Fri 30 Oct - Gramacho R&R Day 1

Both Ulf and Åsa had prior commitments today. Commitments done prior to me stumbling in on their doorstep. 

Hence, by 9am, I was by myself in their fantastic house at Pestana Golf Resort. If you hadn't realized it by now, both of them are golf fanatics. And yes, both their commitments today had to do with golf. 

I had been given suggestions of things to do but first, a few pictures from outside and inside their house. 

Ulf and Åsa had done major house renovations including opening up the floor plan by removing walls, installation of Swedish timber floorboards in most rooms and installing new brand new kitchen. I'm sure there is a lot more that they did but that was what I remembered. 

The house as you approach it. From the road:

And closer up. 

The backyard with pool, outdoor shower and pizza oven. 

The combined dining and living room. 

The kitchen. 

My temporary sleeping quarters. Sure beats albergues and 2 star hotel rooms. 

Upstairs there was this quirky little room. Ulf and Åsa used it as a relaxation room where you sit and just check out the neighborhood through the window. 

And these are the upstairs views of the neighborhood. 

Views from the upstairs balcony over the adjacent golf course. 

Pestana Golf Resort has two 18 hole golf courses within its grounds. And you can have no doubt that it is a golf resort as you walked through it. 

I spent the day by walking to the sea and back, to a small fishing village called Ferragudo. 

The distance according to Ulf is approximately 5km one way and parts of it is on dirt road... 

...where anything can happen. 

In addition to goats, there are also wild dogs in the area and at one point I saw one of those dog's head pop up behind one of those clay walls. 

The stray dog was then following me from a distance for a while, which made me a bit nervous. However, I later heard that these dogs are not the ones to be worried about. The guard dogs are the bad ones if they get loose. 

Ferragudo seemed genuine enough and  today the day before 31 October, there was a Halloween event in its main square. 

There will still fisherman along Ferragudo's foreshore working with fish and nets. 

Given the moorish background of this area, many houses were one storey high, white painted and with colored frames. Mostly it looked great. A few examples.

I continued walking along the foreshore beyond Ferragudo town centre and stumbled onto these fantastic fishermens huts. 

This cottage was seriously cute. 

I wonder what kind of cargo is on this boat. 

No, really...

I walked as far as Praia Grande Beach before turning back. That area was a bit too touristy for me. 

See what I mean. 

Even the toilets are having siesta for an hour in the middle of the day according to the sign.  

Time for lunch. I chose this place to the left on the main square simply because there were more diners there than with any of the competition. 

Expectations...

...which were fulfilled. The fish was called dourado including in the menu's English section. That translates to golden in English. I asked Åsa later and she thought it was bream. 

The dourado fish was seriously tasty. Best food since leaving Australia. This was GOOD!!

After lunch I walked back to Ulf and Åsa's place, bye Ferragudo. 

I was at Casa 27 of Pestana Golf Resort back by 2.30pm and managed to switch off the home alarm without causing Securitas to be alerted and to come out. 

Home security is obviously a selling point in these golf resorts, which are almost like gated communities. 

Later, i enjoyed a cold Carlsberg out back while watching the sun beginning to set. 

It was a nice, warm and dry day in southern Portugal, such a difference from the last week or so. 

Åsa arrived home first and Ulf later. We had a beer at the clubhouse of the golf resort before taking a taxi to Carvoeiro. There we had dinner in what Ulf and Åsa called a typical Portuguese restaurant. 

Of course, I forgot to take photos and didn't recall that until towards the end of the visit. So here is a photo of Ulf and Åsa with their wine glasses. 

I had grilled tuna for dinner which was huge and also delicious. Two great meals in one day. When did that last happen? Not in Europe that's for sure. 

The restaurant's owner was clearly a football fan. 

The restaurant owner's team was Benfica which wasn't that easy to figure out from all the football memorabilia. Benfica is a Lisbon team and also a suburb of there.  

Pestana Golf Resort
A couple of final photos as we got back to Ulf and Åsa's house. 

After that, Åsa went to bed and the drinking continued for the boys. Until late. Very late.