1-4-17

After a smooth start to the day, we set off for the 2 hour drive from Seville to Sao Bras D’Alportel, in the Eastern Algarve. The landscape changed subtly as we travelled through Huelva Province and across the border, from towering mountains to rolling hills, covered with forest.

 

It was very strange to cross the border between countries without having to pass through customs or show passports; all that was required was to drive through a toll for “strangers”, in order to register for the road tolls in Portugal. Luckily, those arrangements have been down to Steve, and it didn’t take long before we were being welcomed to the Algarve.

 

The apartment is fabulous! Really modern and spotlessly clean, with the increasingly familiar mixture of local touches (Tiles, bedding, etc.), with the inevitable smattering of IKEA. Our French host met us, but soon had to leave as she has had to travel back to France to visit ill relatives. She has left us in the capable hands of her friends (Also French), and a huge German Shepherd dog, who have made us very welcome.

WHAT A GREAT DRIVE! THE APARTMENT IS FANTASTIC! TIME TO RELAX NOW!

 

 

2-4-17

 

A lovely chilled day. The weather is gorgeous, so we spent some time chilling on the roof terrace, while I also caught up with a mountain of laundry, as the last two places haven’t had washing machines.

This evening, our stand-in hosts, Michelle and Gerard, invited us up to the main house for drinks. They’re a lovely couple, retired and in their 60s. Despite their limited English, my even more limited French, and Steve’s Del-boy knowledge of French, (Monge too Rodney.) we managed to discuss politics, food, travelling, fishing (Steve and Gerard), and generally put the world to rights.

AND RELAX! NOW I AM RETIRED! THIS IS THE LIFE (SPEEDO’S ON.)!!!!!!!!!!!

I’M EVEN READING AGAIN. HAVEN’T READ ANYTHING THAT WASN’T BRIGADE RELATED OR IN PREPARATION FOR THIS TRIP FOR YEARS.

JULIE HAS TURNED INTO DOT COTTON- THINK SHE IS RUNNING A LAUNDERETTE.

FELT LIKE I WAS IN A PINK PANTHER FILM A FEW TIMES TONIGHT, AND WAS VERY TEMPTED TO ASK “DOES YOUR DOG BITE?”     😉  PMSL      STEVE.

 

 

 

 

 

3-4-17    –    9-4-17

The last week has been wonderful.

Each day has blended into the next, so I shall attempt a montage of my impressions of our time on the Algarve:

The coastline is fabulous: salt-water lagoons give way to long, deserted beaches, covered in powder-white sand and pounded by crashing waves from the Atlantic. It’s lined by historic villages and faded resorts, all blessed with spectacular views and authentic restaurants selling great food at ridiculously cheap prices.

The countryside is absolutely stunning! It is so very different from the parched landscape of the Western Algarve. The national park Fonte Benemola is covered with mountainous forests, with cork trees stripped of their bark and sliced through with winding roads, with precarious drops. The flatlands beneath the mountains are covered with olive and orange groves (yes, the intoxicating scent of orange blossom is here too.), which are interspersed with tiny villages, some consisting of little more than a handful of houses, a church and a bar/ restaurant.

Historic towns, such as Tavira and Loule, dot the landscape. Their markets are full of the hustle and bustle of market towns the world over; little old ladies, with their wicker baskets, chat noisily to their friends and barge dawdling tourists out of the way to make sure that they claim the best of the produce; stalls are piled high with enormous fruit and vegetables, which would make any English prize fruit and veg growers hang their heads with shame, and the fish market is as loud as any nightclub.

I SPENT 10 MINS QUEING UP FOR 2 BREASTS OF CHICKEN, (YES 2 BREASTS OF CHICKEN THAT’S ALL. NOT ASKING FOR A LOT. NOT AS IF I ASKED THEM TO LAY ON A BANQUET FOR ME.) IN A TYPICAL BUTCHERS. (WHICH I KNOW CAN BE VERY TIME CONSUMING.) 5 LOCAL PEOPLE CAME IN AFTER ME AND WERE SERVED BEFORE ME!! (WHAT AN EFFIN LIBERTY.) SO AS ANY TYPICAL BRIT WOULD DO, I SAID IN A VERY LOUD VOICE “FUCK THIS FOR A GAME OF SOLDIERS.” AND LEFT IN A DRAMATIC HUFF. (THAT WILL TEACH THEM!! NOT.) AND SNAILS! WHAT’S THAT ALL ABOUT? SOME FELLA, DRESSED IN A 3 PIECE SUIT, WAS STANDING AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE MARKET WITH A BUCKET OF SNAILS! SOME OF THEM CLIMBING UP HIS ARMS AND EVERYTHING. DON’T KNOW IF HE WAS TRYING TO FLOG THEM OR TAKING THEM OUT FOR THE DAY!

THEN THE PORTUGEESE HARLEY DAVIDSON APPRECIATION CHAPTER TURNED UP IN THE LOCAL SQUARE FOR THEIR WEEKLY MEET UP. (WELL I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING SO HOMO-EROTIC IN ALL MY LIFE.) ALL THESE BIG BUTCH FELLAS MINCING AROUND SLAPPING EACHOTHER ON THE BACK. (FULL OF MACHO BULLSHIT.) ADMIRING EACH OTHERS BIKES. (WHICH I MUST ADMIT SOME WERE WORKS OF ART.) I WAS WAITING FOR YMCA TO BLAST OUT AND THEM TO ALL DO THE DANCE, THEY DO MAKE ME CHUCKLE. STILL WHO AM I TO JUDGE, EACH TO HIS OR HER OWN.

The Portuguese people, who are so very different from their loud and brash Spanish neighbours. They are a solemn race, with melancholic faces and a formal nature for the most part. The language is very strange; despite having many key phrases which are the same in Spanish, it sounds very harsh and almost Eastern European when you hear them chatting amongst themselves.

 

 

A really unexpected bonus of this week has been meeting and spending time with Michelle and Gerard, the French couple who are house-sitting for the owners. They have been so welcoming and it has really emphasised how this adventure is going to be so very different from the holidays we have taken in the past. We have spent several evenings in their company, and enjoyed getting to know them. They have had interesting lives, and we have come to realise how alike we are to our European neighbours. They live in Gaillac, very close to Albi, where we will be in June, so hopefully we will meet up soon.

I have definitely improved my French. Michelle has been so patient and encouraging with my attempts to tackle conversational French, and has given me key phrases to learn, which she then tests me on the next morning. An added bonus is that Gerard was a chef at one point, so even their ‘nibbles’ consist of such delights as octopus salad. I kept up the English tradition of turning up with ‘posh crisps’.

Off to Peniche tomorrow- a beach resort between Lisbon and Coimbra.

BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN!