Bridge in Tavira

Seven Arches Bridge

There are lots of bridges in Tavira. The most famous if the Seven Arches Bridge. We traversed it to find a lovely little cafe to have our lunch in when we went to the Medeival Market last Sunday.  It's more of a touristy town than Olhao, and the market had some beautiful handicrafts. We didn't, however, see much of the "medieval" theme that was supposed to be prevalent. Oh well.  We did visit the castle, and it was quite the experience. Not recommeded for the faint of heart ... no railings on any of the walls that you were allowed to roam at will.

Bridge players gather at Jorge & Lia's Snack-Bar

The other kind of bridge in Tavira is, of course, our favorite. The card kind! Never again will I complain about 5 tables at our bridge club. The Tavira club boasts that number as the most they’ve ever had!

On the 25^th of April, Pete and I celebrated his birthday (and the Independence of Portugal) by hopping on the train and going to Tavira to play bridge. The instructions to the bridge club were quite simple. Turn left off the train, go left again and across the tracks, then up the hill. At the top, turn left when you see some flats … then turn right and right again. Cross at the Zebra crossing and go through the gardens to the back of Lia and Jorge’s Snack-bar. You can’t miss it! We did. There are lots of “flats” up on that dang hill … tons of gardens … and a plethora of pedestrian crossings!!! Oh well … ask a local. 

The bridge game consisted of 2 tables. We simply played 16 boards and compared our results with the other table. Pete and I swapped partners with Marianne and Doug, another Canadian couple who, get this, are from Qualicum! We had a great time laughing and chatting. The bridge was really secondary.  The other table were two ladies who were playing their very first bridge game plus their instructor and his wife.

3 Tables of bridge

We went again on the 2nd of May, and they actually had 3 tables!  We got to play against some very lovely people from beginners to the "Expert Dutch Ladies". They were delighted that we played 5-card majors and couldn't care less about anything else :-)

Just to make our club proud, we probably won. No way to find out yet, but we'll check it out next Thursday.