And more Carnaval

A mix of sun and cloud day today but the clouds are mostly white - hopefully another rain free day. Not as warm as our first week but definitely pleasant. Low tide is around 11:30 am so likely a walk to old town on the beach around noon.

I have not been to the beach in the early morning the last couple of days - sleeping so well I did not wake up in time for sunrise.

Nothing special on today but tomorrow we are going to one of the evening concerts by the Algarve Symphony Orchestra - we went last year and really enjoyed the evening, which starts at 9:30pm.

On Saturday six of us are going on a day trip to the western Algarve with a guide who has organized the trip for us, so not entirely sure where we are going. We'll find out and I'll let you know on Sunday or Monday.

So, a few more photos from Carnaval this post.

This couple is in costumes quite similar to a group in 2009 - not the same couple, of course. Unfortunately, this fellow appeared unhappy to be there - I didn't see a smile.

These guys were on stilts with springs - so they were bouncing around looking very macho.

Three women whose faces and attire I thought interesting and appealing.

Next post I will show some photos of folks in the crowd who were in costume.

More Carnaval

I liked these clowns a lot - they were among the more lively and energetic group and on a colourful float as well, so there may be a couple more of them later.

Here is a sample of the Brazilian "influence" on the Portuguese Carnaval, according to our guide. There was one young woman on this float that wore only a "g-string" and paint - she must have been freezing, possibly even more than the others, as the second time we saw this group she was gone.

In 2009 I think there was some identification of who or where the bands and performers were from but this year there was none of that apparent so not sure who these folks are or where they are from.

A lot of folks who were in the parade paid attention to these two little girls who were part of the crowd - they were gathering as much of the streamers and other paraphernalia thrown from the floats. Not sure what this fellow was giving them. There will be more photos of the girls.

This was one of the more attractive floats though, again, I am not sure what it represented - I was focused on the people and thought this lady in the window would make a nice photo. She was one of those in the parade who looked like they were enjoying themselves.

This is all the photos google will allow so, another post later.

Carnaval - Loulé - 2011

Today is our outing to Carnaval in Loule - about a 40 minute bus trip from Albufeira.

The weather looks promising this morning - a bit warmer than the past few days and though there are lots of clouds there is also quite a lot of sun as well. So it looks like we will be going with hopes that the weather holds - at least it doesn't rain.

Well, the weather was not great but not terrible either - mostly overcast with a few short sunny breaks and a bit warmer than it has been - about 16 C. Most importantly, it didn't rain!

As usual, click on any of the photos to see a slightly larger version.

The parade was quite good but much less colourful and exciting than 2009. There also appeared to be fewer floats, bands and dancers and most were less inspiring than 2009. And there seemed to be less enthusiasm and energy among many of the participants this year and the crowd was much smaller and also relatively less enthusiastic - though there were still lots of costumes in the crowd.

The differences from 2009 could be a result of a struggling economy and less than optimum weather.

Our guide told us that there has been an increasing Brazilian influence on Carnaval in Portugal. The Portuguese celebration has traditionally been a relatively quiet, inexpensive local event with costumes etc.,made by the local families who participate. In contrast, in Brazil, it is much more extravagant and towns and cities spend most of the year and large amounts of money in preparation. The Brazilian influence in Portugal has led to larger more elaborate affairs including the introduction of more sparsely clad to nude young women.

I found myself taking few photos of the floats and many of people both in the parade and in the crowd.

Here are a few of those I like most - and since google limits me to 5 or 6 photos per post I will probably do a two or three postings in order to show a few more photos.

More to come - stay tuned.

Dark and light skies

It rained overnight on Friday and it was another unusually cool morning Saturday with lots of dark clouds and a bit of rain. It began to clear a bit and the rain stopped around 8 am or so. Some blue started to appear mid morning so we went for a walk with John to the book store on "the strip". Still lots of cloud, some sun, but continuing very cool. No shorts or T shirt that day for me, though there were still a few die hards around in shorts and T-shirts.

Click on any photo to see a slightly larger version.

Stopped at the Costa Rica restaurant for hot chocolate, decaf "white coffee" and apple pie on our way home.

The afternoon improved and we had lots of clear skies and sun for much of it. Some terrific billowy white clouds in the later part of the afternoon. Still generally cool, about 14 C or so, but nice and warm in the sun.

Saturday evening we invited John, Jean and Jean's sister, Ev, for drinks and dessert during a fairly vigorous lightning, thunder and rain storm. It rained quite a bit off and on during the night and we wakened at about 6 am to a new major storm with lots of wind, rain, lightning and thunder - and as it got lighter and the sun began to influence things, there were some more interesting clouds formations.

We also woke this morning (Sunday) to water dripping from our bedroom ceiling! Not sure where it is coming from but there are a few areas along a crack where it is leaking. So, we are moving to a new room - this one on the top floor. The room is pretty much the same - the balcony is quite a bit smaller but the view of the ocean is much better.
Later some photo of the new view will find their way onto the blog, but not today. This is a day for sky photos.

The photo of the white billowy clouds is from Saturday afternoon. The next is this morning, Sunday, about 7 am and those following are all taken within the next hour. The last two looking west from our balcony, pretty much the same scene taken about 20 minutes apart - one before the sun poked through and one after with the sunlight on the buildings producing a major contrast to the dark sky in the west.

Once again the sky has pretty much cleared so we have a mix of sun and cloud. Hope the rain stays away as this is the first day of Canavale in Loulé. We are scheduled to go tomorrow but rain is predicted. We'll see.

A particularly cool day in Albufeira

Well, this morning was pretty much Ontario weather - I stepped out on our balcony and it was so cold I slipped on the ice :-)

Not really but it was definitely cold - probably about 6 or 7 C with dark heavy clouds on all sides but the east. Rain was predicted but none so far and after noon the clouds drifted off leaving us with sun and about 15 C mid afternoon.

In spite of the cold I did go to the beach this morning but with the cold and the fact that I am stuck in a rut on beach photos I took only a few. You can see from at least a couple of them that I am desperate enough to resort to trickery.

As usual, click on any photo to see a slightly larger version.

This is a sunrise photo from this morning - not especially nice but it gives some idea of the dark clouds moving to the east, soon to obliterate the sun but -

not before I took this photo of the beach and the dark clouds in the west and south.

As you can see, the beach was beautifully smooth and pristine looking - left that way by the receding tide and the fact that the cool and somewhat threatening weather delayed the morning fishermen, walkers and joggers.

There was this fellow out on the rocks harvesting something. I'm not sure what but likely some unsuspecting ocean creature to be used for fishing bait.

The sunset photo with the jet trail is from a few days ago.

There is a prize if you guess what the last tow photos are.

More beach

Did I mention that we go to the beach?

"Our place" is about a 3 or 4 minute walk to the beach so we do go there from time to time.

I am often there at around 7 am when the sun is coming up and around 6 pm when it is setting to take advantage of the morning and evening light.

And, of course, when the tide is low we go to old town on the beach.

So, not surprisingly, there will be lots of photos on this blog that involve the beach in one way or another.

I have a wide angle lens that I haven't used often partly because I don't really know how to use it.

Yesterday it occurred to me that the beach, especially at low tide, might offer some interesting possibilities. So, last evening and this morning I tried a few photos using the wide angle lens. Here are the ones that I like the most.

Click on any of these photos to see a slightly larger version.

You will note a certain amount of similarity in some of these - part of experimenting with the light and exposure.

Gypsy Market and beach

This morning I went to the beach again about 7:30 am - too late for good photo light, but took a photos - I know I put a lot of beach photos up, but it's such a beautiful spot, especially in the morning. So - one photo here from this morning at the beach and one from our morning walk yesterday.
(Click on any photo to see a slightly larger version)

John and I went to the Gypsy market this morning - Ruth and Jean opted to stay home for their own particular reasons.

The Gypsy market in Albufeira occurs every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month and it's packed with all manner of "stuff" and tourists like us. Hawkers shouting out their wonderful prices - "Two euros, high quality……" etc. And for those of us who are unused to "bargaining" they are very cagey and tricky.

One woman quoted a price and when we said it was too high, she lowered the price and tried to stuff another similar item in the bag - for a bit less than twice the price of the first item one could have two - we only wanted one but it was hard to convince her of that.

And you dare not give a 20 euro bill for a 15 euro item - you will have much difficulty getting your change. "Shh .. Shh" she says, don't let others know I am giving you this great price as she stuffs the unwanted second item in your bag.

It is all very colourful both to the eyes, as the photos show, and the game playing.

Another beautiful, sunny day - a bit cooler than previous days, but warm and pleasant in the sun.