Yesterday was our full first day in Vilamoura. The temperature is currently quite mild – mid 20s – but significantly warmer than home where it seems that much of the southern part of the country is covered in snow! We definitely prefer mid 20s over snow.

We went grocery shopping in the morning. There are numerous supermarkets in the area and we went to one called Pingo Dolce. The Portuguese we have discovered have yet to discover wide aisles in a supermarket.  The shop was packed and the aisles are narrow. The price of groceries is not dissimilar to what we pay in South Africa. Some things (like chicken and cheese) are much cheaper (about R30 per kg).  Fresh fruit and veg are similarly priced and only some things are more expensive.  We paid much the same we would for a basket full of groceries in SA.

The rest of the morning was spent at home with some tanning next to the pool.  I think only Chloe actually got into the pool. The afternoon was much the same with people loafing around the house except for me as I had a 3.5 hour conference call with the UK office (so much for holiday).

As we are in Portugal we had roast chicken for dinner and then after dinner we went for a walk on the beach (Praia de Falesia). It is something we often do when here and getting a little exercise seemed to be a good option (especially for me after sitting for 3.5 hours). The sun sets at just before 9pm at the moment and so we walked until the sun set (we did about 2.5 kms according to Helen’s Apple Watch). We took all the mandatory sun setting on the beach photos and then headed back to the house just in time to watch the final few minutes of England v Colombia game and the penalty shootout.  Half the family rooting for Colombia and the other half for England – at least half of us were happy.

Until tomorrow …

P, C, S, K, H, O & M (the three of them at the end still haven’t improved in their behaviour much though O did improve slightly so I will move her up one notch today)