Tavira...out last stop in Portugal

We left Lagos on train for a three hour trip to the Eastern Algarve region and a small town called Tavira. We only had a short walk to our apartment from the train station and immediately knew we were going to like this place.

The town is located on both sides of the Gilao River  and we had to cross the pedestrian Roman Bridge to reach our place which was right in the Center of town.

Some of the views along the river....

Our impression of Tavira is one of a smaller and more quiet town than Lagos and seems to be a more authentic Portuguese town. Since it is low season for tourists lots of the restaurants were closed and the town was really quiet, with most of the tourists again being European who seem to spend the winter here. 

The river has lovely walkways on both sides and is a great place to sit and stroll...

It is a also a fishing town so there are lots of boats on the river.

This fisherman was mending his nets...

Besides boats, Tavira has over 30 churches and chapels. Although many were affected by the 1755 earthquake which we have read about everywhere we have visited in Portugal, they were painstakingly re-built and now provide an amazing feature of this beautiful historical town.    

Here are some examples we saw as we walked around,unfortunately they were all closed except this one which was called The Church of Misery...

 

 Inside there was amazing tilework in the traditional blue and white style found here...

 And an ornate altar...

Others around town...

Tavira is also an art and culture Center in this region with lots of examples....

Paintings...

Cork products since Portugal is one of the largest producers of cork in the world...

And also beautiful ceramics which I would love to be able to buy, but alas no room in my carry on!

And here in Tavira we also got to hear Fado, which is the typical Portuguese music made popular in Lisbon, in the 1800s. It is a mournful type of music which is written about life and its trials and joys. In the beginning it was often about the sea and longing for those who were gone.

Here they do a brief history of the music and then a short set of songs. There is always a singer, male or female and two guitars, a bass and the typical 12 string Portuguese guitar. We were the only ones in the audience so had the music all to ourselves.

The pear shaped Portuguese guitar

The other guitarist who explained this music is not only played but deeply felt..

And the singer...

 It was a beautiful performance.

This town is all about sitting and drinking so I have decided to take up one of the customs which is cafe...

My order is a small white one and yes all the women at the next table were redheads!

Scenes around town...

These little girls were playing while their parents were at the next table...

Lots of conversations 

And for some reason a lot of people here have small dogs which are always barking....

 

As in the other towns we visited there are lots of places to sit and enjoy the views...

The main plaza

Overlooking the town

The river that runs through the town flows out to the ocean through a wetland that is a National Park, so one day we walked out that way...

The are pools of water that are turned into salt flats as that is one of the industries here...

And the area is well known as a bird sanctuary which we could see as we walked along...   

At the end of the walk there is a small ferry which in 10 minutes takes you across to the beaches which were deserted this time of year...

The ferry coming in...

On the way out we passed this structure which was originally an old fisherman's village, now being turned into an exhibit and hotel...

The beaches...

No one in sight...

But some cute beach art...

There was one place open so we sat and enjoyed the sun and the quiet...

This little town is so relaxing and pretty...it is going on our " to return to " list...