Hello, how are you? I’ve missed you all and I’ll be round to see what you’ve been doing while I’ve been away. Meanwhile, some of you know I’ve been to Tavira, Jo’s town in Portugal, sadly for me, Jo was in Poland so I didn’t get to meet her.
The day that my friend Lindy and I arrived, we sorted out what we needed for the nice Air b’n’b we stayed in, had a rest after a 5am start and then went to find dinner.
The river Gilao runs through the town, and the river front is a very pretty area, with a garden that is popular with locals and visitors of all ages. 
The garden also has the best gelato stand out side of Italy, my favourite was very dark chocolate with forest fruits, unforgettable! There are bars, restaurants and cafes everywhere you look, and being late in the season they are all keen to fill your tummy. We chose a fairly new one, Gilao Restaurante, for our first night. My choice of a simple salad was lovely, Lindys less so and the service was not good. The manager tried his best to make it up to us with a delicious and potent local liqueur, and a promise to do better if we returned.
We walked through the garden where the cobbles glisten in the light, these decorative paths are everywhere in Tavira and some of the other places we visited in the Algarve.
The river is lit at night and is really atmospheric, especially the Ponte Romano. It’s believed that the bridge originates from Roman times, but it was rebuilt in the 17th century after an earthquake.
The Praca da Republica is a stunning central meeting place on the south bank of the river, it has an curved and stepped area perfect for watching performances.
Again, beautifully lit at night and buzzing with activity even in late September, the Praca has many places to eat, drink and people watch.
Jo, I don’t want to tread on your toe’s – I don’t think its possible anyway because you are the expert, but I’ll probably do a couple of posts about it. I can’t thank you enough for introducing your second home to me!
Lucid Gypsy 
I’m sure that Jo will be more than happy to see Tavira through someone else’s eyes and lens, she’s a generous lass 😀 so please share your favourite parts of the holiday. Although we have been lucky with the blue skies this week I am very keen to see some Portuguese ones.
Hello, sweetheart! I popped over to the Reader hoping you might be here with a post (and more importantly, that you liked my second home 🙂 ). It’s lovely to wander alongside you. Tread away- I’m happy to follow.
So that’s where you’ve been! The place looks enticingly authentic – I look forward to reading more of your adventures.
Soooo pretty. I’m glad you had a good visit with Jo’s town, even if you didn’t get to visit with Jo.
Wow! What amazing pictures!
Beautiful strolling, Gilly! Love your night light captures. Looking forward to seeing more. 🙂
Love the evening photos. Looks perfect for strolling. Looking forward to the next episode…
Portugal has, so far, been a glaring omission from the list of places I have visited. You have certainly made it look enticing!
I love this evening stroll Gilly! Looks like a really interesting place to visit. Can’t wait for the daytime photos!
Love your night photography shots, Gilly.
I had no idea you’ve been traveling as I’ve been away. Gorgeous pictures, Gilly. A breathtaking place. I look forward to reading more about this shiny place. How enticing it is.:-D
Your night shots are really great, Gilly. How lovely to see some of what Jo has experienced. Pity about the bad restaurant service, but I hope you made the most of the conciliatory liqueur. 🙂
Wonderful nightshots: I’m in awe of such captures. You’ve also given a lovely sense of prospects.
Looks like you had lots of fun Gilly and such amazing views and gorgeous captures! 😀 ♥
What a lovely place and so civilised with good lighting at night
You obviously had a lovely time even though Jo was not around😊 Beautiful pictures.