We are back in Portugal for the best part of three weeks and spending most of it in the Algarve. We were last here in early March, but only for a week, based in Faro. On that visit it was without hiring a car and investigating what could be done using the regional railway as a means of getting around. This time it’s back to the eastern Algarve and renting an Airbnb close to the town of Tavira. We also have a car so that the area can be explored with a little more freedom.
After what seems like weeks of incessant rain in the UK it was wonderful to land in Faro to be greeted by blue skies and a rather pleasant temperature of twenty Celsius. To be able to wander around without scarves and coats is pure bliss. You also get about 90 minutes extra daylight here compared to home, it may not be much but every little helps as they say.
Plans for the trip are not fixed in stone but will certainly include some coastal and beach walking, visiting some of the towns away from the coast, discovering more of the countryside and hopefully eating and drinking well. A day trip to Seville, across the border in Spain, is also a possibility. To end the trip it’s a train up to Lisbon for a few days before flying home.
Sefton Park is a large grade 1 historic park located in south Liverpool. It is very popular with local residents and students and regularly holds special events such as concerts and food and drink festivals. It is three miles from the city centre and is just a short 15 minute drive/taxi ride. A number of bus routes pass closely and can be checked at the Merseytravel website. We drove from the city and entered the park via Aigburth Drive, probably the closest to the city centre. There is free parking on Aigburth Drive/Croxteth Drive/Mossley Hill Drive which is the perimeter road that runs all the way round the park.
If you enter the park from Aigburth Drive and park to the right of the entrance there is a long drive which leads walkers into the centre of the park. At its beginning is the Samuel Smith obelisk, built in 1909 to honour Samuel Smith who was a cotton trader, Member of Parliament and philanthropist. Constructed in red granite it is now grade II listed and makes a fine marker for the start of your stroll.
Walking down the drive from the obelisk you come to the café, toilets and the Shaftesbury Memorial and Eros fountain. Erected in 1932 it is a replica of the monument to be found in London’s Piccadilly Circus. It has recently undergone restoration with a new statue atop the monument.
From the café head off towards the left and the Palm House. The Palm House has had a few ups and downs since it was first built in 1896. It was damaged in the May Blitz of 1941, losing most of its glass windows. There was post war restoration but then gradually deteriorated and was officially closed in the 1980s because it was deemed to be unsafe. A public fundraising campaign led to its reopening in 1993 followed by a full restoration in 2001 using Heritage Lottery and EU funding.
Around the outside are eight sculptures by Leon Joseph Clavalliaud, some could do with a bit of a clean.
Andre le Notre
Captain Cook
Mercator
Carl Linnaeus
Charles Darwin
Columbus
Henry the Navigator
John Parkinson
The Sir George Frampton statue of Peter Pan was unveiled in the park 1928 but was moved to its current location adjacent to the Palm House in 2005 following vandalism.
It is now possible to hire the Palm House for concerts, private functions and weddings.
From the Palm House a short walk takes you to the Fairy Glen and Iron Bridge. This is such a peaceful and tranquil area of the park with small water cascades which can be sometimes overlooked by visitors.
The boating lake is a significant and popular feature of the park. Boats no longer are a feature on the lake and the jetty and boathouse were removed many years ago. In recent times the lake was drained and renovated before being refilled and restocked with fish. A walk around the lake is very popular and it is often the busiest area of the park. Approaching from the Fairy Glen a walk around the lake in a clockwise direction will bring you back eventually to the café.
Just before the café is the bandstand said by some to have been part of the inspiration for The Beatles song Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
From the café you can retrace your steps back up the drive towards the Samuel Smith Obelisk to complete your stroll.
I have eaten at Honey & Co in London’s Fitzrovia on several occasions since its opening in 2012 but it has been a while since my last visit. With a few hours to spare before catching a train from nearby Euston station it made the perfect location for breakfast.
Owners Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich have created a wonderful cafe/restaurant in which to serve their fantastic Middle Eastern food. its only small but it is now possible to make a reservation so that does take away some of the uncertainty at busy times. Just across the road is Honey & Spice, a deli/grocery shop where you can buy everything you need to create recipes from the three cookery books that they have now written. If grilled food is your fancy you can now head off to nearby Great Portland Street where they have opened Honey & Smoke. So you have plenty of choice in the area.
The breakfast menu may not be overly long but its not lacking in wonderful things to start your day. Spoilt for choice, we opted for The Big Breakfast and forgo the need for lunch while travelling.
Start with a breakfast meze including freshly baked breads, the smoothest, creamiest hummus I’ve ever tasted, labenah, tomato and feta salad and yogurt with berries and granola. It all looked and tasted superb.
Where to begin?
While you are working your way through these delights your choice of egg dish is being prepared. These are also quite substantial so there is not much of a chance you will leave hungry.
A sausage roll of two Merguez sausages served with marinated tomatoes, harissa and a hardboiled Cornish farm egg.
Green Shakshuka. Two Cornish farm eggs baked in spinach and herbs, served with goat’s yogurt and a sesame bagel. This was fantastic.
We drank freshly squeezed orange juice and several cups of rather fine coffee. Honey & Co is cooking from the heart. We walked to Euston station rather slowly after such a magnificent breakfast. I heartily recommend a visit here.
