Mike brings me a cup of tea when I wake along with the wonderful news that he thinks the freezer is playing up again as he can’t hear the compressor working. I don’t believe it. He waits for a suitable hour then goes in search of Bill to talk to. Bill’s up to his neck in his own water maker problems and promises to come along to the boat when he’s finished. In the meantime Mike goes off to have a look at David’s computer which is in need of a bit of TLC.
While he is gone I give my hair a little trim. It really seems to work best if I have a go every couple of weeks. In this way I am not tempted to take too much off in one go and make a mess.
That done and a spot of tidying later, I take a small amount of truffle flavoured olive oil over to Rosemary for her to try and she exchanges it for some lovely balsamic vinegar which contains nuts that she bought by accident (she and Matt have nut allergies). I stop to chat for a while and she asks if Mike and I would like to join them and Annie and Jim for lunch at the cookery school that we have heard so much about. On the way out of Crazy Horse I fail to notice that the perspex hatch is closed and walk straight up the stairs crashing my head into it. It really hurt! Stupid me. Still rubbing my head I go back to Jeannius and check with Mike as we are on a bit on an economy drive at the moment and as he has heard that it is very reasonably priced and very good, he says yes.
Jutta and Jochem also join us and as soon as we get out of the taxi we realise that there has been some mis-communication along the line as we are not at the cookery school but the rather beautiful Pestana Convento do Carmo, a converted convent, now a hotel in the Leading Hotels of the World Chain. Oops, this is not going to be cheap! I suppose the economy drive will start tomorrow.
The setting of the restaurant, around the former cloisters of the convent is beautiful. All the tables are mirrored glass and there are antiques and opulent drapes everywhere. Beautiful. I have to say I am less enthusiastic about the service. I don’t think our two waiters could have been any more slow and communication is a major problem as none of them speak any English at all. Now I’m not one of these people who think everyone abroad should speak English, but in a classy joint like this where you imagine they get international guests, being able to understand that your guest wants her steak cooked rare should not be a problem. But everything is. Still, the company is good and while we wait for an hour for our food order to be taken (and by this time we are the only table occupied) we entertain each other.
Photo: Jutta and Jochem
Photo: Bill and Rosemary
Photo: Jim and Annie
Photo: Mike and me
Mike and I don’t order any wine as the prices are exorbitant. Well, we try to order a half bottle, but this one is obviously off as it fails to materialise. That keeps the bill down anyway!
The food, when it eventually materialises, is distinctly disappointing, especially for the price. There’s nothing wrong with it but it just sounds and looks far more interesting than it tastes, and is far less than it should be for a hotel restaurant of this calibre.
Three hours later we have finished eating and I go in search of the loo. I find it but there doesn’t appear to be a lock on the door, then I realise that I can’t actually find the toilet itself. I stare around the room. There is no toilet, just a wash basin. I look again, totally confused and go in search of someone to help. I end up just finding a male guest who points out that the wall at the back of the room is actually a frosted glass door beyond which, hey presto, is the toilet. How stupid do I feel?
We have a look around the hotel before we leave. It really is beautiful.
Photos: The cloisters of the Pestana Convento do Carmo
Of course, I doubt it looked quite this beautiful when the nuns lived here. Rosemary explains that the job of the nuns here had been to pray for all the troubles of the world all day and they were not allowed out at all. Once you were in, you stayed in.
We leave and walk through Pelourinho. Eventually we leave the others and head back to the boat. My head is still thumping from the whack I gave it on Crazy Horse this morning. We have a little snooze then I spend the evening trying to catch up on the blog as I have got so far behind. By late evening I have nearly managed it and treat myself to some cake and some ice cold passion fruit liquor. Lovely.
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