Night Life

(posted by ange written March 3)

Night life here in Albufeira is, well, quite quiet actually. Mind you, it is off season. We imagine that when tourist season begins the town is buzzing. How else does one explain bar, after bar, after bar, after bar…. You get the picture. There are a few big clubs, but mostly it is very small “locals”, run by the friendliest and most fantastic people we’ve met. I likened it to Cheers, when last night we walked into Steps Bar (where I had been on Monday) and Jason, the bartender, cried out “Canada! Canada! You’re back!” And then ran up to Dave and said “You had the jet lag, you couldn’t come on Monday.” (And then proceeded to laughingly tell him all about me asking tons of questions and writing everything down in my notepad! Yes, a place where everybody, or at least the bartender, knows your name, or at least where you’re from!

These bars are tiny. You walk in and the bar is immediately there. There are maybe 6 – 10 bar stools. And then there may be half a dozen tables or so and that is that. Some may have a pool table. The bartender gets to know you right away and everyone at the bar becomes fast friends. At Marmot Café, run by Jose, we had a great time with him and a fellow patron, Carlos, both of whom were happy to give us advice on Portugal, while at the same time kibitzing with each other. At Olly’s Bar the entire bar was in conversation…we had 2 Canadians (that’s Dave and I), an Austrian, a guy from Belgium, a Brit and Olly, the owner, from Holland. At Steps Bar we had our fabulous bartender Jason, from South Africa, who is both hilarious and a wealth of information on the history of Portugal. There we also chatted with a completely hammered Irish couple and a lovely woman from England who now lives here. It’s fascinating, meeting all these people, talking about all these different places, hearing people’s opinions from all over the world. This is what a bar should be. We absolutely love it and look forward to going in to say hi Jose or Jason or Olly or…

Tonight we’re hitting Flannery’s, an Irish pub which is supposed to be fantastic. Apparently when you walk in the bartender finds out your name and where you’re from and then picks up his guitar and sings you a song. I, of course, am going love this!

Enjoy the following good time photos….


Inside Steps Bar

Me and Jason in Steps Bar

Dave and the Austrian At Olly's

Me and Olly at his bar

Happy Couple at Steps Bar

Dave and Carlos at Marmata

Inside Olly's Bar

Me with Jose at Marmata

Dave and I at Marmata