A broken tooth, missing meds supplies – and Tavira

Storyline:  2026 Winter: Portugal and Spain

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Thu, Jan 15

I want to begin with Portuguese are really nice and friendly, if I haven’t stated this in my blog posts from the previous 3 years. Because this is our fourth winter trip starting in Portugal.

It is only day four since we left Canada and our adventures amount to this number. As we’ve mentioned before we travel with multiple medical supplies that keep Alex well and out of the hospital. We first traveled with his immunotherapy supplies to Scandinavia. Getting through security with a doctor’s letter describing the content of the bag was easy. They looked at the letter, looked at the supplies briefly and let him go. This time the supplies are for two months.

I repacked them so they could fit in a backpack. At security they wanted to see it all and swab every single vial. Luckily, we had lots of time, mainly because when we tried to check-in online the system told us we should do it at the airport. I’d count these two (Alex’s meds thorough inspection and the check-in problem) as adventure one.

We fly with Air Canada and collect points. Once in a while we use some to fly more comfortably and experience the luxury. This time it was in business class. I am so glad it was on this flight. The winter in Toronto has been brutal. So has been the weather in Europe.

Turbulence began not long after we took off and it become more violent and frequent approaching Europe. I was thrown up and down in my bed. As we approached Lisbon two bolts of lightning struck the aircraft. Right in front of me. The crew went on high alert, but luckily the aircraft wasn’t damaged as per the captain’s evaluation. Adventure number two.

We landed smoothly in the deluge at Lisbon Airport. On time! Despite the storms we were lucky. Writing this four days later, the GTA is buried in snow (they say 40cm or more), lots of flights cancelled or delayed.

Our first night we spent at a hotel in Faro, Algarve. I asked the reception guy if we could have a room with a view on a higher floor and he granted my wish. The fourth floor (the highest aside from the restaurant and bar on the fifth) with views of the water and the marina.

After settling in we walked to a seafood restaurant by the water. It really didn’t matter because it was dark and cool. After dinner we crashed. Breakfast buffet next morning was fantastic.

Aside from one thing – I broke a tooth biting on a crispy baguette. As my dentist says, don’t chew on a baguette, they are the worst. Adventure three.

We took a train to Tavira early afternoon. Walked from the train station to our apartment for the next week. Lovely place on the River Gilão. Have the feeling it is recently renovated 3-storey house and no one lives here.

This and the apartment next door are short term rentals, but at the moment it is only us (the ground floor is occupied by businesses that are closed after 5 pm). Very quiet, spacious two beds two baths apartment with fantastic views of the Roman bridge. A bottle of red wine, a bottle of water and one with mango juice, plus Portuguese biscuits awaited us on the table. Views are spectacular, day and night, sun and clouds and rain.

This morning, we googled “dentists speaking English” near us, located one some 800m up the hill, walked to there as they were just opening. The clinic is nice. They took us right away, and in no time a woman dentist fixed my tooth. Fast and efficient. No emergency charges as back home, and a fraction of what I’d pay back home for the filling.

Repacking the luggage for the next 8 weeks Alex noticed that some parts of his immunotherapy medical supplies are missing. Very disappointing because we just packed what was delivered without checking all the pieces. Initially we though we have to just dump it all (what a waste!) Adventure four. But then we checked if the medical centre was open. Perhaps they could help. “It closes at 8PM”, Alex says (what would we do without Mr. Google). Off he went to talk to them. Did I say people here are really nice!

Alex: You can skip this…it’s boring medical stuff. Between the leukemia and the oral targeted therapy, I take daily, my immune system is almost non-existent. To combat my tendency to catch whatever bug is going around, I’ve been given immunoglobulin supplements that I take weekly. By self-administered subcutaneous injection. Two needles at a time. You get used to it. Anyway, it’s not a simple process There’s a pump, a 50 ml syringe, a blunt needle used to draw the serum into the syringe, a volume regulator that attaches to the full syringe and a metre-long pair of tubes with thumb-tack-sized needles at the end that I joyfully stick into my abdomen. Set the syringe in the pump (it’s really just a spring that pushes on the syringe), turn on the regulator and my immunoglobulins are topped up. Takes about 45 minutes to set up, pump and clean up. Everything but the pump is single-use. The bit I don’t have is the tubes with the needles. My mistake. The other stuff comes in a kit. Thinking about this now, it makes sense as there are several versions of the needle/tube bit; 1 – 4 needles and different tube diameters.

Back to the story: I spoke to the security guard at the health centre entrance. He took me to a reception area and translated my predicament to the intake nurse. She sent us both to another building where two more nurses did their best to understand what I needed. A light bulb finally flashed above my head (but I’m the only one who noticed) and I pulled out my phone and showed them a YouTube video showing how to use the system. They didn’t have what I needed but told me to return in the morning when they could speak to a nurse in palliative care who might have it.

He’d go back tomorrow at 10am. He came back with another bottle of wine.

So here four adventures in four days. Hope the rest of the two months we just enjoy the scenery, be it history and architecture, be is the food and wine scene.

Fri, Jan 16

First thing in the morning was Alex’s walk back to the local hospital. There they had for him the missing supplies for 8 weeks. Eh, not exactly the same, but will do the job if we don’t find the same in Sevilla, Spain next week. If I haven’t mentioned before, very nice people! No it didn’t cost a penny.

Tavira (just under 14,000 inhabitants) is a destination where Moorish heritage weaves through a distinct Portuguese character. We’ve been here before. It was a day trip from Faro on our first Algarve visit in January 2023. We decided then, that if we wanted to spend a month in the Algarve it would be in Tavira. We have not settled yet to a long stay at a place. So, on our fourth Portugal visit we booked a week in Tavira. There are so many places to visit.

Straddling the slow-flowing Gilão River, this unhurried charming town feels a world away from the busting resorts in the Algarve region. Tavira’s preserved centre is a labyrinth of cobbled streets,

where the traditional tiled houses and grand merchant villas lead to remnants of ancient walls and collection of churches (36 according to the local info).

Rising above, are the ruins of a medieval castle. We visited it in 2023.

Again according to the local information Tavira has some of the most beautiful beaches in the Algarve. We’ll take this at face value since it is not beach season, it rains almost every day and it is hard to experience it ourselves. Besides we are not beachgoers.

The marshland of Ria Formosa is spread through the municipalities of Loulé, Faro, Olhão, Tavira and Vila Real de Santo António. It is protected from the Atlantic Ocean by a dune cordon parallel to the shore.

Dark clouds were gathering over the town, but we managed a short walk across the river, checked potential lunch places and then, back across the bridge, managed to get inside one of the Portuguese restaurants recommended by Sandra, just before the sky opened. Casa Simão.

No rush. Ordered a meal for two: a whole turbot that comes vegies and Alex’s fries (I’d prefer roasted or boiled potatoes). And a glass of wine each. The food was delicious.

Next day we’d try the second recommended Portuguese restaurant, Ponto de Encontro. Sea bass and fish soup to share.

The soup was probably enough for the two of us because we got the couverte too. In many Portuguese restaurants they have a selection of olives, breads, can of sardines, tuna salad or similar called couverte. One does not have to order it, but you should ask at the beginning if this is included in the final bill or only if one orders it. It varies.

We forgot to ask at our first dinner in Faro and they included it in the price but didn’t serve it (jet lag!). And we since learned that by law they should not charge us for it if not specifically ordered. Oh well, it was late and we were tired. It wasn’t included in the Portuguese restaurants, but we ordered it while waiting for the main meal.

We were entertained and amazed by the skilful server that filleted the sea bas with a spoon and a fork, rolling up the filet with the spoon and pulling out the bones with the fork.

Sun, Jan 18

It’s been quite rainy the last few days. It was supposed to be sunny today and our plans were to take to boat to the island, Ilha De Tavira.

It is quite cold though even with the sun peeking through the heavy clouds. We decide to continue exploring the real life and the food scene in the town. We quite enjoy the Portuguese restaurants in the area. Portions are big and we usually share an appetizer and a main, with a small bottle of wine (more than two glasses) comes cheaper than two glasses of it.

Today we ran into an Italian and Portuguese restaurant, Sabores de Tavira (Flavours of Tavira). They had octopus cataplana for half the price of the cataplanas we’ve seen and had in the past. Cataplana is a typical Portuguese seafood stew (like paella is popular for the Spanish) offered for two or more people. Quite popular in the Algarve. It usually cost about 50€. Here it was 25€ (remember no taxes or tips here, so what you see is what you pay at the end).

It didn’t have the expensive fish in it, but octopus, shrimps, prawns, clams, and lots of vegetables instead. I think this was the best cataplana we’ve had. We added some desert which too was delicious. After such a big meal we had to walk. At least 4 hours the server said.

So we strolled through some back roads to the less touristy part of the city, enjoying taking photographs of the rougher areas. It did make for interesting photography.

Tomorrow would be our last day. We plan to take it easy and enjoy the sun, since it could be the last sunny day for a while if one can trust the weather forecast.

Mon, Jan 19

I thought the above was my last entry for Tavira. But today finally the Algarve sun came out as we know it, and it is t-shirt and sangria time. Tavira is not that small and it has really lots to offer if one actually walks through the town.

We walked up some steep streets (nowhere near as steep as in Lisbon, Alex says), took some photos around a church or two, popped in and out of the castle grounds with the botanical garden (been in it before), walked towards the water and saw people on the restaurant terraces across the river.

These were closed the previous day! There are two. We had to try one. One is a pub with some tapas and all tables on the waterfront side were taken. We walked on to the restaurant. I chose a table by the water. Very nice people. The server told us that this was their first day of opening after the winter holidays.

They didn’t plan to open yet, but it seemed that there were enough tourists (my interpretation) or nice enough weather. Some of the menu items were unavailable, yet we found enough to enjoy our last day in Tavira.  A glass of sangria for me and a glass of wine for Alex, while sharing cod ceviche as an appetizer and a grilled octopus dish.

Such a lovely day! It just called for a jug of sangria. White one. Full of fresh fruits! We stay just around the corner, so no big deal. Except that I don’t think after all I can help Alex finishing the bottle of red which I opened last night.

Perhaps I can take it with us. Alex is bringing me my second double espresso so I can pack. See you in Sevilla or Granada.