Sun on Saturday: Vila Nova de Milfontes

April 25, 2015

Not long after depositing our bags in our apartment, we were off out again heading towards Villa Nova de Milfontes, the nearest largest town for supplies and to eat. What is it about travelling that makes you hungry? Well in our case it was probably the crack of dawn EasyJet flight, our decision not to eat the plastic food on the plane and wait until we got there, and the large queue at the car hire pick-up!

After parking our lovely little white Fiat 500 - I'd definitely drive another one of these - we headed down the main street and first things first, food. This was our second time in the town, our first was during our first visit when we had an overnight stay. Then we had little time to explore as we'd walked along the Rota de Vicentina and to be honest extra walking was definitely off the agenda. Neither were we in the market for restaurants as that holiday we spent it eating, and walking, and a bit more eating for good measure!

This time though we wandered down the main street and choose to stop in one of the small local restaurants, and our view out of the restaurant was mostly this tree. Sheer bliss!

One of the local websites about the town says it's a charming place between Lisbon and the Algarve and it's undiscovered by foreign tourists. While it's true there's not many, I wouldn't say it's totally undiscovered, but it's not well known. It's surrounded by a stunning coastline of rugged cliffs and sandy beaches and it's a bit of a hidden gem.

Our food - we opted for fish, well when in Rome (or even the Alentejo) and all that - was cooked on the grill in the restaurant. At this point we weren't sure what we were ordering and we really didn't care that much. When it arrived I preferred the look and taste of what MOH ordered and as that was put in front of me that's where it stayed!

After lunch we headed off to explore a bit more of the town, heading down towards the front, past many of the traditional buildings. This isn't a town with high rise buildings and for that reason it retains its charm.

We headed down towards the Mira River and the small port area - just look at those blues, and the cobbled road too.

The terrain close up is quite rocky, but it seems this tree was quite happy to grow there.

I was rather taken with this roof, although I think it'd seen better days - but with the purple flower (most likely a weed) it looked much prettier!

At the bottom of the hill we spotted these huts, most likely working huts of the fishermen not beach huts as we'd expect here in the UK. But I think their rustic-ness makes them equally as attractive as the painted ones we're more used to.

After a walk around, a sit down and more photos we decided we should head back up the hill and get those supplies we came for. But as soon as we turned we were immediately wowed with this view. So remember Vila Nova de Milefonts isn't for non-Portuguese tourists, and for that reason alone we love it!

Bacon at the Bow Creek Cafe

March 28, 2015

So as you may have already read last Sunday we headed out on another bike ride, as well as a bruised sore knee and a visit to some fantastic hedges in the Thames Barrier Park we also stopped for breakfast at the Bow Creek Cafe just inside Trinity Buoy Wharf. We had a quick deliberation about whether to eat here or at the Fatboy's Diner, but as it wasn't yet lunchtime the cafe and its bacon rolls won out, this time.

For me the cafe was a find, and I loved it's greenery and quirky decor. It's in a shipping container - they seem to be finding me since my visit to Boxpark in Shoreditch - with seating inside and out. We chose outside - the sun was out, although it was still a little chilly, we got a view of our bikes (I'm still nervous about leaving them even though they're locked up) and well who wouldn't want to sit in these surroundings?

While I locked the bikes and took over one of the outside tables, MOH popped inside and ordered bacon rolls and hot drinks and when they were ready there was a knock on this window and off he went to collect them.

Trinity House - or more formally The Corporation of Trinity House, which is a voluntary association of shipmen and mariners - had its headquarters in the City of London and established Trinity Buoy Wharf as its Thames-side workshop in 1803. At first wooden buoys and sea marks were made and stored here, and a mooring was provided for the Trinity House yacht, which they used to lay the buoys and collect them for maintenance and repair. With its coat of arms Trinity House also received the authority to put up and maintain beacons, marks and signs of the sea "for the better navigation of the coasts of England". Since 1573 it's been famous for buoys, lighthouses and lightships and pioneering the development of these.

Trinity Buoy Wharf also houses London's only remaining lighthouse and I'll share pictures of that and of the Michael Faraday exhibition (he had a workshop in the roof space of the present lighthouse) there too which is in a shed, and I have to say it's one of the best sheds I've ever been in!

Anyway, back to more views of the cafe.

Where we sat we had a great view of the Lightship. It was built in 1938 in Dartmouth and was used in a number of locations; it no longer has its engines and I understand is looking forward to retirement as part of Trinity Buoy Wharf's unique heritage. And in case you're wondering a Lightship is a lighthouse on a ship...

It also provided a great opportunity for some rope shots!

And some muddy tyres.

And yes, breakfast was now ready so that took precedence over any photos or further explorations!

With the bacon rolls eaten - they were really very good - we were ready to continue on our way. I'll share more from our visit to Trinity Buoy Wharf - and the Michael Faraday shed - here in the next few days, so I hope you'll pop back for that.

Oh and as for the cafe, we'll be back for breakfast again soon - and we'll be back at the wharf to try Fatboy's Diner too!

Sun on Saturday: Pretty St Mawes

March 21, 2015

With this post I'm taking you back to Cornwall and the pretty village of St Mawes, which is the principal village in The Roseland Peninsula, an area designated of outstanding beauty and that's something I'd definitely second. We arrived on the peninsula on the small car ferry crossing the River Fal, having spent the morning at Trelissick Gardens at Feock, near Falmouth. The crossing was short and fun, as well as smooth as we were there before MOH noticed we were moving, I think he was slightly disappointed by that but I wasn't having an extra couple of trips just so he could experience it knowingly.

St Mawes is right on the southern tip of the Roseland Peninsula and it has a pretty harbour and many pretty cottages. The village is built into the side of the peninsula, like many of Cornwall's coastal villages so that means there's some pretty steep hills to walk up, but when you do you're rewarded with fantastic views across the rooftops and beyond.

There's a large car park in the centre of the village which is reasonably priced and most useful. There's plenty of room for cars and for coaches too, as I suspect this village is high on the list for coach party trips. There's a great sign in the pub's section of the car park which asks people to "park prettily"

There's a castle at St Mawes too, Henry VIII built one close to the waterline to guard the entrance to the harbour. We didn't visit the castle but it has three huge circular bastions arranged in a clover leaf pattern and multiple gun ports providing formidable defences. The castle is intact and no doubt holds many Tudor treasures just waiting to be discovered.

I was more taken with the prettiness of the village. And if anyone suggested sitting outside the cafe on its small pavement, close to the petrol pumps in any other town I'd look at them as if they were mad. Here though, the petrol pumps had their own vintage charm and had long since stopped providing petrol.

Tomorrow I'm sharing another picture from the garage for my weekly black and white photo, so be sure to come back for that.

For me they were perfect for the village, so I had no problem pausing for a moment or two and the ice cream we had was a real treat too. After quite a few snaps we headed off along the coast to admire the cottages, many of which are thatched.

JUST ENOUGH ROOM FOR SOME BEAUTIFUL POTS