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Archive for November, 2004

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Foodie Heaven

Sunday, November 14th, 2004

Walking down any highstreet in the Algarve I can’t fail to notice the proliferation of expat estate agents. In Lagos, a flat will now set you back 170000�&mdash,not so different from London’s suburbs. It makes me wonder: will bullish Brits and Germans elbow out the local residents and confine them to the hinterlands in a kind of peasant super-ghetto? Or will the EU move in and put a stop to profiteering from residencial properties? I have waited a decade so I won’t hold my breath.
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A Trip to the End of the World

Friday, November 12th, 2004

Its a little disconcerting to walk past a Portugese fort in, well, Portugal. The fronts of old churches likewise transport me straight back to Sri Lanka.

Underneath the fort there is a little beach with coves in the ochre cliffs offering pretty little hideaways for a picnic lunch. The turquoise water laps up on the pale sand and makes me want to jump in but it is cold – this is the Atlantic.
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Driving over Oranges

Thursday, November 11th, 2004

Before I go any further, I must say this internet caff has the best keyboards I have ever seen: the mini– Virtually Indestructible Keyboard!

The clouds that shroud all of Northern Europe had lifted once the plane was in Portugese airspace and this morning I am gently baking in the sun shining from a powderblue sky while people-watching from a café on the cobbled pavement.
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Faro Campsite is closed…

Thursday, November 11th, 2004

…I just wish I had known that before trudging, backpack and all, through the dark, deserted streets of Ilha de Faro. Oh well—you heard it here first.
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Our last supper

Monday, November 8th, 2004

This completes the Sri Lanka travelogue— just in time for my Portugal trip 🙂 It’s only a little holiday, but I hope that a few quirky things will happen to give me new story leads, so watch this space.

Time for our last supper. We took the bikes and cycled past the bus station back to the bridge over the lagoon. Just past the bridge was the ‘New Rest House’ where we had spent some pleasant evenings with S and A. We felt we needed some old-fashioned hospitality to console us on our last evening.
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The Toddy Tavern

Sunday, November 7th, 2004

There was one thing left to do.

I had only come across a single toddy tavern anywhere near where I was staying and that had been in Trincomalee. Even there it had been quite a way out of town. I had not wanted to walk out there in the heat of the day and certainly not after dark (there are drawbacks to being a single female traveller). I had however seen several toddy signs from the bus to Colombo. It was hot and it would be a bother, but I felt that a visit to a toddy tavern was a must. John chickened out.
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Dark Delights

Saturday, November 6th, 2004

For his last night in Stirling before starting his new job, I cooked John a dark, dark dinner.
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Impending departure

Saturday, November 6th, 2004

Our impending departure was hanging over me like a shadow. I cried a little when we drove back to Negombo on the following evening. The house was dark and abandoned. John and I were together, but we felt alone.
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Guy Fawkes’ Night

Friday, November 5th, 2004

Oooops, I forgot about the 5th of November! And this despite the fact that fireworks have been whistling down the street for a good few weeks now. Liverpool has even instituted a special fireworks squad to deal with this!

It’s Guy Fawkes’ Night — normally the occasion for fireworks and bonfires. I remember a few years back we even had a lab BBQ in the shadows of the Ochills, just as the first frost sugared the branches. Brrr.

Sorry folks, nothing planned for this year. If life wasn’t so hectic right now (John starting a new job, us uprooting to Reading) we might have been in Borth, having a bonfire on the beach with sausages on sticks and potatoes baked in the ashes… Oh well, next year perhaps.

On campus (3) — of lechers and scorpions

Friday, November 5th, 2004

In the morning I felt better. It was like awakening from a bad dream. I hugged John and we lost each other in a kiss. Sex was out of the question. Jungle sounds filtered through the windows and from the kitchen came more domestic clattering noises — we would be overheard. We held each other tight for a while, hearts pounding.
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