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Who would have thought that in December 1961, when we said our final good byes at the Dr. Ribeiro Goan School in Nairobi that we would ever see each other again after 50 years. Some of us were more concerned with what we’d be doing for the next 50 days, let alone 50 years. But there we were, thanks to the wonderful organizational skills of Claire Fonseca, Alex Fernandes, and John & Marcia Do Rosario, at the Golden Clube Resort in the small fishing village of Cabanas, in the eastern Algarve region of Portugal.
The Canadian group, in the picture (left) arrived at the Resort on Sunday June 19th after a Flight from Toronto to Porto, followed by an internal short haul airplane trip to Lisbon, bus trip to Tavira, and a final taxi ride to the Golden Clube. In the picture from left to right, Roy Pacheco, Claire Fonseca, Julio Menezes, Thelma Pacheco, Vera Abreu, and Romeo D’Souza were met on arrival by Alex Fernandes and John & Marcia Do Rosario. After 50 years, one could hear statements like “who’s this guy” (Romeo /John) and long-time no see, etc. etc. The 7 participants from Europe included, John & Marcia Do Rosario, Mina & Abi Andrade, Diana Freemantle, Alex Fernandes from Goa/Scotland and Sandy Von Bensen from Germany. All 13 met formally at the welcoming dinner at the SRC restaurant in Cabanas on Sunday night June 19th where we enjoyed the first of many sumptuous dinners of Portuguese Sardines, Bream and other seafood and wine. After each of us in turn said what we did after school it was time to exchange stories and catch up on lost time. This went on till the wee hours of the morning
Monday, June 20th, was a day to shop and relax. Dinner of Pasta and Clams and a Ratatouille was sumptuous at the Do Rosario Villa. This is where John coined the phrase “Magnificent 7 Jubilados” (over 65) referring to members of the class of 61 present here. They were Claire, Julio, Vera, Mina, Alex, John and Romeo. The photo (below), was taken at the Do Rosario villa at the Golden Club and shows the whole gang except for Sandy.
On Tuesday, June 21st, we took the local train from Tavira to the beautiful city of Faro and visited the Sao Pedro Church and the Se’ Cathedral (XIII Century) and took in other sites including the Bone Chapel and Bell Tower. Lunch, traditional Portuguese fish and wine etc. was at a great restaurant in a garden setting.
That evening the group went to Sandy's favorite eating place in Cabanas village called Alfredo's. It is a side-walk family run restaurant managed by an ex-fisherman called Alfredo. His speciality is sea food and we had some delicious shells and Piri Piri prawns, accompanied by a really good sparkling white wine.
Mina Abi and Diana went on a "historical" tour of the Algarve. Visited two picturesque towns, Silves, once ruled by the Moors, and Monchique a quaint little town perched between two hills. We stopped for lunch and wine and bought some original peri peri sauce, wait for this! made by an American lady married to the hotel owner. She helps her husband run their hotel business. We then went to Sagres the most south westerly point washed by the Atlantic Ocean. There is a lighthouse here called Cape St Vincent which guides ships safely in this very treacherous area with strong wind and waves. The inhabitants knitted lovely thick sweaters for sale as it can get very cold. Fortunately it was a calm day when we visited so we did not need jackets or such!
While the whole trip was very enjoyable and a lot of fun, one of the best places we visited on Wednesday, June 22nd was the City of Seville in Spain. With temperatures around 42C, it was Hot! Hot! Hot!. The unguarded border between Spain and Portugal was a pleasant surprise. The XV Century, largest in the world, a Gothic Cathedral was impressive. The Mausoleum houses the mortal remains of Christopher Columbus; it consists of four heralds representing the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarre holding the coffin of the discoverer on their shoulders. After visiting the Church of San Salvador with some more beautiful Azulejos, we had lunch which consisted of Tapas (a variety of about 20 items in small plates shared by all) at Bar CARACOLES in Plaza de la Alfaalfa. Later, some of us visited ALCAZAR PALACE, Seville’s Royal Palaces which are a combination of exquisite MUDEJAR craftsmanship. Dinner was at the Grelha Grill in Cabanas where we sang and danced to Gypsy musicians.
Thursday, June 23rd, Thelma and Roy went to Lisbon for a First Holy Communion Celebration (Roy’s Cousin’s grandson). The Reception, was very formal and held in a vineyard. Some made trips to Tavira, a unique fishing town with some of the finest churches and an old Roman bridge. This also was when we first visited the beach. Dinner, prepared by Alex and Sandy, was at the exclusive Alexio’s Villa; it consisted of the finest
Portuguese Mackeral and Sardines cooked to perfection, followed by a delicious prawn curry and rice. A very entertaining evening of laughter and noise as can be seen from the photograph which sums up the mood of the whole trip. Later, we were joined by Sandy and her friend Louisa (B.B.)
Friday, June 24th, More trips to Tavira for train tickets shopping and the beach.
Dinner at Pedro's with the waiter charming Claire and Vera with the Dorada do Mar and the Prawns while offering Thelma her own “small glass of Beer”.
Mina wanted to meet some family friends in Lisbon so along with Abi and Diana caught the early morning train and spent a lovely day in Lisbon doing a whistle stop tour of sights, and ended up having a lovely lunch in a Portuguese restaurant which included baccalau. We caught up with news spanning events in Goa, Kenya and the present!
Saturday, 25th, More shopping at Tavira, thanks to Alex and Sandy’s car.
Beach sights and swims in the afternoon followed by more shopping at Cabanas. Fantastic Farewell dinner by Mina, Diana, John, Marcia and Sandy at Sandy's. Drinks throughout provided courtesy of Julio.
Thanks Julio. Good news of Claire and Vera's return to Cabanas next year and who knows maybe some of us!!?
Final photo and Good Byes.
ADIOS Jubilados, and the end of a very memorable trip.
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