From day one I’ve loved Tavira’s red benches. They’re all over the town. The main park has too many to count but I take more delight in discovering them in remote areas. Such as the hidden parkette behind the Sao Francisco church. A full-time gardener keeps this place in pristine condition, replanting for the seasons and tidying-up the leaves from the monster Ficus Moraceae trees. The benches are hardly used as it’s mainly a pass through park for locals going to work, but some days I see a group of seniors chatting with the gardener. Picture postcard!
While most of the red benches are in park areas, some feel like straw children. Sitting alone in a remote spot. I have visions of the city hall meeting when someone was charged with distributing the benches around town. “Stick them somewhere, and don’t return till the truck is empty.” Not such a bad idea as it allowed for random positioning such as at a busy intersection or in no-mans-land.
Of course I have favourites. One is located at the rear of an old apartment building making the area feel safe and inviting. I love the combination of red bench with the green trees. And then there was the week when locals were invited to create fun by placing dummy people on the benches. Real dummies, not tourists! But my award-winning location is at a vee intersection, on a forty-five-degree slope. I could spend an afternoon there watching the busy roundabout, the trains overhead heading towards Spain and points west, the fire station with the crew going through their routine, construction workers stopping off for a coffee or beer – the world going by! Without the remotest danger of anyone bothering me looking for conversation. And if they did, I’d point out the 2nd bench.
