Portugal

The Tavarn Ty Elise pub sticker can now be seen behind the bar of the Black Anchor Irish bar in Tavira; it's black & white therefore it blends in well with the the Guinness décor, especially as it's Arthur's day today, we drank pints together at 17h59 (1759) the date of the opening of the brewery in Dublin. 

Tavira

The pub doesn't open till 10pm, so there is plenty of time to spend around Tavira, it's full of snack bar cafes & restaurant(e)s with nobody inside, but everyone eating and drinking under the constant sun in the sweltering temperatures (I'm not complaining). We have developed a routine of coffees, beers & snacks on the little white village square and I'm beginning to get a Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner' syndrome, I even walked 3km down the road earlier on to see if there was anything outside the centre and there was a dead end; although a boat did come to ferry people to an island beach, Patrick (I am not a number) McGoohan was stuck. I'm acclimatizing but without a word of Portuguese; as it's Latin based the big words can be adapted but don't help much in conversation, Dale has lent me a phrasebook, it doesn't help when I go out without my glasses. Before I go on the street I habitually count four things: wallet; mobile phone; camera & diary/note book, to which must be added: glasses; keys; cap & phrasebook. As everywhere else in the world there is an Irish bar; the other day I walked in and they had a television screen showing the England World Cup Game, then on another screen was the Portugal game, at the far end of the bar was a third screen showing, lo and behold, the Cymru/Wales v Belgium game, I was pleasantly taken aback. Life can be strange, I had to come to Portugal to see the All Ireland hurling final, the Galway supporters were watching the game at one end of the bar, and the Kilkenny fans were watching a different television at the other end. I'll be going back for the World Cup qualifiers tonight but it's not certain whether Scotland or Wales will have the third screen, as the other day there were three matches for three screens with Scotland playing the following day, we shall see. Today I met a couple from Abertawe (Swansea) & Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen) who are here birdwatching, I told them about the bar but our opening time is after their bedtime.

The Algarve

Come and join Dale, G. ap Siôn & me in Portugal./

I'd better mention that it doesn't open till about 10 at night.

Gourin > Tavira

 I went to the music festival in Gourin on Sunday, the competition for the best pipers in Brittany, but didn't stop for the fest-noz (Breton dance) because it would have taken me over the limit for the drive to Portugal, unfortunately I might have already been a bit over, anyway, I drove off, got to the other side of Naoned (Nantes) when I decided I was too tired to carry on so I pulled over on the side of the periphery, climbed in the back and fell asleep, to be woken by a torch in my face and 3 policemen staring at me who asked me to get out and what was I doing there; they also asked me if I'd been drinking to which I replied in the affirmative, one of them took my keys and drove off in my car, another told me to get in the back of the police car; I waited for the obligatory breathalizer, we carried on down the road, the first driver pulled in, our car stopped behind, at a petrol station, they told me to sleep there for a few hours before attempting to set off again!!

Portugal

Right, I am ready to answer Dale's call to be her Samaritan at her bar in Portugal, she has broken a bone in her back so can't do any of the physical work necessary such as changing the barrels, and I am the only experienced  barman she knows well enough to ask and is available. I can't do it off my own bat, so my expenses including petrol will be reimbursed and I will have food & lodge. I have made the preparations, but one thing is holding me back, I will be passing through Gourin, and tomorrow will be an exceptional day, even for Brittany, of music & dance. It's an annual event, but it will be the first time in 33 years that I will be free to go because of weekend work obligations, Sunday has always been my best day; but it will mean postponing my venture for a day, and she's already been calling me for a week; on the other hand I did say that I couldn't go before tuesday, which gives me leeway because even if I turn up a day late I'll still be a day early.