Obviously Squares are very important in Cities. It’s the place people can be together in harmony. Everywhere you go in Europe there are examples of successful Squares, particularly Rome, London, Madrid, Paris, Brussels, etc….and the fact that Albufeira is a relatively mild climate, the central Square is important.

I spoke to several people about this, mainly the locals.

The Square it seems has been under continual works for the last 20 years and more recently, over the last year, businesses have suffered as a result of the recent remodeling works.

The latest criticism is that the new layout does not offer sufficient shade on a hot day. New palm trees were planted which people feel is not the ideal option for shading. They may look great but it’s not Albufeira and certainly not the Algarve. Palm trees are more Morocco. But works are not yet completed…..the fountain still lacks water, so I will not judge…..I am sure it will be fine.

I would say that the buildings in the Square and surrounding hotels and apartment blocks that can be seen from the Square, should be maintained more regularly. I suppose what I would like to see is a postcard image maintaining the character of the old fishing village.

It works though…..there are lots of bars and restaurants with facilities for outside eating and enough (although I would suggest not sufficient)(certainly not qualified like say, the excellent Dublin) street entertainment.

It’s just nice to see people watching the time go by…..

To paraphrase Mona Lisa Vito (played by the amazing Marisa Tomei ) in My Cousin Vinnie : this could be a great Square…..if they don’t fuck it up……

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I left this one for last cause it’s a bit tricky…..

And happening at the time in late August early September 2006, where just days before the Sun headlines said 27.000 Expected, 276.000 Actual….or something like that…..what we are being told is that there are foreign Europeans moving to…..yes England…..like, no where else……and according to a brief conversation with a girl from Manchester…..(don’t ask me how we got on to that subject in 3 minutes), it seems as though they are all heading to….yes, Manchester.

If you want to scare people, tell them they are loosing their jobs and there quality of life is being threatened……by Eastern Europeans…..it used to be the West Indians in the 50’s and 60’s.

I have to say that I am European and this attitude shocks me in this 21^st Century. It’s almost like, as long as the world can provide my comfort, then geopolitical issues shouldn’t change my immediate surroundings.

Europe is on the move and we are improving the quality of lives of millions of people. Am I worried about the Romanian, Latvians, Bulgarians, etc travelling around Europe….yes!! Why?? Because they are leaving major problems back home in their own country. The majority of people on the move are young, very qualified professionals, looking to create a better life for themselves and their families. They work very hard, lots of the time exploited, work crazy hours, for comparitively low wages and then they are called all sorts of names. They live under fear of exportation every minute of the day. And they are not appreciated for the wealth they bring to their host nation…..and make no mistake, their presence is very positive: socially, politically and environmentally.

Funny, because we have been having rumblings of a similar nature here in Portugal…..too many foreigners from the East. What is particularly amusing, however, is that the second biggest Portuguese City is……wait for it……. Paris…..fekin Paris (yes that’s France), and I am not even going to mention London, Switzerland, New York, etc, etc….where there are many hundreds of thousands.

Let’s face it, we are in a One World situation and we all should be enjoying or suffering together. We can make this work but we have to understand the problems, not just from a one sided perspective, but from all sides.

We have to try to understand the core essence of the European project, not just listen or read snippets of extracts in the popular press. Surely you must understand this.

Invariably, people will tend to return to their homeland because that is where they feel best and want to be. With their families and their heritage.

Open your mind and understand that we have a great opportunity of make this Planet work…..it’s a unique Planet…..unique because it’s the only living Planet in our solar system……but we can only make this Planet work together. It just hurts to hear young people saying things like “The Problem With England is The Romanians”…..we don’t deserve this and surely they don’t deserve that.

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The general rule is that Albufeira is safe and for sure 99.9% of the people that actually visit there are of this opinion.

However, you need to be aware that there is a sub life that thrive on venerability: girls walking home at the end of the evening, feeling safe, up to that moment when someone pounces and takes their belongings. And if any resistance is offered, as was the two cases that I heard about, the consequences can be quite horrific.

The fact that I was also told that the person responsible is now behind bars is comforting. However, just be carefull our there, cause shit does happen…..even in Albufeira 2006.

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There are not many places you go into and immediately form a lasting affinity with. OK I admit I may have been under the influence, but really The Rock Café Albufeira, is such a “typically Portuguese” place, it’s frightening…..a good frightening I hasten to add.

“Typically” because they manage to concentrate on what is most important…..the sound…..décor adequate but never going to win prizes…..which, I quite liked because you feel comfortable: and Portuguese, cause it’s not too big, the musicians all had day jobs (though for the life of me, I really don’t understand how the hell they wake up for it…..) and finally because they are not pretentious and the quality of the music is great.

In the first place, you won’t start to recognise what I am talking about until after 11PM…that’s about the time the music in the public Square (see separate article) finishes and the more sensible ones in our society do the right thing…… go to bed.

The fact that this is The Rock Café don’t expect anything else…..ok it’s not totally heavy (thankfully) and even better, the bands played a selection of new stuff Coolplay (is this rockish), White Snake, etc, with the majority coming from the older classics….which actually range from Led Zeppelin, Guns, Purple….

I saw two bands, one on Saturday and the other on Tuesday & Wednesday. Quite different, the two, though equal in quality but you are not gonna hear much better live cover versions than this.

The lead guitarists in both bands were really great. I play guitar and I would give my right hand to play like that…..sic

Bass Guitarist great…..one better that the other but still……particularly his rendition of Deep Purple and White Snake…..

Drummer out of this world…..he just played the place down and never…..I mean never, missed a beat…..

The Singers were never gonna be the Robert Plant…..but they did enough to keep the whole performance blown.

I didn’t get the names of any of them…..apart from Luis, who works in the bar and who was the one that initially told me to come have a listen. But the Bass and Lead guitarist I spoke to said that they had day jobs (one a designer and the other works in Mechanics…..) and that they really enjoyed doing the gigs for fun.

Fek…..Fantastic…..everyone there, young and oldish….hahaha…..had a great time…..if YOU go there and don’t, get a pension……better still, get a life…..haha

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Sir Harry’s is interesting. OK it’s very British(ish) at least you have a couple of flags and people speak English (and Portuguese) (very well, I may add….considering that they were from Romania (sic), Bulgaria, etc…. During the day (and from very early) they serve breakfast, coffee’s, drinks, whatever you need…..

It’s South facing, so there is always lots of sun around to feel warm…..in the winter, this must be particularly nice.

So it’s a quiet life in daylight hours but Harry’s is always buzy.

In the evening, things are much different. Excellent entertainment by Brian Christopher who is really very good, although I don’t thing recommended 14 nights in a row…..which goes on until about 3AM in the morning. Loads of people and very friendly. I particularly liked the different nationalities Harry’s attract. While predominately British, (on the two nights I was there, there were lots of Dutch, German, Americans, even Portuguese. And Brian knows how to get the crowd going.

I think there is lots that can be done to improve Harry’s (they should be speaking to me as soon as possible). Two things for free….The toilets…..please do they always have to smell like toilets…..and no, the smell does not disappear by adding those Napthalene Balls type thingies….)(the though always crosses one’s mind that if the toilet is like that, what must the kitchen be like….

I would also take a serious look at the day time front office staff…..people just don’t like to be treated like idiots…..we have Governments that’s doing that to us already….. which is in total contrast to the excellent night time staff…..

But you will always have a good time at Harry’s…..

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