Ferragudo is in the news

Today, the 21st August 2020, is the day that Ferragudo celebrates its 500th birthday. This is a remarkable anniversary of the day that the village was founded in 1520, instituted by Queen Dona Leonor. “500 years is a remarkable longevity, an ephemeris worth celebrating with the pomp and circumstance inherent in the centenary memory of the place,” says the municipality.

Lagoa City Council and the Ferragudo Parish Council are celebrating under the motto ‘Ferragudo: 500 years of Living the Sea’.

The name Ferragudo has always been surrounded by some mystery. Many believe that there was an iron machine (engenho de ferro) with a sharp point (agudo) on Praia da Angrinha for landing fish. The merger of ‘ferro’ and ‘agudo’ became Ferragudo. I do prefer the more far-fetched legend though which reaches back to Moorish times. In the battle to claim the town of Silves, the Moorish giant ‘Ferragut’ was alleged to have been killed here and therefore Ferragudo was named after the giant.

The Arade river and Ferragudo were known for their fishing activity, and to this day, you can still enjoy watching fishermen unload their catch on the waterfront.

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Posted in Algarve, Beaches, News and information | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Algarve, Covid and the Air-Corridor

The beaches are almost empty, the sand is soft underfoot and the sky is a brilliant blue. A gentle breeze stirs the air as we walk along, enjoying the long stretch of sandy beach ahead of us, as the waves crash gently on the shoreline. It could be February in the Algarve, except for the temperature gauge which is nudging 35 degrees.

So many people on social media are saying that they feel safer here than in the UK. Cafés and restaurants are all complying with social distancing rules, tables are spread apart, and the wearing of a mask is compulsory unless you are sat down eating. All tables and chairs are disinfected after each customer. Hand sanitisers are everywhere, and you cannot enter a supermarket or shop without a mask. We have seen people turned away by the security guard at the door for not having a mask on. The beaches have signs displayed and a traffic light system to show occupancy numbers. The council even disinfect the streets.

In our local town, one case of Covid infected a total of seven people. They were all instantly quarantined at home or taken to hospital. One of the family members worked for the local council. Within a week, all 230 council workers were tested for Covid, and all were negative.

And yet still the British Government has declared that Portugal is not a safe enough destination to travel to. They have changed the list of travel corridors but have kept Portugal out. British holidaymakers who go to Portugal will have to self-isolate for two weeks on their return back home.

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Posted in Algarve, Coronavirus, News and information | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Good Morning Expats Portugal

It’s always nice for us here at Algarve Blog when we can recommend new links and sites for you to enjoy. Today we are happy to introduce you to two links that we personally think are great.

The first is the daily radio broadcast from the fabulous and funny Carl Munson at Good Morning Portugal.

Good Morning Portugal! is a YouTube channel, podcast, blog and occasional radio show that airs at 9 a.m. each weekday morning. The site is a relative newcomer to the Portuguese expat landscape and began as a podcast documenting the journey of the Munson family, originally from the UK. More recently, it has become a daily Facebook-based livestream, a recent focal point for Portuguese Covid pandemic information, in English.

Carl’s witty take on life, complete with a daily briefing on all things Portugal, including the weather, euro rates, and national news, and is usually followed by an interview with someone live. Carl is always worth a listen as you eat your breakfast.

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Living the Dream – Top 100 Covers!

If you have a minute I’d love it if you could vote for my book!

It has made it to the Top 100 book covers in the Allauthor Cover of the Month Competition … and with your vote, it could go even further!

It only takes a couple of seconds to vote (there is nothing to register or log into) – just click the link here and then click the orange ‘Vote’ button.

And if you voted in the last round – thank you! You can vote again in this round too.

Just click on the link below – and thank you 🙂

https://allauthor.com/cover-of-the-month/8066/

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Living the Dream – vote now!

Cover of the Month

Living the Dream: in the Algarve, Portugal

Hey Everyone,
I’m excited to tell you that my book has been nominated for the “Cover of the Month” contest on AllAuthor.com. I would be so thrilled if you could take a moment to vote for my book. You don’t have to be a member to vote.
Vote Now »
Thank you so much,
Alyson Sheldrake
Posted in About us | 2 Comments

Martin’s Culinary School Carvoeiro

We are delighted at Algarve Blog to be partnering with the Real Estate Agents Togofor-Homes Lda and we will be sharing and promoting some of their blog posts in the coming months.

togoforhomes

Togofor-Homes have been in the Algarve region since 2005. They have an extensive portfolio which covers all types, locations and prices of properties available for sale, and they have offices in Lagos, Vilamoura (Head Office), and Tavira, and a partner office in Quinta do Lago.  They have sales consultants based all across the Algarve. You can find out more about them via their website – just click the link here: Togofor-Homes Lda

We will be sharing an excerpt from a selected blog post, followed by a link which will take you over to their site, where you can continue reading the article. We hope that you enjoy this extension to our blog posts and material provided here at Algarve Blog.

Here’s the first article for you:

Martin’s Culinary School, February 2020, Carvoeiro

Peter and Susanna from Togofor-Homes real estate agency, recently ‘dared’ to take part in a cookery course from Martin’s Culinary Art School & Restaurant. Here Susanna tells how it all began in the market halls of the ‘Mercado Municipal’ in Portimão.

Here is a photo of Martin‘s culinary restaurant in Carvoeiro Martins Kulinarium which he runs with his family:

cookery course

“The menu included various fish delicacies, vegetables, roasted lamb shoulder and dips. After a successful shop we went to the cooking school in Carvoeiro. Our classmates were: Gabi from Lagos, Dieter – the undisputed truffle and mushroom master from Germany www.trueffelschule.de currently in Portimão, Uli from Carvoeiro/Sesmarias, Sven a German tourist, Jens from Messines and Frans from Holland – currently in Carvoeiro.

One of the participants came with her beautiful, young ‘Boerboel’ dog called Bärbel (see photo below) Her owner always takes her everywhere, but in this case, sadly for her – she had to wait outside in the courtyard!

cookery course 2

We unpacked all of our ingredients and before we began, we enjoyed a wonderful energiser with delicious sausage, cheese, bread and drinks – then we were ready for the programme!

We commenced with various dips and garlic oil which consisted of olive oil and a lot of peeled cloves of garlic (depending on your taste), which were crushed and mashed.

Dip No. 1 Humus
Into a bowl we added: chickpeas, mild chillis, a handful of plucked rosemary and 3 cloves of garlic, 5 teaspoons of sugar or 2 tablespoons of honey (depending on taste), two pinches of fine salt, a handful of freshly picked parsley or spring onions. Filled with olive oil until all the ingredients were covered. Then we used a hand blender so that a homogeneous paste was obtained and left to rest for half an hour. Very simple to make and tastes incredibly good with bread, vegetables, meat and fish.”

… to find out more .. including how they cooked a lamb shoulder, Smoked Catshark (Pata-roxa), a fish cataplana .. and more (including whether they saved any scraps for Bärbel!) click the link below …

Read-More-Button-Orange

We’re off to try out that hummus recipe – I’ve never tried it with honey before, it sounds great!

Posted in Algarve, Food | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Living the Dream – The Book

LtD poster - Out Now

‘Living the Dream – in the Algarve, Portugal’

The story of one couple’s move from the UK to live in the sun.

Find out more – click here

Posted in About us, Algarve, Book, News and information | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Coronavirus Covid – 19 in the Algarve

We have had lots of people contact us (thank you!) asking if we are ok … we are fine, we have chosen to self-isolate and look after each other (and Kat the dog) for the next couple of weeks and see whether things escalate.

We thought we would create a quick post and share with you some useful links that have good sensible information available for these unprecedented times.

scp-logo

Safe Communities Portugal – this is an independent crime prevention association providing dedicated information and support services to the community. They have daily and sometimes hourly updates on their website and Facebook Page

good-morning-portugal

Good Morning Portugal – this is a daily radio show and podcast. The host Carl Munson has decided to focus his daily podcasts on updates on the current situation. He is relevant, sensible and entertaining – and recommended viewing!

Catch him via his website, YouTube channel and Facebook Page

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Posted in About us, Coronavirus | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Taking a Break

Well we have been busy! Moving house is not for the faint-hearted out here – but we are delighted with our move to the beautiful, unspoilt and peaceful west coast … and with beaches like this on our doorstep .. can you blame us?!

Monte Clerigo Beach - Dave Sheldrake Photography

We have been writing this blog for eight years now .. and we have decided to take a break for a while and then decide what to do next …

Fear not .. we will keep the blog ‘live’ and all of the content is still here for you to read and research through – why not use the search button or the categories on the right if you need to find out something specific?

Praia Amoreira - Dave Sheldrake Photography

Thank you to all of you that have supported us over the last eight years.

And we will be back in touch soon … hopefully with new plans, new ideas – and some exciting news!

 

Posted in About us, Algarve | 5 Comments

Moving House

Moving House

Posted in About us | 5 Comments