Janet, Deborah, Daisy and I had a bit of a Ladies day today. Shopping and pampering and some lunch. Hmmm then the dentist but at least he sang to us.
But first..last night….. we ate dinner at Zafferano in Ourem, on the edge of Palolem. We used to go to that area a lot because there was a cinema-restaurant called the Nepalese Steakhouse there that we loved. But it closed and we haven’t been up there for years. wowzer, how it has changed. Very much more developed and lots more restaurants and guest houses.
Zafferano is an Italian restaurant with a very good reputation for food. They have a lot of fresh pasta dishes and Italian favourites but not pizza. Everything is cooked fresh so we were warned it could be slow. It was ok though. Cocktails were very nice and cheap at 390 each. I had a French martini. The meals were very well flavoured and cooked. All the pasta dishes looked great. Daisy chose a fabulous four cheese gnocchi – so rich! I’d made a poor choice trying to avoid pasta and instead chose grilled prawns with an avocado puree and a nut puree and some salad. It was tasty enough but I felt at 550 the portion was much too small. I discreetly told the manager this and was quite shocked when he told me they’d only put the salad on the plate the week before when others had complained. Blimey! However he was nice enough to remove my meal from the bill – hadn’t asked for that, I just felt the portion size needed mention. They have gluten free pasta there too which was perfect for Deborah. So, it’s a good place but you need to reckon on two courses really.
This morning we had breakfast at Eve’s and then we tuk’d to the wholesale clothes warehouse again. I was looking for 2 beachdresses for Penny and a handbag for Sheena. Daisy was looking for beach clothes. Deborah wanted another bed spread like the one she’d bought previously. It was very successful but boy was it hot!!! I got two dresses for Penny, one for myself and a total fail on the handbag – 1000s of them there but not in the required colours. Daisy bought 2 dresses and a little bag.
From there we tuk’d to Palolem to the posh hotel spa, first getting a cold drink in their lovely a/c restaurant. The spa is gorgeous too. Daisy and I both had facials – the Shine facial on this occasion – a 60 minute deep deep clean and polish with endless rounds of cleansing creams being massaged in, steaming, scraping, exfoliating and face packing. Just delightful for £25. Deborah and Janet both had deep tissue massages. Such a good place, we will hope to return before the end.
After that we went down the road for a healthy lunch at Nireas. It was rammed and a bit hot but we had a nice feed. I had a Power Bowl with homemade peanut sauce. It was packed full of seeds, vegetables, quinoa, nuts etc.. really delicious.
Daisy and I had appointments at the Palolem Dental Centre at 2pm for clean and scales. I went first. He’s a lovely dentist and its all super modern and clean. He sings as he works which is quite nice. He did a great job and he also quoted me £90 to put a veneer on one of my teeth that has always been darker in colour than the rest of them. No reason for it. Am seriously considering getting it done.
We got back to Patnem about 3 and had a shop in Chim and Saruche. Nice cotton things. Daisy bought a few bits.
Tonight we all ate on the beach together at Casa fiesta. It is sooo hot at the moment. Really boiling. We had a lovely meal as usual. There is a massive wedding going on at the Lalit on the next beach south. Hundreds of tents set up on the beach and tonight a light show and music going on. Later hundreds of Chinese lanterns went up. Distressing from an environmental perspective but a lovely sight too….
Daisy bought some beach shoes on the way home and we picked up some makings from the tailor. I have 2 kurtas and he has mended a rip in Daisy’s jumpsuit.
All is good. Off to Turtle Beach tomorrow.