Feral Cats

One of our favorite things to do is walk up Rua Dom Paio Peres Correia to see the cats that live in or near Jardim do Largo Doutora Jorge Correia. This is such a special place, with the bright yellow Pousada on one side and Igreja de Santiago on the other. At the top of the park sits the Camera Obscura, Igreja de Santa Maria, and Castelo do Tavira. Yeah but what about the cats?

There are cats that live in this area and it is a bit like an Easter Egg hunt to find them. Often they are on the stairs in anticipation of food. Cat food is available on a porch across the street from the garden, and the cats know it.

In case they didn’t, there is this lovely Portuguese woman who claps gently for them from the window of an upstairs room. Sometimes another woman stands at her dutch door to watch.

There is a cat habitat in the park, giving the cats a safe place to go especially during stormy weather. Our most recent trip was on a mild day, and the cats were out in places we had never seen them before — on the branches of trees, and on the rooftop above the clapping lady.

An added plus to visiting the cats are the views we get in this area. These look out toward Igreja de San Francisco with its distinctive arched dome, and across the town with its melding of new and old buildings. Sometimes the sky feels like it goes on forever here.

Respect the Driver

Some Uber rides are more interesting than others. Recently, we took an uber from Faro to Tavira, a 25 minute trip. I knew something was a bit off when upon entering the car, the driver yelled for us to not slam the doors and close them very gently. Was the car made out of glass? Or was the car on its last legs? None of these options were good ones.

I climbed in, closing the door so gently that I was not confident that I actually secured it but terrified to check. Then I am immediately distracted by the signs posted inside the vehicle. This was going to be an interesting ride indeed.

Buckled in, per the mandatory seat belt advisory, and making sure to give myself safe distance should the door suddenly fly open, we are off. A few moments pass and the driver shakes his head saying “Tavira” as if it was a bad word. What could possibly be wrong? Uber drivers get to choose whether or not to take a fare. He tells us that he shouldn’t have taken the fare because it’s in the opposite direction of his home. I immediately tell him to end the ride, and we would just catch another uber, but he wouldn’t have it.

He tells us again that he won’t make any money out of the ride and goes on a lengthy rant about the unfair profit margin contract the government negotiated with uber, the insufficient Portuguese minimum wage and suffering a lack of work during the off season, adding but that’s OK so many times that it definitely didn’t feel OK.

Things seemed to suddenly change for the positive when he asked us if we liked Depeche Mode. Of course we do, we are products of the 80s afterall. He tells us he saw the band 1 year and 1 day ago in Lisbon, and that is why he is listening to a Depeche Mode playlist. We nod our approval and he pushes play. He tells us about the concert and the venue, so we ask him a question to show our interest. He stops the music. What just happened? He wastes no time explaining, telling us we ruined the song by talking over it. While he claims to be a Depeche Mode superfan, The Smiths was sounding more appropriate at this moment. Heaven knows I’m miserable now.

We sit stiffly and silently as he lectures us how talking distracts a driver from his job and how he understands that some passengers want to talk with the driver and that’s OK. Knowing now that that’s OK is code for it is so totally not OK, we continue to remain motionless and quiet. A few seconds later, he resumes his song. I can’t help but think he should have played Enjoy the Silence.

Arriving safely at our destination, we preemptively tell the driver that we will close the door gently. We rise from the car, trudge our chastised selves to our building, and not until the driver had driven away did we turn to each other, shake our heads and exhale in utter relief.