Olhao Market

The writings of fellow Euro-campers led us to believe that the Saturday market in Olhao, Portugal, on the Algarve coast, was one of Europe's best. And so we drove on to Olhao, where we provisioned up, got ridiculously cheap Vodafone simcards, and found a pretty nice resort/campground that charged a whole €7.60 a night for us and our rig. The weather was splendid, life good. Next morning, we were on the 8:25AM Olhao Circuito bus--probably the youngest people on the bus--en route to the harbor-side market, forgetting that, on the Iberian peninsula, lots of market stands are still setting up at 9:30AM. The market was not all that great, although it was was certainly in the top 100 we have seen in Europe.  We returned to the campground and spent the rest of the day blogging, reading, resting.

The setting, at the marina, was nice

Snail break! Half the stands were selling snails, most often in
large bags

At the fry bread stand, this couple is making churros and fartusas

Here, unloading a whole skewer of fartusas fresh from the vat of boiling oil; of
course we had to try a fartusa, which, still dripping oil, is bathed in the sugar
bin (lower right) for a few minutes, then served in a paper napkin, also dripping,
etc. This comprised both 2nd breakfast and elevenses for both of us

Harbor scene, with well-fed birds

The fish market was of interest

Enough squid ink to print a newspaper

Something we have not seen before...conchs, with the conch
snails inside; some of these puppies were a foot long

Rays

More squid

Very large fish

Still writhing

Artfully presented sardines

And ever more shells