ABroad in Portugal -- Warm Beginnings

February 1st we flew to Faro, Portugal from Liverpool. I had not been to Portugal before and was looking forward to some warmer weather and more sunshine that the UK in February usually brings. My stepson has a mobile home in Cabanas, about 8 miles from the Spanish border, on the Algarve coast. We were to stay there for the month of February.

Indeed it proved to be much warmer than the UK with daytime temperatures generally reaching the mid teens centigrade to the low 20's. (mid 60's to low 70's F) The first week was one of the best with lots of sunshine. My stepson stayed with us for the week and so we were able to get a good feel for the place and to find some of the best beaches. In fact The first day we went to a place called Barril Beach, which was absolutely magical. We parked the car by the salt marsh and took a walk across a footbridge to a train station in what seemed to be the middle of no where. Within a few minutes a train the like of which I'd never seen before trundled up. We bought three very cheap tickets and boarded an open carriage.

The Man, who is a bit of a railroad buff, was not sure what to make of the engine -- it was meant to look like a steam engine, but definitely was not. Perhaps when the trains were  originally being used to transport workers to the tuna fish factory, which is no longer, the engines looked like this. The train runs for only a few miles over quite beautiful salt marshes ending up at the sea. There is also a path along the tracks for those wishing to have a pleasant walk that isn't too challenging.

At the end of the track we came to a short board walk onto a beautiful sandy beach right on the ocean. What a treat it was to be able to sit in the warm sun and unpack our sandwiches on the 2nd of February with the surf in the distance and a blue blue sea!

There is much more to write about -- but I think I will eek it out for a while!