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Saturday May 5th, 2001 13:35
Diary of a new local in Carvoeiro
Explorations in Carvoeiro
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| Before I came to the Algarve, I explored the orientation of
Carvoeiro in great detail using Carvoeiro.com. I had instantly decided that a bicycle was
going to be my mode of transport and, on arrival, I debated the luxury of a scooter, the
expense of a motor vehicle, (at 186Esc per litre, Portuguese petrol adds up to more than
double the price of South African petrol!) and the energy required to power a bicycle. |
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| The economy and opportunity for excercise won me over
and I purchased a brand-spanking-new mountain bike with full front suspension (handy for
all the cliff tours I was planning to ride) and big knobbly tires. With such a chunky look
about it, I began to think that this vehicle would go ANYWHERE. I was soon to learn a hard
lesson. |
| Last Friday afternoon, I set out for Carvoeiro from my home in the
restaurant. My mission was to buy an English newspaper and settle into a few ice-cold
beers by the sea. It was blowing a little on this hot windy day as I secured my bike to a
lamp post in the main square of Carvoeiro and started out for the nearest newsagent. To my
horror I discovered that the Financial Times
would take 750Esc out of my pocket. That was exactly ten times the price of South African
newspapers. I grumbled a little to myself about rather going to CNN.com and moved on. |
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| I picked up a Daily Telegraph for 450Esc and
headed back to my bicycle, still standing quite happily in the centre of Carvoeiro (this
would be amazing in South Africa - to see your bike still in one piece after five minutes
of leaving it - actually it would be amazing in any city today!). I ascended the steep
cliffs to the east of Carvoeiro and glided down into the Algar Seco, where I had seen a
fantastic little bar, hewn out of the gnarled and rocky cliffs. The Daily
Telegraph proved fairly interesting and the two icy Super Bock beers were enjoyable, but the lovely Brazilian waitress was
even more so. Unfortunately she had just arrived from Brazil two months ago and my
attempts to make polite conversation were cut short with a "Náo falo Inglés".
I shuffled back up the rocky cliffs and my spirits lifted after venturing through a hole
to find a half-natural balcony carved out of the sheer cliff face. Amazing! |
| My bike sailed over the rocks and as I approached the lighthouse
some kilometres to the east of Algar Seco, the damn thing stopped dead in its tracks. I
flew over the handlebars, twisted in mid air and crucnched into the rocky ground- flat on
my back. After checking the digicam for any damage I took a shot of the lighthouse. A word
of warning here - the cliffs are very dangerous and I was just lucky not to be catapulted
off the edge. A week or so ago, a 35 year old fireman tragically lost his life after
falling off the cliffs. Walk with caution. |
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| I carried on home with a seriously mangled bike (which I STILL
haven´t managed to get fixed). So much for the rugged mountain bike! I now feel
completely able to wreck even the most reliable off road bicycle. Over the course of this
week, I explored the Jailhouse Bar, with Fernando, a great guy
who works with me in the restaurant. We strolled into the Jailhouse where Bobby Stardust
was rocking on as usual and whipping out some witty jokes as a matter of course. I was
most impressed by the Bote Disco on Carvoeiro´s main beach and made a mental note to find
out more about the Miss Carvoeiro contest held once a year. Watch for coverage on
Carvoeiro.com. |
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| Steen has finally agreed to post some
personal information on the site - which is great news as he is far too humble and
deserves heaps of credit for getting this site up to 2200 unique visitors per day! All
this, all on his own; I think it is a fantastic achievement. Saúde Steen
Nick - nick@carvoeiro.com
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