Tony

Jan 65 min read

Living in Portugal - December 2024

It's our third December in Portugal. It's hard to believe we've been here that long. It's been an incredible journey so far, and we're very excited about what remains ahead. Between travel and experiences at home, there is certainly enough to keep us entertained and busy. We've made some great new friends and have met many interesting people from all over the world. Our eyes and minds have become more open and understanding. It's a blessing to experience and learn more about other cultures.

For us, except for our travel, December has been a fairly low-key month. The weather has been much cooler, with a couple of days in the mid-30s Fahrenheit overnight, but otherwise, daytime has been mostly sunny and high 50s to low 60s. It's too cold for any boating, so Mary Cecilia has been sitting idle in the marina. We visit occasionally to check on things, watching the weather forecasts to see if we can squeeze in some time on the water.

The gardens remain pretty quiet this time of the year. Teresa & Luis planted Fava Beans, Potatoes, Carrots, and Radishes several weeks ago but has had little growth. With the colder nights, leaves have finally fallen from most of the trees that will lose them. But the Bird of Paradise and Roses are still sharing their beautiful colors.

The winter Orange crop is in full production, so once again, we get to experience fresh orange juice by stepping out our door, grabbing a few ripe oranges, and bringing them into juice. It doesn't get any fresher than that! The three trees producing fruit now have so much that we can't keep up. We donate bags of oranges as often as we can, but it's sad to see so much fruit fall on the ground and go to waste; I guess that's nature.

It is a very festive month for the Portuguese; Christmas feels a little more authentic here, and most activities/events focus on children. Yes, commercialism is creeping in a bit, but there is less focus on frantic shopping and gifts. There's no race against your neighbors to see who has the best lights and decorations; in fact, we are one of only a few houses with Christmas lights in the Village, but more do appear each year.

We traveled to the Basque Country of Northern Spain and Southwest France just before Christmas. From Bilbao in Spain to Biarritz in France, our first time in the first and last stops but a repeat visit to one of our favorite European destinations in San Sebastian. You can check out our trip here.

Christmas and New Year's Eve were very low-key for us this year. We arrived home from our trip to the Basque Region on the evening of Christmas Eve, so Christmas Day was a day to hang out at home, reacquaint ourselves with the Kitties, rest, and catch up on things around the house. No big feast or gatherings. Mary caught the Flu, so New Year's was also very low-key.

Here are some of our activities this month aside from our travels

Sunset at Praia de Rocha

Christmas at the Bondi house

On a warm sunny day in early December, we joined the Algarve Wine Society for lunch, this group's final event of the year. About 45 minutes east of us, lunch was held at Tribulum Restaurant in Almancil, accompanied by wines from Casa Romani Vini. Casa Romani Vini wines are produced in two unique and interesting estates, only 12 km apart - Quinta do Porto Nogueira in the Lisbon Region (DOC Óbidos) and Quinta da Escusa in the Tagus Region (DOC do Tejo). On the menu for lunch was Canapés' and Página Pinot Noir Rosé 2023, the First course of beetroot, orange & goat cheese carpaccio with Quinta Nogueira White Reserva 2017. The main course was Loin of lamb with licorice purée and mint jus paired with Quinta Nogueira Red Reserva 2017 and Página pinot noir Red 2023, followed by a dessert of sweet apple pie with walnuts and cinnamon cream, paired with Berbereta Brut Nature Reserva 2021.

Dinner at Numa. A restaurant in Portimao that we have wanted to try for some time. The restaurant is one of a few fine dining restaurants in the city, run by husband and wife team Nuno and Manuela. Nuno is in the kitchen, and Manuela runs the front. Our servers were graduates of the hospitality program at the nearby university. We selected the tasting menu, eight courses that were well presented and tasted great.

Another sunny winter day walk along Praia de Rocha.

Testing out our new pizza oven, our Costco find from last month. It works great; the fire gets established quickly, holds a great temperature, and easily maintains heat above 700 degrees. At this temperature, cooking happens fast and requires constant management. Our pizzas were cooked to perfection (except for the slight char on the edges) in just minutes. Sorry, the photos only show them after we cut and plated, but we apparently couldn't wait.

An interesting Christmas tree of empty wine bottles at one of the events we attended.

Jazz nas Adegas (Jazz in the Cellars). The local council of Silves arranges these events each year, about 22 of them between November and May. A fun evening in a small quaint venue, each featuring a different local jazz group and held at a different winery. This one was at Quinta do Frances and featured the Jazz group Funky Noise.

Christmas market in the streets of Porches. Each year, this small village holds a market on the small cobblestone streets that are lined with vendors of crafts, foods, and specialty items. The Rohla wine bar here brings in 4-5 prominent local chefs to prepare one or two sample-size tastes of their creations.

Mexican food at Grand Latino, one of our favorites for close to real Mexican food

Dinner at Xarme restaurant. Another one on our list to try. From the street, it looks like an uninteresting plain building, but once inside the gate, it opens into a pretty courtyard and modern restaurant. The food was good, well-presented, and tasty. The service was excellent, friendly, and informative. The portions were large, as typical in Portugal, so we could have easily shared a main course or a few starters.