August 16, 2010

Lunch in Silves

Our next day (Feb 12) in Ferragudo starts with a morning rain, but that's not going to stop us from exploring the "Algarve"!

Alice picked us up and we first stopped at a little cafe for coffee and a "Pastel de Nata".  Okay, this is my new favorite pastry!  A little custard filled tart, sprinkled with cinnamon.

(photo courtesy of Nice House Photos)

After a little tour of "Ferragudo", we head inland about 15 miles to the city of "Silves".   This city was once the capital of the whole district and was still referred to in the 19th Century as the “Kingdom of the Algarve”.

As we enter into the city we can see the 11th century "Castelo de Silves". 


Silves castle was built in the 4th/5th centuries during the Moorish occupation.  It has seen alot of destruction though the years including two heavy earthquakes in 1722 and 1755.  In 1940 the castle was restored.

We drove over an old Roman bridge that spanned the "Rio Arade" to our lunch destination, Valdemar.  This was a great family owned outdoor restaurant where the cook was already grilling our Churrasqueira (chicken pira pira) on the open fire grill just in front of our table.



We enjoyed our Churrasqueira along with a salad, fries, some goat cheese and of course a nice Portuguese red wine!



Well as if that wasn't enough food, Alice has us over to her home for some more traditional Portuguese food.  She proceeds to whip up a home made soup of cabbage and veggies, a octopus salad with green olives, tomatoes, onion, cucumbers and a dash of olive oil.  We also enjoyed platters of raw salmon, avocados, oranges, kiwi and some goat cheese.



And let's not forget about that glass of Portuguese red wine to end the day just right!

There are some more pictures of our day at "Where's Debbie".  Just click on the album "Lunch in Silves"

2 comments:

  1. Hi Debbie, Wow----I'm just blown away when hearing about all of your wonderful trips... I've said this before but you are so fortunate to be able to travel like you do ---and be retired so young....

    Looks like a fabulous experience you had in Portugal. At least, you ate well.. Those meals look absolutely fabulous...

    Hope you are going to write a book once the traveling slows down.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Talk about some great food! Although it's time to get to bed as I write this, you are making me hungry! That castle looks very impressive as well.

    ReplyDelete

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Have a Fabulous Day!
Debbie

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