1 year, 308 since the start of the 1st lock down in March 2020
Our last full day in Portugal so we decided to attempt to visit the Roman ruins again which we last visited just thirty minutes before they were due to close. This time we entered in good time and got the last parking space outside!
Milreu is a Roman villa built and occupied between 200-400AD. It has the most intact and elaborate Roman mosaics that I think have ever seen. The emphasis was on fish and my favourite a smiling squid as well. The almond trees were in flower with spring flowers coming out beneath. After we had wandered around the ruins we drove back into Estoi and found a place to park near a caravan park. The cafe was lovely and right in front of the impressive church. By chance I had looked at Google maps and realised that literally just two minutes away was the Palace of Estoi which is now a Pousada. It’s looked very incongruous amongst the town house and a field of orange and lemon trees all left unlocked for some reason.
We drove onto Tavira afterwards, determined to find an ice cream parlour we over indulged in back in 2001 although we couldn’t agree on the location. What we did manage to find was the lovely place we enjoyed lunch at on our last day in Portugal last September… the bad news is that it appeared to be closed for the season and so we settled for a cheese toasty at a place a few doors down.
We were tiring a little at this point so we headed back to the car, walking past a photography shoot for wedding dresses in the square. Back home we made a start on the depressing job of packing for our homeward bound trip tomorrow and to save us time in the morning so we would not be rushed. Then we headed back to the restaurant we had eaten at a few days ago for our last meal and what a meal. I started with razor clams with a lot of garlic, then a main of a locally caught tuna steak with onions and then finishing up with a shared dessert of ‘Pudim flan’. Just when we were fit to pop, an unexpected complimentary mixed liqueur of almond with a sharp orange liqueur to counter the sweetness - delicious and an excellent last meal.
