We are already halfway through our family holiday to the Algarve. We have been lucky enough to enjoy gloriously hot days interspersed with cloudy, cooler days giving us a respite from the heat. There have been lazy days on the beach and by the pool, but today we took a short drive west along the coast to the nearby fishing village of Alvor.

  
The sleepy village is situated on the estuary of the Alvor River and although it’s not particularly ‘touristy’ it had a fair few overseas visitors today. On our wander through the village, we stumbled upon the Church of the Divine Saviour. The beautiful egg yolk yellow and white of the paintwork looked lovely, it’s a shame I couldn’t photograph it against a brilliant blue sky. I’m not complaining though, it was nice and cool today!

  
  
Unfortunately we didn’t make it inside the 16th Century church this time, but we are hoping to return to Alvor before we leave the Algarve. Perhaps I’ll get another chance to explore inside.

  
The narrow streets are very picturesque with a mix of modern and older architecture. The photo below is of the municipal library.

  
The streets head downhill towards the waterfront and are lined with restaurants predominantly selling seafood (naturally!).

  
Outside each restaurant is a barbecue grill where the fish and meat is cooked.

  
We took our pick from the riverfront restaurants to find a suitable place to eat lunch. While we waited for our main courses to arrive, we munched our way through a basket of bread and this platter of octopus salad, carrots and olives in garlic and a small dish of tuna mayonnaise.

  
I followed that with a very tasty shrimp kebab – yum!

  
After a lovely lunch, I was ready for a nap, a bit like this dog! (I couldn’t resist taking a photo!)

  
The most bizarre sight of the day was this Portuguese cow on a surf board (yes cow, check out the udders!!!):

  
It was standing outside a shop selling gear relating to the Portugal national football team. I have no idea what the relevance is of the cow to the national football team, if you do, please let me know!

That’s all from me for now, thanks for stopping by, I’ll leave you with a view of the beautiful Alvor River estuary. I’ll be back soon with a final Postcard from Portugal.