Lagos and Faro
Red Skies
David Alexander
Fri 10 Jul 2009 17:41
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We have had the pleasure of days of continuous
sunshine, albeit accompanied with a cooling breeze (some days a bit more than a
breeze), which has caused us to lounge, read, imbibe cool drinks and, when
pressed slowly do boaty chores.
One of the chores was to get our outboard motor for
the dinghy to work reliably. Although it was serviced before leaving the UK a
number of problems have been experienced. The first had nothing to do with the
motor but was a catastrophic leak from the outlet valve on the separate
fuel container. This was solved with the purchase of a new 12 litre container
but at 63 euros it was an eyeopener on how 'luxury' goods are priced here. It
was unfortunate that a slightly cheaper one was chosen to start with but on
filling with petrol it was found that the seam was split and even more
petrol/oil mixture was let loose into our immediate environment.
We used the dinghy on a number of occasions to get
to some local coves but then came the time when it refused to continue to run
although it would start. Having already been introduced to John Dransfield by
Don Cousin, and knowing that he used to have a Yamaha dealership, we made
contact and within the hour our outboard was on the back seat of his wife,
Fiona's, car.- this being a Saturday afternoon. We were gobsmacked to
receive a call on Sunday morning to say they were returning it within the hour
having systematically checked it through and that it was running perfectly.
Although the cause of the problem is still a slight mystery, John believes that
there may have been some small dirt in the fuel system which was removed
when he blew an air hose through it.
We have subsequently continued to use the dinghy
and outboard to go to the coves for picnics and swims without further problems,
although Alison is less keen on the swimming as she reckons the water is not yet
warm enough for pleasure.
On Wednesday we took advantage of the municipality
laying on a free ride on the tourist road train, with commentary on the
local monuments and statuaries. It started at 9.00 pm and was excellent, lasting
about an hour, nwith a well informed guide who spoke alternatively in Portuguese
and English, seemingly without drawing breath. We
came away much better informed about their local artists and about Portuguese
history.
On Thursday, we took another train but this time to
Faro, about 1 3/4 hours away. The old town was quaint and we visited the
cathedral and museum.
 Stork on nest on top of gateway to Old Town of
Faro
 Town Hall, Faro
 Belltower of Cathedral of Largo da Se
 View from Belltower - showing meandering river to
the town
 While we were on the roof, the cathedral bell
chimed eleven o'clock. This was followed a minute later by other bells in the
town also chiming the hour. Imagine our surprise, therefore, when a
different bell in the same tower of the cathedral chimed eleven after a
further minute! It is fortunate that Alison is still with us as she leapt in
shock.
The train service from Lagos to Faro along a single
track line was reliable and almost spot on the timetable but it stopped at a
huge variety of small halts and rural stations. It was sad to see how much
graffiti there was on the railway buildings and equipment. The service seems to
be well used but after our journey we were grateful we had not elected to go on
a four hour trip to the end of the line at the Spanish border, as the hard
leather seats were not the most comfortable we have
experienced.
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