I have spent this entire week in Portugal, specifically in Albufeira, a small beach town in Algarve. But since I am not someone who can stand an entire week just baking on the beach, we have rented a car and explored the surrounding towns along the Algarve coast, and also a bit inland–partly in order to meet some Portuguese people, as the coastal resorts are dominated by Brits, Germans and Dutch.
The first few images are from the town of Lagos, a bit further west along the coast. It is a major commercial centre for the surrounding area, so I spent a pleasant couple of hours sitting on a bench, drinking beer and taking in my surroundings, while my wife hit the local shops. As elsewhere in southern Europe, much social life takes place on the street:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 100)
This little boy was extremely interested in the conversation his father (or grandfather?) was having:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 100)
Elsewhere in the town, local kitsch art (most likely made in China) was on display:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 100)
Back in the centre of Lagos, this little boy was extremely interested in his mother’s ice cream:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 100)
On Wednesday we drove across the Spanish border, about 100 km to the east, to meet up with a couple of friends from Seville in a beach resort La Islantilla. Here is my good friend Miguel:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 100)
One of the attractions of popping over to Spain was to buy some of the most heavenly cured ham on earth. Unless you are a vegetarian or abstain from pork for religious reasons, you have not lived until you have tasted this:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 400)
Back in Portugal, around our resort on Praia da Oura there are a lot of cats. They are semi-strays, in that they may not formally belong to anybody, but each cat tends to adopt a shop and is well looked after. Here is the one belonging to the local bakery/cafe:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 16-35mm L Canon, ISO 100)
A few km inland is the village of Guia, famous for its piri-piri grilled chicken, an excellent Portuguese speciality and the reason we went there. It is a very typical sleepy village; the way this dog and the people in the background were spending the afternoon is the norm:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 16-35mm L Canon, ISO 100)
Saturday morning I went to the municipal market to see the early morning action. And I was not disappointed, especially in the fish section. Portugal is rightly famous for its seafood, and real fish is NOT a shrinkwrapped filet in a supermarket:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 400)
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 400)
The last two pictures for this week are B&W offerings. This one, from the village of Alte, is all about light and shadow:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 100)
And this last one has a bit of a departure theme, since we are unfortunately leaving for the rains of Netherlands tomorrow:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 100)
Your pics on this week PoW are great, what colours, what definition. You must love your new 135mm, what results!!! Really like as well the B&W of street signs. A very good week indeed for you.
Comment by Marty — 27 August 2006 @ 12:05
Just a note that your weekly foto fix makes me drool! First I envy you Europe, simply because it is so easy to see different cultures in easy driving distance. Second the mere fact that you are so assiduous in photgraphing your activities. I post some stiuf to SeePhoto, but not much these days as I have been trying to get a new house built, sell this one, clean it out AND tame a host of medical issues.
Anyhow you are still being watched by your cyber-pal in Buffalo
Comment by Mike Levy — 27 August 2006 @ 20:13
Nathan, thank you for sharing your superb images.
Comment by Oliver Bryk — 28 August 2006 @ 14:10