People
THEN OLHÃO
FOUND US...
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... and we weren't even looking! Hank and Carina's story of how they came to live in and love Olhão
elcome to our monthly column celebrating Olhão. After exploring Portugal top to bottom from Braga to Tavira enjoying so many coastal and inland locations in our RV, we decided Olhão was the place to buy our home to celebrate our “golden years”. Olhão was not on our radar at first. In fact, the discovery of Eastern Algarve was a pleasant surprise with the scale of development so much less than areas to the west. A chance winter rental introduced us to Olhão, a place we quickly found attractive for many reasons. “Walkability” is, above all, a main highlight and each month we will introduce you to places only steps away from our front door. We hope you will enjoy our column! THIS FISH STORY HAS LEGS…. AND ARMS? :-) Looking at the far right side of the main photo, you’ll notice part of the local marina where boats rest, anchors up, waiting for the next journey. Being on the water here is much of what Olhão is all about. The building on the left side of the photo presents another anchor that secures this place, the Olhão Mercado seafood market
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building. Together with its twin outlet to the east where fresh veggies, fruit, meats and cheeses are offered, these structures serve local daily shoppers, delivering a friendly person to person experience worth returning for! Olhão boasts the largest fishing port in the Algarve and the Mercado, built in 1915 and renovated in 1997, it is the Algarve’s largest and most interesting fresh fish market. Long before the first stirrings of tourism and hotels and so many great restaurants here, seafood was the core income and what “Olhanenses” served at home. Simple entries like “Xarem” which combined corn flour with varieties of the local catch sustained the local citizens here. Today several local places offer that dish on their menus. Our first Google Earth investigation of Olhão, once we secured our place to stay here last winter, suggested we could look forward to a short walk to the Olhão Mercado to purchase and bring home ingredients for our daily dinner. So true! Fresh tuna has been a favourite and at about half the cost as in the US or Sweden. I’ve discovered octopus at a local restaurant (read on), but have yet to bring one home to cook. I sure know where to find one when I’m ready!
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