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Newsletter March 2005
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by: Nigel Anteney Hoare |
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They kept saying “Easter is early this year” which got me
thinking as to why it moves?
Newsletter trivia coming up!
Apparently it is all to do with the Gregorian calendar and the moon phases
but the nitty gritty is that Good Friday can never be before March 22nd
and never after April 25th (another good Portuguese date!) Good Friday
this year falls on March 25th so “they” are right - Easter IS early this
year!
So far so good - now, as Ash Wednesday falls 47 days prior to Easter
Sunday and Shrove Tuesday is the day before that it explains why it was so
flipping cold for the poor carnival dancers in their skimpy costumes on
the 8th of February!! It is one thing being in Rio on 8th Feb but rather
different in Carvoeiro! |
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In fact the lovely January weather continued into early February until
Monday 6th when the sky darkened and a good downpour was threatened. It
never happened though – just a few showers here and there and then like
magic at about 1,30 pm on the morning of Carnival Tuesday the skies
largely cleared and the sun broke out again. The Carvoeiro Carnival
celebrations started on Sunday 5th with much activity around the cordoned
off square. It was a Moorish theme this year and Sunday was the day for
the kids to dress up and get their sweets and presents from a very
attractive “Genie” who was hidden in what looked like a large plastic
wheelie bin. After the fancy dress judging loads of sweets were hurled
into the crowd which got all the kids scrambling around dirtying up their
costumes to their mothers delight! |
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The Tuesday Carnival celebrations included the usual motorbike cavalcade
-getting bigger each year - and the procession of floats with streamers,
confetti, thrown sweets and all the usual Carnival stuff to keep the
street cleaners busy for a day or two. On the large stage erected in the
square, this year very sensibly on the opposite side of the square and
facing the sea, we were entertained by a dancing display by the nubile
young (and some not so young!) ladies from Carvoeiro Tennis Club dance
school who entertain under the name “JUST FOR YOU”. I had seen them
perform before at the Hotel Garbe for the Tsunami Charity Auction night
and they really are rather good with splendid colourful outfits. |
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The weather now was noticeably warmer at night and in the early morning.
The weekend of 12/13th was simply fabulous. The weather was so warm that
many people sat outside the bars and cafes and on the town beach enjoying
the sunshine Really exceptional weather for the time of year and of course
still no rain. It was a big sporting weekend with Six Nations Rugby and
Premiership football being shown on televisions in the various bars. Not
much of a sporting weekend for me though as I lost €10 on the England v
France rugby match and my soccer team went out of the Cup on a penalty
shoot out – very glum indeed!
Sunday was PAT (ex-Sullys) birthday and although I couldn’t make it I
understand it was celebrated in fine style at HEMINGWAYS BAR. As mentioned
last month Fraser of O FORNO DE FRASER is now back in full swing, but
without Lynn who is still in the UK attending to family matters. He is
doing takeaway only and I had the opportunity to sample a slice of someone
elses pizza - boy it was good! Please support Fraser if you are in
Carvoeiro as he certainly has had an “Annus Horribilis”
The same day I read in the Portuguese newspaper about the Algarves
criminal of the month, just down the road in Alcantarilha. This guy struck
up conversation with a customer in a local café and offered to sell him
some “haxixe”. The man showed sufficient interest to encourage our chap to
go home and fetch his total stash of 510 grams. On his return he was met
by the GNR as the man he had propositioned was an off duty cop! Just a bad
day I guess!!
With my wife away in UK to stay with our children on their weeks half term
I was left to my own devices and visited the FATACIL RESTAURANT in Lagoa
to sample the 7 Euro all inclusive lunch. They certainly don’t hold back
on the portions and generally I must say it is excellent value for money.
Whilst there one day I bumped into fellow diner GERRIT, frequent Cvo.com
poster, and his wife who had been encouraged to try it because of the
Newsletter. Gulp! Hope it was ok Gerrit?
The weather continued dry and sunny and again the weekend of 19th/20th was
fabulous. On the Friday I had been invited to a birthday dinner at the
restaurant O BARRADAS which is on the old Lagoa-Silves road. You now have
to turn off the new road to a place signposted Palmeirinha and then double
back under the new road and turn right towards Silves. It is a favourite
restaurant with foreign residents and I enjoyed a very nice meal there.
The amiable owner is a wine buff and also in the business of supplying and
distributing wine. All in all very good, a little different but I thought
a little pricey. Back to Carvoeiro and I paid a call to HEMINGWAYS which
was “simmering” nicely!
Saturday morning I bought a Portuguese paper to see what was being said
about the general election the next day. On my way down town to fetch it I
noticed that VIA ITALIA was having a revamp with a new front and work on
the ground floor. Perhaps they are going to serve downstairs as well as
the terrace that gets so busy in summer?
With newspaper in hand I settled down at
VALE DE
MILHO GOLF CLUB in the warm sun on the terrace watching the golfers
with their struggles and enjoyed a breakfast. This is the life I thought
thinking of the jobs I should have been doing at home and pushing them to
the back of my mind. Sergio the regular barman there has moved on to
pastures new and Andy is temporarily holding the fort alone with his other
staff of course. Good place for a spot of lunch as well!
Everything pointed to a big socialist victory and the only doubt was by
how much and what the turnout would be. We had been treated to plenty of
posters and canvassing for some time now, only halted for one day of
mourning as a mark of respect for Sister Lucia - the last remaining member
of the trio of young peasant children who were visited by the Holy Virgin
back in 1917 close to Fatima. Sister Lucia died aged 97 on the same day of
the week they had witnessed the first vision having spent half her life in
a Carmelite Convent.
Sunday started fair for the election and as always plenty of people were
out on the street having voted or on their way to vote, chatting with
others and explaining to one another why they had voted this way or that.
Voting here seems still quite a social event, perhaps because it is still
quite novel after only 30 years of democracy. Foreign residents can only
vote in the local and European elections and having been away from the UK
for many years I have lost my vote there as well so I am truly an
impartial bystander! I had enjoyed a Sunday family lunch at my eldest
daughters house, she has taken Portuguese citizenship and should have a
vote however hadn’t registered soon enough so will have to wait for the
next one.
The result came in quite early in the evening with a large majority for
the PS – socialist party as predicted. Let’s see what they can do to sort
the economy out. Some harsh measures are needed with a big balance of
trade deficit, unemployment at 6%, personal credit sky high and declining
foreign investment. Add to this Government spending on an ever increasing
public sector which accounts for 15% of GDP and as the old song goes
“there may be trouble ahead”
Carvoeiro itself followed the national trend with a swing to the left the
PS increasing their 2002 figures by a massive 35% at the expense of the
PSD and CDS/PP alliance.
Once again with the full moon we saw a change in weather. Tuesday 23rd
started cloudy and completely windless with a much warmer morning feel to
it. Black clouds framed the Monchique hills and we thought that maybe some
long awaited rain might fall. We counted 3 drops in Lagoa by lunchtime!
This warmer feel was short lived however and once again, whilst we read of
a big freeze up in the UK and other parts of Europe we did not escape the
bitter northerly winds descending on us from Monchique.
Friday evening I called into SULLYS
for an early one on way back from work. Still quiet at this time of the
year with the delightful MARIA on duty and a few regulars. Owner HOWARD
arrived, his usual cheery self telling a self deprecating story about his
healthy investment in a de-salination plant to clear the salt in his
borehole water which was no sooner up and running than his borehole
started to dry up! Water is a big topic of conversation now having been
over 3 months without measurable rainfall.
The last weekend of this short month again saw much sporting action with
the English League Cup, now known as the Carling Cup and the Ireland v
England Six Nations Rugby match falling on Sunday 27th - both with a 3pm
kick off. I was going to watch the footy on Andys large screen at
Vale do Milho but
was persuaded to go to Hemingways where I was told they would show both
matches. I was duped and ended up surrounded by the Irish - whooping it up
as Ireland beat England and me losing another 10 euros to a certain large
Irish gentleman who promised to invest it wisely in Guinness.
Monday we woke to very black clouds and what looked like the inevitable
rain which had been forecast. It rained but very little really and simply
stayed grey and cold all day. I guess we will have to hope March brings
the water we need.
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