The tiny fishing village of Fuzeta in the western Algarve will always be special to me. It was my first introduction to all things Portuguese. It’s the closest village to the accommodations I first rented when I started coming to Portugal and I have such intense, and wonderful memories of walking back and forth across the Ria Formosa salt flats, lugging groceries, 5 litre bottles of water, tipsy from lazy patio lunches, and my list could go on and on.
Today, a dull and overcast Saturday, Marc and I decided to head into Fuzeta, park the car and wander along the harbour, the beach and part of the town. We couldn’t have picked a better day to do this.
We were both struck with the changes happening all along the waterfront and the beach. Heavy equipment was all over the place, large pipes being installed all along the shoreline for the preservation of coast and stabilization from erosion etc.. On the opposite of the harbour is a place that Gwen, Diane and I affectionally christened “the little beach”, very private and isolated. Not any more!! They have “imported” truck loads of sand and are developing that entire side of the old road and extending the beach. Tourism is alive and well, which is great for the locals but makes me feel a little sad. I’m thankful I had discovered it when it was still pristine and undiscovered.
We delighted in the glorious scent of the salt sea air. It was warmer than we had thought heading out this morning. We headed inland, towards the main square, to check out the menus and decide on lunch before hitting the grocery.
More changes. Our little restaurant in the square is no longer. Snack Bar Pierrot has a new patio, from the looks of things, new owners, and the menu was without prices….not a good sign. The main sign above the door is gone and the interior has changed so…..we decided to pass for today…..maybe another time.
We quickly decided to head on to the grocery store then go to another old haunt nearby for lunch….Eduardo’s in Livramento. We were not at all disappointed.
By now it was close to 15h00 and we were both a bit pooped from the wanderings and me a bit from the emotional reaction to seeing so many changes in this lovely, quaint little place I feel connected to. The weather co-operated in that it poured all the way home………seemed to work with my feelings!!! That said, I wasn’t sad at all, just nostalgic. We did notice a couple of things worth photographing along our route.
At home we settled in for the rest of the afternoon. Marc started a fire, which is blazing at the moment. I marinated a turkey leg……which could feed at least six people…..to accompany a portion of turkey breast for Marc (he’s not a dark meat lover) to be roasted.
And this for Gary…….we tried a new beer, confusing as it sounds German, and we bought it in a German grocery store, but the bottle and website says Spain!!! It was .99 of a euro for a litre…….here’s to you Mr. Kean.
Marc and Randys Travel Adventures 
The price is right!! I hope it taste as good as it looks, I can’t wait to try it (or a Segres Preta). Keep up the great blogging.
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The price WAS right and it was not bad at all. You’ll enjoy it we’re certain.
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You say ‘Fuseta’, I say ‘Fuzeta’…oh my, 2013, a life changing experience for me, in a tiny Portuguese village, staying at ‘The Farm’ that you, Randy, had so wisely rented, no car, me and three Newfies….best time ever! I’ve never been quite the same! LOL! And just like Abba, “Here we go again!” To Estoi, where new memories will be created….an exciting adventure awaits me! Can’t wait! 😎
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They do it spell it both ways but more and more of the signage is changing the S to a Z. You’re going to love Estoi…..no 4 km walks to get to groceries or water! It will arrive soon enough………
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I’m so grateful that when we were there last winter, none of these changes were afoot in “our” Fuzeta. Like you, this makes me rather sad.
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Yes, I thought of the three of us and our frequent picnics at “the little beach”. It made me sad to see that entire side of the harbour “under construction” with expansion. We are lucky to have found it way back when and have created so many wonderful memories for our days on the front porch!!
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Lovely photos & brings back many menpmories! Looking forward to seeing Fuzera again.
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I think I saw a “wanted” poster with your photo on it! Clearly they remember you from last time and just might not let you in!
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Aren’t you funny…LOL! I think the sign said “Please stay in Portugal to aid the Portuguese economy”.
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Then you’d better bring loads of euros with you this time!!
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Wonderful photos of our beautiful little Fuseta. I too could feel a similar nostalgia as I read through your blog this morning. I’m so grateful for having been able to experience picnicking on the little “private” secluded beach that is no more…and for being able to share it with Ken as well. Not to mention having almost killed him last year taking him there on our bicycles 🥰
Reading your post reminded me of when I rented the farm and I had decided to walk across the salt flats to Fuseta for a few groceries. After purchasing a few things, including some frango for my dinner, I inadvertently took the wrong path in my attempt to get back across the flats and ended up in one heck of a maze. When I finally made my way back to the road, during my second attempt to cross the salt flats, I attracted a pack of local dogs who were very interested in my frango. I must say there was a lot of foot stomping going on and had to pick up my pace considerably to save the frango. Poor dogs didn’t know who they were up against. No frango for them 😜
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Oh my gosh this made me laugh. We all have our stories of getting turned around from one direction or another while attempting to get home from Fuzeta. My story is, having walked into Fuzeta with Marc and Pat Matthews for lunch. The deal was, they would walk in with me, when we were ready to head home, I would walk back, get the car and come and pick them up. Did that, walked all the way home……looked in the kitchen window and the car keys were right there on the table….problem was, Marc had the house key in his pocket back in Fuzeta. Got my steps in that day!!!!
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Funny story 🙃😂
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What a lot of reminiscing going on here…a few chuckles. I remember meeting a fellow last year who was renting in the Portamao area and commenting how it wasn’t the same as when he first visited the area. Change, change, change!
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Sadly, another big change is the cost of Portuguese Brandy…..it’s over 15 euros!!! LOL
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