Patio Girlz

The heavy wooden shutters creak as I open them. Sun bursts into the kitchen. Church bells start to chime and then ring, beckoning to come. The streets are quiet save for the occasional pedestrian and delivery vans. Cyclist, competing in the Algarve Challenge ride by on the cobble streets. This is Sunday morning in our little apartment in Tavira.

The apartment located in the old part of Tavira, overlooks a cobbled street heading to the river. The building is situated between streets where five streets converge on the intersection. This is typical Roman design, not the orderly grid system to which we are accustom.

Tavira, Portugal is located in the eastern region of the Algarve away from the main resort beach towns. The Rio Gilao meanders through the town to Atlantic Ocean, about 3 km away. In the 1500’s, Tavira was an important base for those Portuguese sailors exploring Morocco and Africa. Today, tourism and an abundance of expats (many from the UK) contribute to it’s livelihood.