We had eight fab nights at Armacao de Pera with several pleasant dune walks and a couple of cycle rides into the town for supermarket shopping. Food shopping is often a dull chore back in the UK, but for some reason I think it becomes far more entertaining overseas especially if I get to the shops and back under my own steam, and if I am buying food in a different language. There's all sorts of new packs and jars to investigate! We have noticed over the years though that globalisation has meant items are often packaged in exactly the same style regardless of the country we are in. For example a washing-up liquid bottle looks identical in England, France, Spain, Portugal,... On one hand this is good because it's easier to find what we need, but on the other hand much of the excitement of unexpected purchases has gone.
Our walks took us past now-abandoned and graffitied mills and storerooms from the wheat production that apparently used to be a major Algarve industry in the Arab era and beyond. Wheat was planted in between olive and carob trees so farmers could get three crops from the one piece of land. This still happens on a small scale, but I think it must be quite labour intensive to harvest wheat when there isn't room for large combine harvesters to manoeuvre. Probably not economically viable any more.
Giveaways closing soon
I don't have any giveaways closing this week, but please join me in congratulating Joanna who won the Unexpected America by Wanjiru Warama ebook giveaway. I hope you enjoy your prize Joanna!
(All current giveaways here)
On my blogs this week were:
Stephanie Jane
2018 Reading Challenges WrapUp
Top 10s of 2018 signup
My new 2019 Reading Challenges
Literary Flits
Derrick by Russell + #Giveaway + Excerpt
A la folie ... pas du tout! by Valerie-Anne Baglietto review
Trespass by Rose Tremain review
My Dream Woman by C H Clepitt review + #Giveaway
Taxi Tales: The Fragrant Lady by Ergun Gunduz graphic novel review
Aya Dane by Mhani Alaoui review + Author Interview
The Passion According To Carmela by Marcos Aguinis review
Airing Out
Campsite - Camping Canelas - Armacao De Pera - Algarve - Portugal
Dune walks are unbeatable! And I know what you mean as I also like to shop in supermarkets abroad :) Even better you did this via bike! Thanks for sharing the wonderful pictures!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
www.dressedwithsoul.com
I hope we get lots more fab walking in 2019 :-)
DeleteHappy New Year!
The first time I was in a grocery store in a foreign country it was a bit overwhelming! New things, strange language...it was a lot! I don't even like grocery shopping in my own country though!
ReplyDeleteWe've just about got the hang of it now, but it's taken several years :-)
DeleteOh I love that dune shot! And I do think shopping for food would be a fun adventure at times overseas! I'd love to stroll food markets and learn new things. :) I can see though where globalisation would result in changes like you mention. Interesting!
ReplyDeleteMerry christmas!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you Greg :-)
DeleteThe art is amazing! I think it would be fun to shop for things in a foreign country although it would be difficult with my family's food allergy. Thanks for sharing all of the lovely photos!
ReplyDeleteI'm frequently astounded by seeing such talented work hidden out in the middle of nowhere!
DeleteI love discovering international products at the supermarkets here - but when I go in different countries they have so much more, although I think in UK it might be different.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures!
Merry Christmas!
UK supermarkets have a lot of processed food - a whole aisle of different tomato sauces for example. But it's difficult to get good tasting fresh food. Here in Portugal at the moment the apples don't look 'perfect' like they would back home, but their taste is absolutely delicious!
DeleteI really enjoy Dickens. I have a whole set of hardcovers of his works but haven't read them in awhile. I think I'd love them in audio with the sound of the voices, too.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing about your travels. When we visited Brazil in 2016, we found so many interesting products we don't have. They also have many, many fruits and have many fruit juices we don't have.
Happy Holidays! Anne - Books of My Heart
Dave is a Dickens fan and has been trying to encourage me to read his books for years. I'm intimidated by the sheer number of tiny-font pages, but am actually finding that the stories themselves are very readable!
DeleteHello stop in from Dark Thoughts and that high class graffiti.
ReplyDeleteIf you have time stop by for a cup of coffee
It is fab graffiti! We were impressed!
DeleteFab pictures! I love the street art incorporating bricks into the mouth.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a lovely Christmas!
Such a clever idea and the design works perfectly :-)
DeleteI think some graffiti can be tasteful and really imaginative, and I like when artists ask for permission before they tag certain areas. There are always people that do it whenever and wherever, which I feel is disrespectful to whomever or whatever they're defacing/decorating. It's a hard balance.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're enjoying your holidays!
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬
I don't like (or see the point of) mindless tagging everywhere. However some of these graffiti artists really are amazing artists and poking our noses into abandoned out-of-town buildings here in Portugal and in Spain has revealed stunning hidden work
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