The Road Goes Ever On

Monday, May 15, 2017

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

Italica, 2017

We stopped at Italica in 2010, hoping to see what are said to be Spain's most extensive Roman ruins. Alas, an international cross country race was going on, and the ruins were closed to people not wearing skimpy shorts and shirts. See http://roadeveron.blogspot.pt/2010/01/italica.html. Italica is just a few miles north/northwest of Seville, in Saniponce, and we stopped this time en route to Portugal. Apart from the extensiveness of the place, Italica is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Hadrian, best of all the emperors, apart from Augustus, of course. IMHO.

The amphitheater is some blocks from the main center, and is
under renovation and closed; I took these pix through the fence

To be reassembled later

Now in the main center, the museum; helpful model

Famous image on the street, near the coliseum

It's not a huge coliseum; sat 30,000

In one of the access ways underneath

Half of coliseum; like much of Italica, the coliseum was
extensively mined by the nearby monastery and medievals
generally; the stands are in poor shape and not accessible

Attempted pano

Coliseum underworks

Main street; very much reconstructed

Residences

Neptune mosaic, not as reconstructed as some of the others,
I think

Neptune himself

Domicile

Ditto, in another part of town

There is extensive interpretive signage at
Italica; alas, not in English too

The best, but I think heavily reconstructed, mosaic

Jupiter

Another floor mosaic

Thus, Italica; wherever she is, I hope Mrs. Henry, my high
school Latin teacher, is pleased with my continued devotion

We drove on, through increasingly flat and agricultural areas,
finally stopping at Vila Real de Sto. Antonio, on the estuary just
across from Ayamonte, Spain; we'll return to Spain in a few
weeks

Costa del Sol and Pueblos Blancos

From Malaga we drove further down the coast, just to remind ourselves how heavily developed and uninteresting it is, and then we drove up into the mountains, skirting Ronda, to see a few of the Pueblos Blanco, the famed White Cities, spending the night at an aire in Olvera. After Olvera, we drove to Arcos de la Frontera, far enough to remember that the White Cities are mainly, um, white, that they are hard to get to, and impossible to park in. It was time to head for Portugal, by way of ancient Rome.