Living in Portugal - Our Monthly Journal - November 2025
- Tony
- 3 days ago
- 8 min read
November has been a month of change, from the weather to the focus of local festivities. You can tell the peak tourist season has slowed when fewer foreign accents are heard, and parking becomes readily available in the center of Alvor and Portimao. More events appear designed for locals, and Black Friday sales (sometimes extended into Black Week or Black Month) become the norm. Thanksgiving is not a holiday celebrated in Portugal; sure, you'll find a few Thanksgiving gatherings driven by expat communities, but Portuguese retailers have leaned into the post-Thanksgiving Black Friday theme regardless.
Mid-November weather did turn a bit violent as tropical depression Cláudia anchored off mainland Portugal, fueling over a week of heavy rain, regional flooding, strong winds, turbulent seas, and a few tornadoes. Many long-term residents say the intensity of the rain and wind from this storm is not something that happens here.
Tragically, three people died, and more than two dozen were injured in the weather phenomenon, which included a tornado with winds reaching 220km/h that ripped through an Algarve campsite and a resort. The Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) said the "extreme wind phenomenon" was "clearly a tornado". "The way objects were ripped from the ground and those that were left suspended in the air, thrown against walls, some even embedded in surfaces, are typical of a tornado".
According to the latest forecasts, the Algarve is expected to return to its more familiar stable weather for the rest of the season, with clear skies and mild daytime temperatures. It's easy to enjoy the wet, stormy weather knowing it's temporary.
I like to watch the stormy weather and the thundering waves from the sand or near the water, just not in a boat when the seas are like this.
In the garden, there's not much activity other than preparing the soil for the next round of planting. Old crops are cleared, and trimmings are burned, making way for next season's bounty.
Citrus, Pomegranate, Cherimoya, Pumpkins, and Guava trees offer the most activity this time of year with an abundance of ripe fruit. Most of the Pomegranates here have a lighter skin color, not the deep red skin that we see in the US, but the fruit inside is the same deep ruby red and delicious.
The flowers still enjoy the sun and cooler weather
Our weekly Sunday NFL gathering continues at our friends Revilee & Steve's. They are kind enough to let a small group of us invade their house every Sunday evening to catch a few games on their super large TV screen, so big that we can watch up to four games at a time, and each of the four is still much larger than our TV. We start at 6:00 pm here, that's for the early games back in the US. Everyone brings a little football food to share, and it ends up being quite a spread.
Early in the month, we attended an Algarve Wine Society masterclass on wines from the Algarve, facilitated by Sarah Ahmed. Sarah is better known by her professional title, The Wine Detective. She is an accredited journalist specializing in the wine sector, with a particular focus on Portugal and Australia. In 2019, she was distinguished as "Wines of Portugal Personality of the Year – Europe". Her editorial and critical experience has made her a leading voice for Portuguese wines. She is impressed by the progress made in the region, with several new producers and an increased focus on varietals and terroir that have elevated the region's reputation and quality.
The master class was followed by an Algarve Wine Society dinner at the Tivoli Hotel in Carvoeiro. A fun evening learning about the up-and-coming Algarve wines from Sarah, and socializing with fellow AWS members over dinner. We planned an overnight stay at the hotel since there would be some wine involved. It was a great choice, the hotel was very nice, and the views from our room were outstanding. We left the terrace door open overnight so we could hear the waves breaking below and the sounds of seagulls flying above in the morning.
Jazz nas Adegas (Jazz in the Cellars) started its new season this month, so we went with friends to Adega João Clara and listened to music from the Martin Teutcher Quarteto. João Clara was one of the Algarve producers discussed at the recent Master class. They are said to be among the first to produce a single-varietal wine from the native Negra Mole grapes.
Another beautiful Sunday morning at the Alvor farmers market
Sunset along the riverfront in Portimao
Mary and a group of friends volunteered to support APAA, a local animal protection charity, by forming a committee to create raffle prize baskets for the fundraising event this month. Items for the baskets were curated by each member of the committee; some went out and solicited items from local businesses, some curated their own, while others donated their artistic talents. The event was a great success, netting over 8,000 euros for the cause. Nice job Ladies!
Celebrating the São Martinho holiday, which marks the end of the harvest and bottling of the first wines of the season. Portimão hosts a 10-day fair, one of the oldest events in the city, featuring entertainment, amusement rides, and traditional foods. In many Portuguese communities, a large party is held, a bonfire is built, recently-harvested castanhas (chestnuts) are roasted, and the first wines of the season are tasted.
As they say in Portugal: É dia de São Martinho. Comem-se castanhas; prova-se o vinho! (“It is St. Martin’s Day. We’ll eat chestnuts; we’ll taste the wine.”)
We were fortunate to find a few days of nice weather and calm seas following the earlier storm, perfect for a bit of boating along the river and the coastline.
One of the boat owners near us in the Marina lives on their boat and has a very friendly boat cat that greets everyone walking by on the way to their slip.
Today was a day of emergency drills at the small airport in our backyard. Each year, they bring in a few old cars, light them on fire, then practice putting them out, but this year was different on a much larger scale involving fire and rescue teams from the Portuguese Bombeiros, Civil defense, Search and Rescue teams, Cruz Vermello (Red Cross), and INEM (the national agency responsible for coordinating emergency medical response). A significantly large group responded, simulating a mass casualty event. Not only did they practice putting out fires, but they also tested response times from the various communities and stations, simulated rescues from a vehicle over the side, used the jaws of life, and a local water rescue team deployed to a submerged car. There were several ambulances (hopefully no real emergencies occurred, since they seemed to be all here) practicing setting up triage spaces, and hazmat teams setting up their stations as well. Fun to watch and reassuring to see that the necessary skills are in place in our region, but I am sure the airport, skydiving business, and local commuter flights were not as thrilled, as they were all suspended for most of the day.
Later in the week, there was a procession of about 30 fire trucks and ambulances making their way past Montes de Alvor. Later in the day, I happened to come across them at their destination, a local high school, where all the vehicles and a crowd of onlookers gathered. It was a celebration of the 99th anniversary of the Portimao Volunteer Bombeiros. Complete with a marching band and parade.
For our anniversary, Mary arranged a "staycation" at a local beachfront hotel where we indulged in a Spa day, walks along the beach, and some great food. It was a nice way to celebrate 10 years of marriage and 35 years together.
Two resident hotel cats picked a really great place to call home. They were a pair that looked identical to ours at home. The orange one took a liking to Mary, plopping down on her shoes and purring away.
Praia da Rocha looks nothing like it does in peak summer season. The World Ultimate Frisbee championship tournament was just on this beach and wrapped up a week of activities. What would typically be a beach packed with lounges and people is now a quiet stretch of wide sand beaches with just a few lucky people around to enjoy it.
On what was Thanksgiving day in the US, we headed about an hour east into Faro for a long-awaited appointment with an Orthopedic specialist for my shoulder. We made a full day of it, including a fantastic Thai lunch, Shopping at the mall nearby, and dinner with the Wine Mine group. I must have been seeking out distractions from what the surgeon would have to tell me.
The diagnosis on my shoulder was different than what I expected. Two of the four Rotator cuff tendons in my left shoulder are completely detached, allowing the ball of my shoulder to roam a little out of the socket. That certainly explains the pain and decreased mobility I have been experiencing.
I had damaged the tendons many years ago (about 30 years ago) in a skiing accident, significantly torn but not severed rotator cuff tendons in both shoulders. I had the right shoulder repaired in 2020, and up until a few months ago, I still had decent mobility in my left shoulder. Apparently, my bike accident in August was all that was needed to cause both of the already torn tendons in my left shoulder to rip the rest of the way and be severed entirely from the bone. Since then I have had reduced mobility of my arm, restricted ability to lift things, and minor but constant pain.
The surgeon explained that since the majority of the tears were done long ago, the tendons/muscles in my left shoulder have deteriorated to the extent that re-attaching them would have a high probability of failure; there just isn't enough good tissue remaining. His recommendation is a complete shoulder replacement! That's right, basically cutting my bone and inserting metal prosthetics that replace the ball and the socket. When rotator cuff damage is this severe, they suggest a "reverse shoulder replacement," which reverses the position of the ball and socket. "A reverse shoulder arthroplasty reverses the position of the ball and socket, placing the metal ball on the shoulder blade (scapula) and the socket on the upper arm bone (humerus). This procedure is recommended for individuals with severe arthritis or unreconstructible rotator cuff tears, as it allows the deltoid muscle to power arm movement instead of the damaged rotator cuff."
The good news is that recovery from this procedure is much faster than the standard rotator cuff surgery, like I had on the right shoulder. We agreed to schedule the surgery in two weeks on December 10th. I'm not looking forward to the surgery part, but being able to use my arm again without pain is the most appealing part. I will remain in the hospital for two days following the surgery for follow-up, but will be able to start using the arm and shoulder right away, although not too strenuously, for a few months.
On a lighter note, before seeing the Dr., we enjoyed a nice lunch at Siam Thai, located in the foothills above Faro at the small Mercedes Country House hotel. A little difficult to find, but the food was authentic and fantastic. We had the Kuey tiew phad kee mao (wide rice noodles with chili paste and pork) and the Gang deong (Red Curry), which were both fantastic
Shopping at the mall near Faro
Dinner with WineMine at Veneza. Featuring wines from Quinta das Bágeiras and the Bairrada region of Portugal. This region produces some of the best sparkling wines in Portugal from the Baga grape varietal.
Late in the month, the town of Aljezur held its annual Batata-doce festival, celebrating its prized variety of certified, protected sweet potatoes.
'Tis the season. Even though Thanksgiving isn't a thing here, we're still programmed to wait until after Thanksgiving to start decorating for the Christmas holidays. A few of our Portuguese neighbors started about a week ago. In just a couple of days, our humble home is now festive for the holidays.
Lately, one of the local cats has decided it likes to hang out and get some sun on the base of my weather station, which is on the roof of our patio. For over a week now, we have seen it up there during the day, curled up around the weather station, sleeping in the warm sun
Sonny and Barney are living the dream. Sonny's not quite sure what to make of the new Roomba Vacuum, while Barney knows it's all bad and wants nothing to do with it
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As always, we hope everyone is doing well, healthy, happy, and thriving. We miss you and love you all...A lot!
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