Day 3 - Round & About in Portimao, Portugal.

Thursday in Portugal and the day began with breakfast on our balcony after being woken up by that bloody cockerel.  

We picked up this bag of mini toasts from our trip to the Mercardo (supermarket) on Tuesday.

So cute! 

Spread with cream cheese or jam, they were very moreish.

I found this cheese spread which was really too delicious. I've not seen this in my local supermarket, which is a pity.  Creme de Camembert

Then it was time for a wander down to the habourside. No sand this time, just seagulls, boats & boat-tour sellers.

...and fish restaurants, all boasting their fish of the day, and their speciality - Sardines, of course.

But being a Veggie means a fish restaurant is not ideal for me, so we wandered into the main centre of Portimao to find somewhere else.

We settled on a little café called Riviera, which offered really well priced snacks.

You could even have a Cornish Pasty!!!

We had Toasties instead :). On home-made thick bread which was delicious. 

Washed down with Sangria. Well it would have been rude not too, don't you think?

I love the tiny little cobbles that make up every pavement in Portimao. I can't help wondering if they'd be quite dangerous when wet though as they are so shiny due to wear. If you slip your shoes off they feel so smooth and marble like, I could walk around barefoot on those all day.

After lunch we decided to find the Aqua shopping centre - no idea why either of us would do this as neither of us really like shopping.   The heat on the walk down to the shopping centre was blisteringly hot, we were walking along a main road, with no trees or buildings, therefore no shade.  I was just about to embark on a full scale tantrum when the shopping centre came into view.

So, we found it, wandered around, bought some bits for my Granddaughter in Primark (yes, really).  We don't have a Primark near us at home, so there is my excuse  ;)  Then we couldn't really be bothered to look in anymore shops, as I said, shopping is not my thing.  But, the shopping centre was lovely and cool with air-conditioning.

But I did find a shop selling Nominations Charms, so decided to buy one to remind me of this holiday. Would you believe that the first one we saw was a Cockerel!! Well, I just had to, didn't I? ;) just to remind me of that bloody cockerel that keeps waking us up!

At this point we are starting to flag, so it was time to return to our apartment for a shower & rest (and maybe a bit of crochet) before setting off to find somewhere for dinner.

We decided on Italian, and consulted our friend, Trip Advisor, who suggested this place...La Gioconda.

A popular little place, hidden behind another restaurant on the main Praia de Rocha strip.

Breadsticks on the table, then cheese spread and olives were brought - I had previously read that even though bits are brought to your table to nibble on, they are not free, so wasn't surprised to see them on the bill.  But those little cheese pots (aka Dairylea) were 2.50e!!  Seriously!

I had a pasta dish, beautifully presented but only luke warm, in fact nearer to being cold.  Having not eaten pasta in Portugal I didn't want to show myself up by sending it back to have it heated up and them thinking I was weird for wanting hot pasta.  So I ate it.  It was delicious, but would have been even more delicious hot.  And just look at how cute that tomato is.

Hubster had pizza, which was hot  :)   But he had already spotted a Crepe on the dessert menu.  He does love a good crepe  ;)

And it was enormous!   Glad we decided to share it.  Although even half each was way too much.  The crepe was as expensive as the main courses too.  I had a nice half bottle of Portugese wine to wash it all down.   It's really cool that they do half bottles in most (if not all) of the restaurants in the area we were in.  Just the perfect size for one person.

So, like yesterday, we earned our food, hitting over 10 miles.  

I'm gonna need a holiday to recover from this holiday!