The focal point of the next day was lunch at a fabulous restaurant up the mountains outside of Silves called Restaurante Solar do Farelo to celebrate Wendy’s birthday. The setting is very pleasant with a lovely outlook down the valley. The restauranteur and chef is the amazing Fernando, who comes to your table and runs through the menu specials in detail. I chose duck a l’ orange which was incredible. There are two barrels of wine with a tap, one of white and one of red, which you can help yourself to throughout your meal.

The car did a sharp swerve on the way home and we popped into the Arvad Wines Tasting Center for a taste of their wines. The wines turned out to be pretty good. Not being familiar with Portuguese wines, we didn’t know the different cultivars and regions, but we learnt a lot. The tasting turned into a wine fest with some visiting British students – par for the course 🤷‍♂️.