Lagos Algarve Portugal

13th October 2018 – 11th November 2018

We finally made it into Lagos in the Algarve and had decided to stay at the same site as last year. When we went to check in, we never book, they asked how many days would you like to stay and we said 7 weeks ! This is a couple of weeks longer than last year and we have arrived nearly a month earlier than last year. The reason for staying in one place for so long is that friends are visiting at the end of November and here at the site it has little static homes that you can rent and this is where our friends are staying. We haven’t told them yet but we could be de camping with them as it sleeps 5 and some have a jacuzzi !. The best pitches have of course been taken by the long termers, who book 5 years in advance for the same pitch (if only we were this organised !) but we chose a nice large area with sun and settled in like pros. Now, the weather, don’t get me wrong it is certainly warm averaging 20 degrees but compared to last year the sun has decided not to show it self as often and the rain clouds have been emptying themselves more often over us. In normal circumstances we would have probably have chased the sun but we are here until the end of the month until our friends arrive. We have hired a little car whilst we are here, not a trendy white Fiat 500 but a VW Polo which in Chloe’s world is still the perfect transport for the beach. Whenever we are getting ready to go out, she sits patiently by the back door of the car waiting for it to be opened and then chauffeured to the numerous lovely sandy beaches which we decide to visit for the daily walk. Portugal does have the most beautiful of sandy beaches in our opinion. Some stretch for miles and with the changeable weather there have been some stunning waves for the surfers to ride. What we have noticed this year arriving a full 4 weeks earlier is that there are still lots of holidaymakers about. The towns are bustling, all the shops and restaurants are open and they have a great vibe about them. It has been school half term week or two in some cases and we or should I say ‘I’ was so excited to find my cousin’s son coming for a weeks holiday to Lagos with Sarah his girlfriend, who is a teacher. I am sure they didn’t want two ‘old ones’ cramping their style, but I did ask and they said they would love to and so we picked them up from their hotel and took them to Alvor for lunch. We had such a lovely time together and we had something very special to celebrate after Nathan’s Mum, my cousin, had just heard the news the previous day that she was cancer free. I wish sometimes that I could time travel just to hug people, as I so wanted to hug Elaine. I sent a hug home with Nathan though. We have met up with some old friends and have made some lovely new ones as well. Margaret & Steve who we met last year have bought a lovely villa in Praia da Luz and we visited for lunch. A lovely traditional villa with views of the sea. Now Margaret and Steve put us to shame as they are avid walkers and cyclists and have 10 years on us. Steve says, would you like to walk from Lagos to Praia da Luz with us only 8 miles ! Of course how could we refuse, I did say to David if I got too tired I would call a cab ! God, I am weak. Anyway, we had the most amazing walk along the cliff tops, the weather was perfect and we saw parts of Portugal that we have never seen before. It was a glorious walk and we were so pleased we went and I didn’t need to call a cab ! We have met up with Keith & Jane and their beautiful dog named Beurre. We first met them last year on the West Coast of Portugal. We were sitting outside and suddenly this dog appeared and David & I did a double take as Beurre is really distinctive with two different coloured eyes and we thought, we’ve seen him somewhere before and then Keith appears round the corner. It is lovely to catch up on their travels and spend time with them. We have also met some new special friends Paul and Stephen from Jersey and their dog Archie who is the most gorgeous Black Spaniel. We formed the ‘Saturday Dinner’ club and our first outing was to a great Pizza restaurant in Espiche that they recommended and wow the pizzas. David ordered a 51cm pizza as did Paul & Stephen and when they arrived at our table everyone was looking at us ! They were delicious and one is to share between two and it was the day that David & I did our 8 mile walk, so I didn’t feel too bad and we were starving. We ate the whole lot between us but were rolling out the restaurant by the end of it ! A South African restaurant followed and next on the ‘Saturday Dinner’ club is an Indian Restaurant. Poor Chloe has had a visit to the vets with a sore bum. €45 later and some cream which obviously I have to administer we left. After a week she is much better more to the relief of me not having to use the cream I think ! We are now concentrating on perfecting our sun dance to make sure the weather is good for when our friends arrive in a couple of weeks.