We did some sightseeing in the local area today. After everyone eventually got up and had breakfast we headed out at 11am. First stop was São Rafael beach. It took us a bit of a time to find the right road down to the beach. I haven't yet fully understood Portuguese roads and road signs yet.  They have traffic lights in the strangest of places as well. On the main road they will have a traffic...

Another beautiful weather day in Vilamoura. The temperature got up to 30C today. Michael and I had booked to play our first round of golf in Vilamoura. Our tee off time was 11:15am. We brought our clubs over with us and when I went to take my clubs out of the golf carrier bag I found my driver's shaft had snapped. Not a great start to the round and we haven't even started playing yet. We...

No one was in hurry to get up this morning and by the time everyone was awake, fed and watered it was about 11am.  We decided to go to the beach and Marina. We parked at the Praia da Marina which loosely translated means Beach at Marina. We went down onto the beach and paddled in the water and then walked across the beach and onto the breakwater and then around the whole Marina.  The Marina...

Today was our first full day in Vilamoura. Given how late we were up last night, nobody made much of a move to get up early.  Helen and I eventually had breakfast at about 9:30am and then we decided to try and find the better supermarket to get some real food.  We had coordinates from Google Maps but even with those it wasn't easy to find but we did eventually find it. Shopping at the supposedly...

We watched the football last night and fortunately in the dying seconds (literally) Ronaldo showed a little magic and kept Portugal in the World Cup.  While it may be short lived as the mathematical chances of them making it through to the next round are slim, at least we are now in a country that is still in the World Cup even though it might not be for long. We did start the day in London...

Helen and Chloe arrived safely in London. Took them some time to clear passport control and Heathrow and they arrived at just after 8am at the flat.  They were followed shortly after by our other SA friends (for those of you have read previous blogs - they are the Whiters). They were also on the same flight last night from Cape Town.  They just dropped off their luggage for storage purposes and they headed out for...

We're back on holiday.  In fact Stephen, Michael and I left last Sunday already for London.  While S&M were on holiday, I have been working and with a packed schedule so no time until now to blog.  We traveled over last Sunday night along with friends (Stephen's girlfriend and her parents - that's them in the BA lounge at CT airport sipping champagne - photo used without their permission!).  We arrived Monday morning and after dropping...