The Englishman's factory

On the bus ride to Silves we had a running commentary. From this I learned that "Algarve" means "The West". But it forms the southern part of Portugal I hear you say. Yes, correct, but it formed the Western extreme of the Moorish empire.

A couple of Englishmen founded a cork factory in Silves but the Portuguese could not pronounce their names so the factory has always been called the Englishman's factory. It is a museum now where you see some old black and white film of the cork gathering, processing and manufacturing into bottle stoppers. Apparently the cork is stripped from the trunks of the cork oaks every nine years and this extends the life of the tree rather than harms it.

The conference meal was a bit of a let down. Lots of pasta in the soup. The main course was a ladle of something looking like scrambled egg with a fishy taste, served with lettuce.

However the folk dancing that followed was very entertaining. The music was lively and happy. The traditional dancing was often very fast and very complicated.

You can see some more pictures.