Happy Birthday to Me

You can't even imagine how far behind on this blog I am.  My birthday was June 12th!

So I guess this is Happy Belated Birthday to me!

These are all pictures from things during my birthday weekend.

I started things off early with a dinner out to enjoy my favorite fish dish.

  

When the weekend rolled around we headed to Porto Das Pipas, which is another favorite.  The let down was that they were closed, but as a bonus for our drive there we got to see this Portuguese Navy ship that docked next to the restaurant.

 

As we left there we thought about where we might like to go.  Since I write another blog that showcases local dining and businesses, we decided to try a place we had never been to before.  This is called Canadinha.  This is a true local spot.  We were the only English only speakers in there and from what it looked like, they rarely get Americans.  That certainly did not deter us from dinner there.

 

As usual, they served us bread to start.

 

Ryan had the steak and I had the grilled squid.

We ended with some coffee.  When Ryan went to pay the bill we were shocked (even with seeing the prices on the menu) to find out that the whole meal, drinks included, cost about $15.  I can see why the locals like it...good food and an even better price.

 

Since it was my birthday weekend, we couldn't help but stop off at the ice cream place/bakery.  I was excited to find they had these new ice cream bars.

 

I love trying new things!  This is homemade local ice cream that was hand dipped here into these bars.  Yum!

 

The next day Ryan decided to make my birthday cake.  Every year since the first year we met he has made me a cake for my birthday.  This year we opted for cupcakes.  I decided on chocolate with fudge icing.

Of course he made these entirely from scratch.  He is an awesome baker and does a great job baking from scratch.  Since I left him alone in the kitchen I only took a few pictures.  I wanted to stay out of the way.

 

Look at them baking up inside the oven!

 

As with most years, he frosts and then I get to help with the decorating.  I should also point out he made the fudge icing from scratch too.  Once they were iced, I tossed on some sprinkles.

 

Can you guess which cupcake is mine?  Yes, of course it is the one with candle!

 

That night we reattempted Porto das Pipas.  Yes, they were open.  One reason we love it here is that to start they bring out all kinds of cheese, bread and olives.  Oh I will miss that part of the island!

Ryan ordered the coffee steak.  Yes, those are coffee beans on top of the steak.

 

I had the shrimp and squid kebab, which was awesome.

 

When it comes to my birthday, if it is on a weekend, I do get carried away with the celebration, but I just think it is more fun that way.

So on my actual birthday, which was a Sunday, Ryan and I headed out to the beach with the dog and enjoyed lunch outside by the ocean.  Our friends Alexandra and James joined us.  I had the shrimp appetizer, a tuna sandwich and some fries.  This is typical bar food.

 

Afterwards we all took a nice stroll along the beach before stopping at the other end for some drinks at another cafe/bar.

One of the souvenir shops at the beach set up this fun bull fight depiction, so I made Alexandra pose with me.  I am the bull holder and she is the one being chased by the bull.

 

Here I am with Ryan and our dog, Ginger.

 

On the way back to the car we were able to peak inside a spirit house.  It is the most modern looking one on the island.  Since the Holy Spirit festivities were going on (this is why Porto das Pipas was closed before), the place was open and had the bread inside, which is part of the traditions for this holiday.  I have seen the pictures where the bread is filled up in carts that are pulled by oxen down the road and the bread is passed out to people in the streets.

 

While at the beach that day we saw that Jorge's was open, so we knew that would be a good bet for dinner.  It was quiet inside, but that was OK.  It was a major holiday so we were lucky anything was open.

I had the codfish with veggies and chick peas.  Way too much food!  But it did make a nice lunch the next day.

 

Here we are at my birthday dinner.  I wish you could see the view behind us...it's the ocean out there!

 

After dinner I was not hungry for dessert, but the owner, Jorge, still brought me some cake and sang Happy Birthday.  It was really nice, and the cake was so good.

There you have it...my birthday weekend...about a month late!

Gee, can you tell we are busy.  Our things are now all packed up and this move is underway.  I will be blogging on and off and trying to read as many blogs as I can in the next few weeks before we are settled in Japan.

QUESTIONS:  What did you do for your birthday this year?  Any birthday traditions?