Irish Times – Here and There
We live in a tiny ‘edge of the Wolds ‘village, surrounded by beautiful countryside and lead a fairly quiet life. We don’t have any shops here, not even a post office or a pub so contact with people is a bit limited and this is where Carvoeiro.Com comes in! I was well into my recent holiday and enjoying the wonderful weather, catching up with old friends and making some new ones and eating out! This is one of the great pleasures of my holiday, for at home I do all the cooking and to have something cooked and served to me is a luxury indeed. Freshening up, I first walked down to the square for my usual deep breaths of sea air. On the way I passed the donkey who was tethered near the small supermarket, and stopped to give him a stroke. I had seen him earlier that week giving some kiddie a ride around the streets and that took me back to my own childhood and donkey rides at the seaside. |
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A few days later I walked up to the Anteak bar to have me some lunch, again I had in mind some of their delicious Broccoli and Stilton quiche, which I had enjoyed a few times on my last visit but once again I met with disappointment, as this bar too was closed. However as Le Doce cafe is right next door, I opted for lunch there instead. Feeling quite hungry I ordered a cheeseburger and a milkshake, really fancying the Mango-flavoured one on the menu. However they had run out of that and the only ones on offer that day were Strawberry, Chocolate and a name I’d never heard before. I didn’t want Strawberry or Chocolate, so I asked what was the other flavour? Well, this started a conversation between 3 of the staff, myself included. They kept saying the strange name to me but I was completely puzzled! Each of the Senhoras was saying different things. One was asking whether I was Dutch or German and when the one serving me said ‘Inglese’, the other lady behind the counter pulled a face (I hoped it was for the language and not my being English!). Meanwhile I was gasping for a drink (of anything) and would have opted for a simple ‘agua sem gas’ simply to quench my thirst! Then I had an idea. I pointed to a picture on the menu and the Senhora behind the counter said ‘Ahh sim’, and beckoned me over. She pulled out a tray which contained packets with different pictures on the front and began to rifle through them, then pulled out one and held it up to me. The mysterious milkshake flavour turned out to be ‘Passionfruit’ ! Please don’t ask me what the Portuguese word was as I didn’t make a note of it and I can’t find it in my Portuguese dictionary. But all I will say is, it was absolutely gorgeous. What with that and the fab burger (a real big beefy one), it was lovely grub (as they say in Peckham) and you’d never taste the like of it in any McDonalds, that’s for sure. On another occasion at Le Doce, I had a simple cheese and tomato toasted sandwich, but it had a special flavour; very tasty! I opened the sandwich and saw that the cheese contained herbs; once again it was a very nice lunch and I would recommend this café to those who haven’t been there. Disappointment was not the word. For days Id thought of a fish and chip dinner and now it seemed it was not to be, as I was told, at a later date, that Ann had returned to England and the restaurant had new owners and there would now be a wider variety of meals. I felt a certain sadness at the thought of not having anymore cheery chats with Ann and of course, no longer being able to have my fish and chips. As I said in my first paragraph, I have made so many friends during my time on Carvoeiro.com, and to me that’s the best part of it; one of those friends being Dalcassian, or as we know him, Joe. Joe and Nell are Dubliners and Dublin is a place I’ve always wanted to visit. We’ve never been to Ireland, so when I heard that Ryan Air were flying there from Humberside, my mind started ticking on a planned visit to the Emerald Isle. After having our photo taken on the Molly Malone statue opposite Trinity, and watching, listening to the small man that is in charge of the statue play his special Bodhran drum, as he accompanied the lively Irish music that played on his cassette-player, we then went off to meet with Joe and Nell for a pub lunch and maybe a Guinness? Then from there, Joe gave us a little tour of Dublin and we ended up in Phoenix Park. What a wonderful park this is; it is huge! and you could imagine yourself as being in the countryside. I think Joe told me that it’s the biggest public park in Europe and I can well believe that! Without meeting Dalcassian/Joe and Nell, I don’t believe I would have had the incentive to visit Dublin. I’m so glad that we did and were able to enjoy the great Irish hospitality and places of interest… but more importantly, without CARVOEIRO.COM, I wouldn’t have met ‘Dalcassian’ and Nell ! |
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