. Last year we did not see him at all though there were still some indications, items on the clothes line for example, that he was still around, though no sculptures were visible.

Padlocked gate

This year the gate is padlocked and the yard is empty. There is no sign that our friend, which he was in a way, is there. Each time I walk by I wonder what has happened to him or where he is. I'm glad I met Lionel and I'm sorry he is no longer at his place. I hope he is well. 

Angry Seas

Last evening and this morning the ocean has been extremely active with good sized waves pounding the beach all night - sounding much like high winds and thunder. Seems angry at something.

So I was on the beach both last evening before sunset and this morning before sunrise, camera in hand prepared to record the result of rushing walls of water in confrontation with the shoreline rocks and man made breakwater walls. (Remember to enlarge the photos)

I thought, "I'll come away with some exciting new and unique images to display on the blog." So, this morning, after pouring through over 150 to 200 images, carefully selecting what I felt were interesting and cleaning them up a bit I retained about a dozen pictures - "unique and compelling images" which I planned to share with you on the next blog post.

This afternoon I was looking back over blog posts in previous years while searching for something completely unrelated to ocean images and stumbled on, to my surprise, quite a few photos of a turbulent ocean running into rocks and sending spray all over the place - many looking almost like carbon copies of the images I made last night and this morning - some much better than these!

So, it appears that I have done it before!  that is, made what I considered to be unique and compelling images and shared them on the blog. And, in this process of looking over posts of earlier years I also noticed quite a lot of photos of sunrises and sunsets which tend to look more than a bit alike.

So, what to do? Am I to stop posting photos I like because some of them may seem a bit repetitious? Having thought about the problem for a bit, I have concluded that each of these images, though possibly similar, has its own uniqueness and, contrary to a statement attributed to Ronald Reagan, "if you've seen one sequoia, you've seen them all", if you have seen one sunrise or sunset or the spray of one wave smacking into a rock, you have definitely not seen them all!

So, as you see, here in this post is the next set of similar, but different, images of a turbulent, roiling and somewhat frightening ocean relentlessly pounding the shoreline and sending water, spray and mist everywhere.
As I stood watching for the really big wave, (the "sétimo onda") and seeing what I estimate to be 3 to 4 meter waves containing tons of water, speeding toward me on the shore (with the breakwater between me and serious injury), I suddenly became aware of a certain amount of fear which reaffirmed a great respect for water, especially large volumes of rapidly moving water! It also provided a minuscule glimmer of insight into the power and potential devastation of waves much larger or an event like a tsunami!

While standing safely on shore in the shelter of the rocks and breakwater, however, I continue to find the visual and auditory effects of all this turbulence to be awesome, fascinating and completely mesmerizing. Can't get it all in the photos but I hope some comes through.

End of week two

Here we are - 2 days over two weeks since we arrived in Faro and thence to Albufeira, so we celebrated 2 weeks Wednesday evening and, once more, had a very tasty dinner at the Trés Palmeiras.

I was on the beach before sunrise Thursday morning and one never knows what one might find. So, here is a bit of a surprise - I assume that a child - parent combo created this very fine sand castle which survived the tide. Note the detail of the "building stones" carefully etched into the sand walls.
Remember to click on a photo for a larger image.

And apart from this and the usual pleasure of being there I noticed an additional appealing sensation. It was much warmer than it has been in the mornings past, and the sky was completely clear - not the stuff of beautiful sunrises but the harbinger of a beautiful warm day, and so it was. Sunny with a bit of a breeze and warm! It was 18º C at around 10:30 am and if felt like it was 22 or 23º C in the afternoon. 

And since the totally clear sky does not provide the conditions for spectacular sunrises I give you sunlit surf with your standard fisherman included! And an early morning sunlit beach with an incidental glimpse of our apartment hotel in the upper right of the image below.

As I mentioned above it was a gorgeous day, definitely short sleeves and shorts. In fact, that was my very attire on my way to town via the beach at 9:15 am that morning. So here I am, below, walking to town via the beach - note that I am wearing shorts. You can't see my short sleeves but can, I hope, appreciate the very light shirt, consistent with sunny warmth. And, yes, this is the complete photo.

And when I reached old town at that hour of the morning, all was very quiet. I thought that this was kind of an interesting image of the first street off the beach - I was on my way to the travel information store to pick up the schedule of events in the Algarve in March in anticipation of the arrival of Drew and Julia, grandson and great grand daughter, in a few days.

This street, left, later in the day, will be a challenge to negotiate as it will be packed with stuff displayed outside all of the stores and with people strolling and browsing.

Since a bit before Carnaval our days have been fairly quiet. Ruth's hip discomfort returned and it has now been complicated by a previous ankle arthritis so walking has been difficult. Fortunately, Thursday both seem to be improved with diligent application of treatment prescribed by her physiotherapists and judicious use of a bit of Ibuprofen cream on the ankle. We tested the improvement with a walk to the bakery - about a Km or a bit more - and that went well. So, we celebrated again that evening and had dinner at a small but very nice and very close restaurant called the Panacee. Good food, half the price of the Trés Palmeiras and 2 minutes from our apartment instead of 6 or 7 minutes to the Trés Palmeiras.

I don't know if you can appreciate it but this restaurant (above) and our apartment hotel, which is very close by, are on quite a steep hill that goes down to the beach/ocean. I realize that it is not easy to appreciate the degree of the slope but this rather fuzzy image is an attempt to show you the hill I have to climb to get from the beach to the entrance area of our apartment hotel. Trust me, this image to the left does not look this way due entirely to perspective - it is a substantial climb. Good cardio-respiratory exercise!

Now, this last image has nothing to do with the past couple of days, but I find it difficult to have a post without a sunrise or sunset, so for me and the sunrise/sunset lovers among you…...

More Carnaval

In the first post I mentioned that several of the floats may present irreverently critical messages concerning government policies and politicians and in this post I have included photos of a couple of floats purely because they provide clear examples.

José Eduardo dos Santos is an Angolan politician who has been President of Angola, a former Portuguese colony, since 1979. According to Wikipedia he has "been accused of leading one of the most corrupt regimes in Africa by ignoring the economic and social needs of Angola and focusing his efforts on amassing wealth for his family and silencing his opposition. In Angola, nearly 70% of the population lives on less than $2 a day and yet he and his family have amassed a massive sum of wealth, with stakes in the leading businesses of the nation as well as international corporations." There are many Angolans now in Portugal so there are still strong ties to Angola and this float appears to be a commentary on J.E.S. and his policies in Angola.

In the photo left, be sure to look at the whole image - I have found my eyes paying attention to the lower part of the image and completely missing the main object, namely the horizontal youngster in the upper part of the photo. Unfortunately, his feet and lower legs have been "cut off" by the camera but in spite of that his skill is clearly apparent.

 Another "elevated" child, doing a hand stand on her colleague's hands.

I am not sure what this boy was looking down at but it seems to be someone or something that is appealing to him.

This float represents the "Troika" of individuals who, it seems, are currently responsible for finding ways to put into practice recommendations of the International Monetary Fund. For example, it is alleged that the IMF insists that labor costs in Portugal continue to undermine the competitiveness of the economy and that it apparently "asked" the Government to submit proposals that could lead to a higher "wage flexibility" in the country and to ensure "decentralization of wage bargaining".  All of which a cynic might interpret as euphemistic "IMF speak" to mean establishment of policies that lead to reduced income for Portuguese workers, another of the IMF austerity measures with which, this float suggests, some disagree. But, why would anyone disagree? No doubt the IMF folks making the recommendation for "wage flexibility" are lining up to accept for themselves the same degree of income reduction that Portuguese workers could face.

This fellow was in super enthusiastic dancing mode, jumping around so quickly it is amazing that I was able to get a reasonably sharp photo of him.

Quite the opposite of our friend above, this young onlooker seems to be quite mellow about the activities going on around him.

Where do I stop? I have many more images that I like, but this is likely more than enough for you for now. If I hear an outcry for more Carnaval images I may post a few more later but these and the ones below are the last for this post. But don't miss those below as a couple of them say a lot about how the performers must feel at the end of three days of parading!

Both these last two photos were made on our way toward the exit, and these youngsters look like they are also ready to exit.

This young fellow was literally asleep on the curb with people standing around him to protect him from being stepped on accidentally.

Maybe more images in a later post - or, maybe not.

Carnaval - Loulé, Portugal 2014

This past Sunday was the third time we have been to the Loulé Carnaval.

Remember to click on the photo to see a larger image.

The photos are in no particular order - just ones we both like which I think give a flavour of the event.

The morning was cool but mostly sunny. Most of the weather guessers had predicted cloud with a significant chance of rain in the morning and clearing in the afternoon so the morning sun was welcome, but short lived. Clouds began to move in and by the 1:15 pm when we set out for Loulé for the 3:00 pm parade it was overcast, cool and breezy.

By the time the parade began the wind had become lighter and the parade participants, apparently undaunted by the cool, cloudy conditions, were in the mood and ready to go! (even the painted, naked young women, though they must have been at least chilly, were on their float.) And, it didn't rain!

We could guess at what a couple of these floats and figures mean, but, unfortunately, for most we have no idea what their message is.

At this point, just a reminder about Carnaval. It is a pre-lent celebration held in Catholic countries all over the world. In Portugal it is known as Carnaval but similar celebrations in other jurisdiction may use different names such as Mardi Gras, for example.

In Portugal many communities have their own versions of Carnaval on a larger or smaller scale presumably based on the size of the community and the local interest. We have been told that the one in Loulé, a town of about 25,000 people, is one of the larger and better known Canavals in Portugal. 

There are a number of different events during the days approaching the beginning of Lent but the one we are most familiar with is the joyful, colourful, vibrant, noisy and exuberant parades, one on each of three days, which have a theme that usually includes irreverent commentary about political policies and politicians.

The events go on over a period of 4 or 5 days and it is a brief period during which "acting out" a bit is apparently tolerated.

It is said that communities and families put a great deal of time, creative energy and effort into preparing for this celebration - we have also been told that preparation may go on during much of the year. And that all of the work is done by the people of the individual communities.
This child and another, the second to last photo on this post, were beside each other on one of the floats and, as I think you can see, both looked totally bored with the whole thing.

On the other hand, the child below who was not in the parade, was ecstatic about something!

So, all the floats and costumes that we see in the parade and all that goes into creating the parade is the result of the work of individuals and families in the community, in this case Loulé. It's pretty amazing when you realize that not only the floats and personal regalia are made by the community but so are the excellent large "puppet" and float heads which represent the political targets of disparagement!

And, not only the participants in the parade are dressed in colourful costumes;  lots of children and some adults there to watch the parade are in celebratory attire, as you can see in some of the images. This child, for example, was not actually in the parade though her mother surreptitiously, or not so surreptitiously, placed her onto a float (see if you can find her on one of the floats) or, as here, into a gap in the parade.

When we went through the gate into the parade area I was immediately reminded of one of the annoying elements of the parade - namely extremely loud and persistent noise! The voice and music noise level from the loudspeakers is deafeningly loud (even by putting mouth to ear one cannot pass on a message) and it goes on before the parade begins and throughout the duration of the parade.

Though the police, security people and those keeping things moving are prevalent and watchful, there is a remarkably limited amount of restraint on the crowd in moving in and around the floats and parade participants.

So, for those interested in taking photos - and there were many! -  one is pretty free to move about and into the parade route both before and during the parade. There are mini bleacher type seats and benches around and some choose to sit while most seem to stand and walk about as the parade folks and floats make the circuit around a central boulevard for, I think, at least three times, maybe more.

When we were initially in the parade area, and even as the parade began, it seemed very much less crowded than we remember from previous visits, so we were able to move about and find good vantage points easily.

Before too long, however, the number of people had increased dramatically and if you left a spot it was quickly occupied. And more folks were spilling into the parade route for photos or just making their way to a different location. By the time we were ready to leave - we had seen all the floats and performers and the noise was just too much - it took us a while to thread our way through the densely packed boulevard to get to the exit.

I mentioned at the beginning of this missive that this is our 3rd opportunity to enjoy the Loulé Carnaval parade and our impression is that, while it is still extremely well done, the number of floats and other participants are becoming fewer each year. It's such a wonderful tradition one hopes, if our impression is correct, that this is not a trend that continues.

Though in this photo we are leaving there are still many images I would  like you to see, so I'll be back with another post on this Carnaval.

Saturday number two - Portugal 2014

This is our second Saturday in Albufeira and it is a day of rest for us between our fairly vigorous exercise during yesterday's visit to Portimão and Praia da Rocha and Sunday's trip to Loulé for the Carnaval parade.

No beach visit this morning due to the unpleasant weather and as we approach evening dark clouds are once more rolling in so possibly no beach this evening either.

But, not to worry. As you can see, for those who like beach sunrises and sunsets and beach images in general, I have a few photos from earlier days that I have included and I hope will be of interest in spite of some of the similarities among them.


Remember, click on the photos for a larger image.

It's not a bad day for a rest as it has been overcast, very windy and with light precipitation off and on for most of the day. Our hope is that today's Carnaval parade managed to escape any rain and that tomorrow it will as well.

Because we have been under the impression that Monday is a holiday, I walked to the supermarket, with dark clouds threatening, to pick up some things for Tuesday dinner - it turns out that Tuesday, not Monday, is the holiday so I could have done the shopping on Monday - but it is done and I didn't get rained on so I'm free on Monday.

If the weather is kind tomorrow and I get some good photos of the parade there will be some quite different, hopefully interesting, images for the next post.

See you after Carnaval.