Tapas and Tibornas

Another beautiful day in Portugal!  We had a day with a couple of cloudy periods and a couple of light showers but nothing to deter us from doing what we wanted to do!  Having the The Church of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel just across the street from our house makes sure that we get up by 8 a.m. every day.  The church bells start ringing then and ring every 15 minutes until 10 p.m.  We haven't really minded however, because by then, the sun is bright and shiny and luring us outdoors anyway.  We have also discovered huge nests of what we think are storks, all over our part of the city, on every high peak and bell tower.  These storks also make a very loud, and strange, clicking sound that also prevents any sleeping in.

After enjoying our espresso from the cafe that is literally next door, and soaking up some sunshine on our third floor balcony, we headed toward the port to wander around old town.

We got sidetracked along the way by a restaurant promising fresh Portugese fare of tapas and tibornas.  We stopped and ate a fantastic lunch in the sunshine before continuing our trek into old town.

We toured the old cathedral, venturing into the chapel of bones and up the bell tower for some beautiful views of the whole city of Faro.

After heading home to grab some beach things and the car, we drove just past the airport to enjoy Faro's city beach.  It is a long beautiful stretch of beach, lined with little beaches houses and cafes.  It was cool and breezy but it did not prevent the boys from playing for hours in the sand while the three older members of the family, kept our jackets on and laid on the sand, reading our books.