Figueira in the rain.

Today we have rain. No doubt the sunny days could not be expected to last at this time of year. Nonetheless, I strolled out this morning early. This was how I discovered the rain. It was not obvious until I was out of the hotel door. At which point I had to go back in for my raincoat. 65 stairs! I could, of course, have taken the lift but exercise is partly the purpose of the morning stroll. 

Towns like Figueira are strangely quiet on Sunday mornings in the rain. In the UK, with Sunday trading, we notice very little difference between Sunday and the other days of the week nowadays. Actually, that is not strictly true. Sunday shopping is more of a leisure activity, a family pursuit. Shopping during the rest of the week is more mundane and less sociable. But it is rare to find the kind of quiet that you encounter in small towns in mainland Europe. Especially seaside resorts out of season. 

I strolled around in the intermittent drizzle. In between times the clouds tried to clear and the sun tried to emerge. With very little success. But at least the rain is warmer here than in the north west of England. As I wandered I admired the sometimes odd buildings. This green one has a curiously flowery top, to what purpose I have no idea. Purely decorative? I can see no obvious practical use. 

Eventually my wanderings brought me back to the sea front. Quite probably all roads here lead to the seafront in the end. Looking at it from the other side of the road, I could see that our hotel is the one I have commented on in previous years, the one shaped like a cruise ship. I suppose such a design is appropriate for a sea front hotel. Where else could you build one without it looking marooned and out of place? 

Inside it is also decorated with models of different kinds of boats. A nautical place, obviously. 

At lunchtime we explored a new place - new to us at any rate. Volta e Meia it calls itself. Tuesday to Friday it offers a menu do dia: soup, main course, drink and coffee for €7.00. Today being Sunday that was not possible. Still, for just under €10 each we had onion soup - a blended soup not French style onion soup - and "ovos rotos", which like our friend Colin they could not translate adequately into English but put in Spanish in the English menu as "huevos rotos". This turned out to be egg (fried and definitely not broken, unless you count breaking the shell) and chips with some prawns thrown in. Not a very fancy Sunday lunch but good enough, with a glass of wine and a coffee thrown in. 

The place was decorated with those posable artists drawing model figures pinned to the wall, strange spidery lamps and some interesting chalk drawings on the wall. 

Possibly worth another visit to see if they can do something more complicated than egg and chips.. 

The weather forecast is rather better for tomorrow.