Portugal Rules OK!: Is this the biggest character in Portugal with mag...

Portugal Rules OK!: Is this the biggest character in Portugal with mag...:  Meet Ruy, the owner of Black Cat's bar in Olhos de Agua He's with BGT magician Luca Gallone (lucagallone.com)     B...

Is this the biggest character in Portugal with magician Luca Gallone?

 Meet Ruy, the owner of Black Cat's bar in Olhos de Agua

He's with BGT magician Luca Gallone (lucagallone.com)

 

 

Bars are always home to interesting characters and few are more interesting than Ruy, who at 62 (I am told) runs a little jazz bar  called Black Cat's in Olhos de Agua

He is dapper, and I mean dapper. He tells me he has friends in the fashion industry who post clothes to him. I can believe it. Olhos isn't awash with designer boutiques.

 

He's been very poorly. I understand he's had throat cancer. He's lost his voice completely but still runs his bar. How? He writes down what people owe him on a bit of paper. Simple!

The bar is ... well ....unusual.... he loves to decorate it himself and it's kinda quirky. Apparently he's renowned in the village for his heavy reliance on Sellotape. The cats, above, are part of the interior décor.... check out his tables and interior atmosphere. It is a tad dark!

 

My antiques addict partner reckons the art deco tables are worth a fortune. Ruy told us a friend gave them to him. Good friend!

The bar is not what you would call plush. It's tiny, Ruy plays music on an old music centre, sometimes nodding off on a quiet night. But he just loves people and, somehow, creates a very special atmosphere. People find themselves talking to complete strangers in his bar, making friends and returning night after night...

 

A friend who went there on my recommendation said: "I couldn't believe where you'd sent me! It was tatty and dusty with cobwebs....but we loved it.  It hooked us. We ended up going back every night. I joked to my husband that it must have been black magic!"

 

My neighbours did exactly the same. They couldn't believe it when Ruy told them to pay the next night because he'd run out of change. Of course they went back. Every night! And bought him a present next time they went to the village.

 

My teenage son, professional magician Luca Gallone, introduced me to Ruy.

"He's just such a nice person," he told me, "really generous and kind."

 

We went there one night and me, a person who is usually nodding off at 9pm, was still in Black Cat's at 2am one crazy October evening.... madness! But great. Especially for me.

 

Finally, check out this cocktail he made Luca. Chocolate buttons, squirty cream? Who knows but it made me smile... The world needs more Ruys ...

 

 

Don't let fear destroy our love of travel

 

Recent events have left us all shell-shocked. As I write, Belgium is in lockdown over a terror threat, Paris is still at the forefront of our minds and arrests are taking place  across Europe and beyond as the security services try to get to grips with Isis.

 

It's all felt very close to home; very disquieting; very upsetting.

 

Paris was horrific and came on top of a Russian plane being downed en route from Egypt and the Tunisia beach massacre. One of my best friends worked with a woman slaughtered on the beach at the start of what should have been her annual break.

 

Shortly afterwards my lovely pal  was due to travel to Turkey for a family holiday and was close to cancelling. She did, in fact, cancel a birthday trip to Paris last January due to the Charlie Hebdo attack. Her young son was too frightened to go after seeing the news.

 

Suddenly, holidays don't feel like a great idea at all. In fact just last week my neighbour (not a keen flyer at the best of times)  said: "I don't think it's safe to fly anywhere."

But life can't stop. If we let terror and anxiety cripple our lives we would never leave the house, never enjoy intoxicating new experiences, see fresh places, make great friends...

 

 

Consequently, I already have two holidays booked for 2016, one in my beloved Portugal and one in Spain where we are meeting up with  some German friends for tapas.

 

So, don't let fear destroy you. Carry on living and look for destinations which reduce stress levels. I went to both Tunisia and Turkey many years ago but vowed never to go back. When you go to a country battling extreme poverty as a (perceived to be) wealthy Westerner it is deeply uncomfortable. I remember being desperate to explore Tunisia but a kindly local begged me not to.  After accompanying me and my friend on a local bus to a town nearby he said: "Please get on the next bus back, go straight to your hotel. You are not safe." I did just that.

As a 5ft 1in, 8st woman I recognise my limitations. Meanwhile, Turkey was superb in terms of food, sights and weather but you still felt that air of desperation on the streets as you were constantly approached by hawkers, one or two of whom became a tad aggressive when brushed away. Such was their desperation for money. Egypt I had never considered a good idea, due to its volatile political situation and geographical location.

 

One day, again many years ago, a hairdresser was telling me how much she loved holidays in Egypt.

 

"I've never fancied it due to the dangers in the country," I admitted.

 

"Oh, it's fine," she said. "You get a military escort from the airport!"

 

Mmmm... need I say more?

 

But, though there are places I choose to avoid, there are many places I would love to visit.  I'll probably end up doing a gap year when I am 80!  Sadly, spare time and finances severely limit me but I will continue to travel as much as I can. For the record, here are 10 places on my to-do or must-go-back-to list...

 

 

1. The Azores.... Portugal islands on the middle of nowhere. Gotta be bliss!

2. San Francisco, Alcatraz and California. Oh, to see much more of the good old  US of A.

3. Las Vegas (again) to see the Mac King magic show (again). Forget the casinos, it's the world capital of magic....

4. Sardinia.... love islands...

5. Canada (again) Such lovely people.... that's me, top pic, on a jet ski  in Newfoundland more than a decade ago. It was the press trip of a lifetime for  me. I skied for the first time and saw icicles about as big as me... So grateful for that opportunity.

6. Malta.... because I have heard it's simply great.

8. Thailand (know someone there who will give me a VIP experience, long story...)

9. Japan .... because it will be so, so different...

10. China... the new world super power, mysterious...

 

But, wherever I go in the world, I will always return to Portugal's gloriously empty out-of-season beaches.....Peace on earth and goodwill to all men....

 

Parisians have been dancing on their city streets this week to show they're not afraid.

 

Follow their example....

 

Jill 

 

Husband creche and other bargains!

Not sure why no-one has thought of this in England yet but a husband crèche could catch on over here. I have never used this service but, for the price of a pint, you can leave your better half at Pickwick's Tavern in Olhos de Agua - for hours. Bargain!

I have to confess I have never been to Pickwick's because I go away to get away from all things British. I don't want Sunday roast, shepherd's pie or a Nescafe coffee. Nevertheless, this sign always makes me smile.

I photographed a few more advertising boards just to share the bargain cost of a treat over there...

Coffee and a cake for 2 euros is not unusual. You can sometimes get a toasty for even less than that, or a pint for 1 euro. A jug of sangria for 5 euros is good value too. It all helps to keep the cost of a holiday down. In the Algarve, the ex-pat population and volume of British visitors means they are very well catered for. They can even buy my very own desert island food in the local supermarkets. Marmite!