Portugal

Saturday, 23rd July.

Right, so we've abandoned the rain of England in favour of the sun of Western Portugal. Sao Martinho do Porto to be exact.

Unfortunately it's only a temporary abandonment but still, it gives us a chance to soak up the sun and sample the amazing food on offer - starting with these wonderful clams which were simply opened in lashings of olive oil with a lot of garlic and coriander.

These were preceded by a cold seafood appetiser of squid, prawns and mussels with onion, peppers and the ubiquitous olive oil which we hadn't ordered but just arrived. As did the bread and olives that also arrived unannounced. Nevertheless, it was all tasty enough so I'm not complaining.

My clams were followed by some fried John Dory fillets which were unexpectedly battered and didn't quite live up to the standard set by the starter however The Missus had prawns in garlic to start which, were great, followed by sea bass steaks served (unusually, I thought) with pasta, which she assured me was pretty good.

So, all in all, a good first choice of restaurant. We've had a wander around the cove and there are plenty more restaurants to choose from, mostly with a good selection of fresh seafood.

Speaking of fresh seafood, I went for a run round to the far side of the cove and discovered the beach littered with mussels, cockle, clam and razor clam shells. A short clamber over some rocks and I found an abundance of mussels, crabs and limpets. I'll definitely be heading back over there with a bag before the holiday is out to gather up a supply of mussels to cook as I did last year in Nerja, Spain. This time it should be easier as there'll be no snorkelling involved.

Anyway, I'm writing this in our fantastic apartment with has everything you could wish for - apart from wi-fi. So this'll be parked up until I get down to one of the bars at the beach later.

For now though, it's croissants and yoghurt for breakfast followed by a mooch round the market around the corner.

Laters.


The Bloke