Always a bridesmaid never a bride

By Chris & Bob Price (SCKPA committee)

The city of Faro. The gateway to the Algarve, Portugal through its airport.

As we are not beach creatures we decided to dialyse in Faro. The old town is compact situated around the marina. The city is surrounded by low lying hills and has a myriad of Islands and sandbanks off the coast. It has its own beach a few miles past the airport. The coach and train station are central for trips along the Algarve to the west or the River Resorts of Olhao and the fishing harbour of Tavira, which we preferred  being traditional Portuguese. We ventured inland to a stately home in the foothills which had been converted to a lavish hotel. Visitors are allowed in wander inside to see the views, gardens and quaint chapel. In a small sleepy nearby village we enjoyed coffee and  pasteis de nata, Portuguese custard tarts with flaky pastry filled with creamy vanilla custard.

As you would expect, things were much cheaper the further away from the touristy Algarve. Faro does have a lot of cobble stone roads and at night can be a little hairy. We travelled on the road train and were bumped about for 40 minutes through the compact old town where the architecture has remained unchanged for centuries. We enjoyed an entertaining concert of Faro guitar music in the atmospheric old town. An interesting comparison was given between Faro and Spanish flamenco guitar sounds.

The Nephrocare dialysis unit in Faro accepted the EHC card for payment and although very busy was safe and the staff caring and kind.. We organised dialysis with Chiara Frattini at Holiday Dialysis at NephroCare. Communication was often slow as she is based in Rome! Dialysis was busy and little English spoken but practices appeared safe and caring. We even got a free ambulance to and from the unit which was a bonus.

Holidaying >>

Photos of the NephroCare centre at Faro from their website