After another late night last night watching football go into extra time, we slept in again. A late breakfast (at 10am) on the roof top was this morning accompanied by live guitar music. It seemed fitting to be sitting on the roof of the hotel looking over Seville eating breakfast with classical guitar music in the background. And the guy was even quite good.

We drove back today from Seville to Vilamoura. We decided to drive back via Huelva (pronounced Welba) which is a port town in Spain. It was where Chris went to seek out the support of the Franciscan monks for his second exploratory voyage. From the look of Huelva, that was the last good thing that happened there. If you are ever tempted to good to Huelva, don’t make the mistake we made. It was a waste of fuel and the 30 minute detour.

It was much cooler today with the temperature only in the mid 20s. We also saw the most clouds in the sky (and even a few drops of rain) than we have seen since the first day we were here.  Besides the few drops of rain the trip back was uneventful and easy. The landscape on the trip is a lot like the lowveld in South Africa.  It would be easy to believe that a lion or elephant could just walk across the road at any moment. I am pretty sure though that it would freak out the people of Portugal if that did happen.

With the hour time change we got back to Vilamoura at about 12:30pm and just in time to re-stock the kitchen and have some lunch and then have a Portuguese siesta. It feels good to be back at our house again – almost like coming home.  We are very comfortable here already navigating around the neighborhood. A late afternoon walk around the neighbour (just Helen and I because the kids were too clearly too tired from the active day), dinner and 2 episodes of our other favourite TV series (Suits).

As you know, I always give some thoughts on the countries we visit and I generally restrict my comments to a maximum of the number of days we spend in the country.  As we only spent 2 days in Spain I think it is fair to only restrict myself to two comments:

1. Something strange happens in Spain. The men (according to H & C) and women (according to P, S & M) are generally quite attractive when they are young but at some point all the women & men morph into the same shape, size and demeanor. The men become short, squat, white haired and grumpy. The women become stooped, grey haired and grumpy. How they get from the young, pleasant form into the old, grumpy form is the mystery we are yet to solve.

2. Seville is a beautiful city and really worth a visit. Over the next few years of visiting Portugal I am pretty sure we will go back again. It is one of the loveliest cities we have visited in Europe. If you are ever anywhere near Seville – do yourself a favour and spend a night or two in the city – you won’t regret it.  Make sure though that your hotel is in a good position near the Old Town so that you can simply walk around – a car is not necessary then and will save you the hassle of driving around.

Until tomorrow … P, H, S (there was some reason why he got promoted but I can’t remember what it was just that I promised to promote him), M & C

PS: I was castigated for wrongly saying that Chloe had translated Real into Palace when she had in fact said it was Royal. Her Spanish honor is at stake and so I humbly apologize for defamation brought to her Spanish character …

After a late night last night watching the end of the Germany v Algeria game (which went into extra time), we all slept in this morning.  We had a continental breakfast on the roof of the hotel with views over the city of Seville. It was already pretty warm at 10am and it was clear it was going to be a hot day.

We walked to the Old Town especially to see the Seville Cathedral and the Real Alcazar which are the top 2 things to experience in Seville.  We went into the Cathedral first. €24 for the family – only Chloe was free as she was 14 years old. The ticket office (felt strange having a ticket office in Cathedral but Catholics don’t seem to hesitate to take money from you if given the chance) required proof of Chloe’s age. Either she doesn’t look 14 or I don’t look like I should be trusted (must be the first).

The Cathedral was always believed to be the 3rd biggest in World after St Peters and St Pauls.  However, with modern technology they have now determined that it is actually the largest Cathedral in the world by volume. It is seriously big and impressive.  They are 22 chapels inside the Cathedral. It was originally a Mosque and was only converted into a Cathedral in 1218. The original Mosque was built in 181. The conversion into a Gothic Cathedral was completed in 1517. It must have cost an absolute fortune to build. I could only think of how many people could have benefited from that money rather than going into a Cathedral of that size and decorations. I could probably post about 50 pictures displaying it’s opulence. It is amazing to see and I am glad they have preserved it but I really do think a lot of money was wasted and could have been better spent.

Besides the Treasury which contains more gold (in the form of vases, plates, relics etc) than I think I have ever seen in one place, the other significant thing in the Cathedral is that Christopher Columbus’ tomb is inside the Cathedral. Columbus (or Chris if he knew him well) wrote in his will that he wanted to be buried in the Americas he had discovered. When he died they moved his remains to Seville as Seville was the port of departure to America. His remains were then taken to the Dominican Republic and when Spain lost control of that they were taken to Havana, Cuba. However, during the Cuban v America war they were moved back to Seville again and into the Cathedral. He might have traveled more dead than when he was alive. The picture is of his tomb held up by the four statues.

After the Cathedral we went to Real Alcazar (not the fake one). I was told by our Spanish authority (Chloe) that Real means Palace in Spanish. It is the oldest Royal Palace that is still in use (by the Spanish Royal family in case you are wondering). It cost us €21 to enter (cheaper than the Cathedral) mainly because both Michael and Chloe were free and Stephen got a reduced student rate.  This time they didn’t believe he was a student and so he had to produce his student ID as proof. It was originally a fort and built in the 9th century. Since then, every culture and every civilization that has lived in the Iberian peninsula (and there have been a few) have used the Real Alcazar.

The gardens of the Palace are about 4 times the size of the Palace itself. They are beautifully manicured and maintained and have peacocks wandering around. Peacocks are apparently a symbol of a long lasting dynasty and immortality hence why they are found in the Palace. The Arabic influence is clear in the pools, washing fountains and tiles throughout the Palace. While the buildings are impressive, seeing them straight after the Cathedral resulted in a little bit of old building overload. We enjoyed the gardens of the Palace especially since they were lovely and cool. They even had a maze in the garden (which Helen fancily calls a labyrinth). I would say that a visit to the Real Alcazar is worth it if only to see and experience the gardens.

It was past lunch time when we exited the Palace grounds (it was harder to find the exit of the Palace than it was to find our way out of the maze). We stopped at a sidewalk restaurant and once again relied on Michael and Chloe’s Spanish skills (Chloe used hers this time) to order Paella for lunch. We got one Chicken one and one seafood one. Both were excellent and restored our faith in Spanish cooking. The Paella came with a pitcher of beer (that was the only way to buy it) and so everyone except Chloe drank beer for lunch with the Paella.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel as it was 3pm and the outside temperature was 34c. You can see why a siesta is necessary in Spain and when in Spain do as the Spaniards. All the smaller shops were already shut when we were walking back to the hotel so it definitely is the done thing to have a siesta.

Late afternoon we watched the Swiss defending for 117 minutes before finally conceding a goal. It looked like they were happy to get to a penalty shoot out but that wasn’t to be. We then went out for dinner at 8pm after the game was finished. After wandering around a bit trying to find a suitable place we ended up at a pub where most of us (excluding Helen) had burgers for dinner. Not very Spanish but then we had done the Spanish thing for lunch. Ice Creams to finish off the dinner and back to the hotel to watch Belgium v USA.

Until tomorrow … P, M, C (they both get promoted for their Spanish use today), H & S (all he has done is cost us today, bit of dead weight really)

Today we left Portugal for a few days to do some exploring in nearby Spain. Spain is only just over 60 kms from Vilamoura. We left at about 11am after having a leisurely breakfast and doing some quick packing.  We were heading to Seville for the next few days.  Seville is only just over 200 kms away and it is pretty much motorway the whole way.  You cross the Rio Guadiana which is the boundary between Portugal and Spain. No border post anymore. Only sign that you are in a different country is that the roads changed (the Spanish motorway was in much better condition) and the biggest noticeable difference are the road signs.  Portugal road signs aren’t particularly good. Spanish ones are better. But as Stephen said, South African road signs are better. While I am on about things SA does better, another one is traffic lights.  Why is that both Portugal and Spain only have traffic lights on the near side of the road.  If you are the first car at a red traffic can you possibly see when it turns green? They have a little light at the bottom of the pole but even to see that you have to crane your neck. Why not simply have the traffic lights on the other side of the intersection like we do in SA? Seriously, some one needs to point this out to the Spanish and Portuguese.

We did have to stop and refuel on the way to Seville. As is always the case in Europe, it was self-service. You had to pay before you fill up the car.  Another stupid idea.  How do you know how much fuel the car needs? I guessed €40 and was lucky that is exactly what it needed.  We also went to get some snacks for lunch and fortunately Michael was with me when I was paying because the cashier asked me something in Spanish and I had no idea what she was saying.  Michael just replied ‘Si’ and we got a plastic bag.

We found the hotel we are staying at relatively easily thanks to another wonderful invention called the GPS (or SPG as my father-in-law calls it). We are staying at Hotel Becquer (http://www.hotelbecquer.com/). It is in central Seville, just a few minutes walk away from the Old Town and the River Guadalquiver. Only problem is that their car park was full and so we had to park at a nearby shopping mall parking garage. It is a few blocks away from the hotel but as we don’t plan to use the car for the next 2 days it doesn’t really matter much.

We arrived just after 2pm as there is a 1 hour time change from Portugal to Spain. It feels a bit strange driving for 2 hours only and having a 1 hour time change. It was pretty warm when we arrived so we did as the Spanish do – we took an afternoon siesta. That was followed by the mandatory watching of World Cup football and after having watched France eliminate Nigeria we headed for dinner.

It was 8pm and some places were just opening for the evening. The sun was still relatively high in the sky and only set at around 10pm tonight. We walked down to the river and then through a pedestrian zone and then back to the river again where we found a Tapas restaurant on the side of the river to have dinner. Chloe and Michael both have done Spanish at school. I have never been sure that Michael had learnt any Spanish but it seems my school fees haven’t been wasted on him.  I am not sure about Chloe as she claims she speaks Spanish but I have yet to see or hear her use it to actually help us.  Michael on the other hand did the ordering tonight and did pretty well. For those of you who know me, you know I am not easily impressed but Michael’s Spanish usage did actually impress me. His Spanish teacher would have been proud of him.

The Tapas wasn’t the best I have ever had (unfortunately). Too much of it was deep fried and that isn’t really what we expected. Maybe it was poor ordering but I think it might also have been the quality of the place. Hopefully tomorrow we will find a better restaurant. I also had the unfortunate experience of sitting under a tree full of birds and one of them did it’s business on me (it reminded us of Rome where my father-in-law seemed to be a constant target for the pigeons). We walked back along the other side of the river on the way back to hotel. Everyone was out running, cycling or just walking. It was a lovely evening in the mid 20C’s. Seville is a really beautiful city and we are looking forward to exploring it tomorrow.

Finishing the day off by watching the German v Algeria football match with Spanish commentary. They speak ridiculously quickly. About the only thing I have understood was ‘espectacular Neuer’ – which he has been.

Until tomorrow – P, M (because he used his Spanish so well), H, S, C (because I am yet to hear her use her Spanish)

My family (my biggest critics of course) are complaining my blogs are very short. My response was that it is because we have done very little every day. That’s not a complaint – it is just a fact. We are all quite enjoying the chilled holiday. Just reading, sleeping (the kids are doing enough of that for the whole family), golfing, cycling, occasional visit to the shops, swimming, watching football and a little bit of sightseeing.

The Reders left us today. They are going to Espana for the next week. Helen and Chloe decided to go shopping today. For obvious reasons the male members of the family weren’t excited by that prospect so we let them go by themselves (fortunately Helen has braved driving a manual car on the right side of the road). Portugal is at least not like France – the shops are open on Sunday. They went to the Algarve Shopping Mall.  The boys and I stayed and watched House. House is one of our favourite series and the wonders of modern technology mean we can even watch it in Portugal and fortunately not in Portuguese.  Our Portuguese has not improved much (or at all) while we have been here.  Most of the reason is that everyone speaks English and they don’t even bother to try and talk Portuguese to you, so we really haven’t made much of an effort (though we probably should).

We are also amazed how reasonable Portugal is – cost wise that is.  The food is not significantly different in price to South Africa. Helen and Chloe said they also found the clothes to also be reasonably (and in some cases cheaply) priced. After loafing around this afternoon – Helen sunbathed while Stephen and I watched football and Michael and Chloe caught up with their lack of sleep – we went for dinner at the Marina.

If you’re wondering what the weather was like – don’t – it was the same as yesterday, and the day before that and the day before that. 28C with a light breeze, not a cloud to be seen. It doesn’t seem like the weather will be any different for the rest of our time here either. We had a leisurely dinner at the Marina at one of the many restaurants right on the side of the water. No one is ever in a hurry in Portugal and the service was pretty leisurely (most other times & places I would have complained – not so here, I am different person). We weren’t in much of hurry except that some of us were getting hungry. Most of our time was consumed discussing how much it must cost to own a yacht of the type you see in the photo. Michael found out (thank goodness for Google) that they range in price from $500k to $5m – either way it is a lot of money considering you still need to pay for berthing.  By the time we had finished there were a lot more people at the Marina and things were just about to start get going again it seems. There are numerous bars.  We even saw one that stays open to 6am. You can see they are catering for the English tourists (of which there are numerous) – you can tell them by their lobster looks.

We got back just in time for the start of the next football game. I don’t think Stephen has missed a minute of any of them except when we were on a plane. I think he might go through withdrawal at the end of the World Cup. Not sure what he will do with his time.

Until tomorrow … P, H, M, S & C (M gets promoted because he criticized my posts the least)

The weather here is getting predictable. Another day with not a cloud in the skies … oh wait … I did see one this evening. A little wispy one. About 28C today with a light breeze. Perfect day for golf. Well, maybe slightly too hot, could have been a few degrees cooler. Michael and I did play a round of golf again today. This time at the Millennium course (http://www.oceanicogolf.com/our-courses/oceanico-millennium-golf-course/). It was a much nicer course than the other one we played. What helped as well is that I had my driver back. Michael played his best 9-holes and best 18-holes ever and I played the best I have played for a few months (and certainly the best Michael has ever seen me play). All of that made us want to go back and play again (which I am sure we will). We also hit some massive shots today including the drives in the picture below.  I am standing next to Michael’s drive (about 275 meters and about 40 meters short of the green) and my drive is about 15 meters further up on the left. If you’re not impressed you should be because we were!

Helen and Mr Bluer went cycling around Vilamoura while we were playing golf.  We both arrived back at the same time having departed at the same time. We both enjoyed our sporting outings. After the cycle and the golf, a swim in the pool was a must to cool off and relaxing for the balance of the afternoon watching rugby (SA v Scotland) and the football games.

This evening we went for a walk at the Marina to enjoy the evening vibe while the sun was setting. There were a lot of people walking around, having dinner and doing what we were doing – enjoying the vibe.  The temptation of ice cream was irresistible and after walking back to the car we decided to try and find the Old Town (which my Dad said is worth a visit). We have so far managed not to find the Old Town – we will need some more precise instructions from the wiser generation to find it. You would think you couldn’t find a part of the town in place like Vilamoura but we haven’t managed to. I am sure we will be impressed when we do eventually find it.

Until tomorrow …

 

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 light and a sign which says speed regulation (in Portuguese of course) so we assume it is to slow you down if you are traveling too fast. They just change at random times (or so it seems to me).

The beach was at the bottom of some sandstone cliffs with beautiful azure blue sea. The sea temperature is not particularly warm even though the outside temperature was around 30C today again. As you can see there was not a cloud in the sky and it was like that the whole day. We messed around on the beach with only Michael doing some swimming in the sea. The Portuguese obviously have no issue with being topless on the beach as a number of the woman were tanning (and walking around) topless even though some of them definitely should have known better. While on that subject, it is also amazing how many woman also wear thongs on the beach – and in most cases also should not be.

After the beach we headed for Lagoa but on route got sidetracked into another small village called Alcantarilha and ended up having lunch there at a local side walk restaurant.  It was a late lunch as it was already 2pm when we got there and we only finished at 3pm. The Yellowers decided to head on to Lagoa while we headed back to Vilamoura via the Hypermarket to re-stock.

It was a pretty warm day and so a late afternoon sleep was rejuvenating.  Helen went for a cycle down to the Marina and back again and then we had a late, light dinner of leftovers and salad while enjoying the beautiful evening outside by the pool. Helen said the Marina was alive and thriving and so we plan to head down tomorrow night to experience the vibe.

Until then … P, H, S, M & C

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 played the Oceanico Laguna course (http://www.oceanicogolf.com/our-courses/oceanico-laguna-golf-course/) today. There are 7 courses in Vilamoura alone and they are all part of the same group (Oceanico). As you can tell from the name, the course is played around, over and through lagoon. Lots of water. Lots of lost balls. Fortunately we found almost as many balls as we lost. Not a particularly long course but without my driver it definitely became a lot longer. And then I added to it by hitting at right angles from the hole. Michael on the other hand seemed to be hitting his driver the best he ever had and at one stage managed to drive 250 meters which is undoubtedly the longest drive he has ever had.  It wasn’t the best course I have ever played and at times it was like playing off concrete it was so hard but it was an enjoyable round all the same.

I had asked when we arrived whether there was anyone who could replace my shaft and they called the professional and he said he thought he might be able to do it.  When we finished he hadn’t come back yet with my club so Michael and I had some lunch and when we were finished he arrived about 5 minutes later.  Joaquin was his name and he basically told us his life history, about his sister who lives in Durban and that he knows another South African in Vilamoura and he wants to introduce me. Michael and I never thought we would actually be able to leave. He did fix the club though and he tells me that the shaft he put on is so good my handicap will now come down to 5! After we had loaded our clubs into the car and were driving out, he came running out to give me his card so that I could contact him again. I like him, he called me a young man.

Helen and Stephen went shopping at the Hypermarket again for some essential items – a new coffee machine (the one here was a genuine espresso machine which is a real hassle to make coffee with) and bikes. To rent a bike costs €15 per day and you can buy one for €75 so we figured that given we will be here regularly in future we may as well buy 2 bikes and leave them here for future use.  Helen has already been on two rides today and so we already seem to be getting our money’s worth.

Unfortunately we did watch Portugal win today at the World Cup but still get eliminated.  Now all the countries we are visiting on this trip have been eliminated from the World Cup.  Given all the activity especially the cycling late afternoon, we only ended up eating dinner tonight at about 8:40pm. I think that is sort of a standard Portuguese dinner time so we seem to be slotting in to the way of life here.

The town and the country are really growing on us and we have only been here for 3 days now. Tomorrow we plan to do some wider exploring in the area.

Until then ….

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 is yacht (not the ones with sails – the ones with expensive multi-million dollar powered yachts) basin with numerous restaurants and shops around the edge. It doesn’t compare to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town but it is still very nice. The predominant language spoken was definitely English. It is like being in an English speaking part of Portugal!

We came back to the house for lunch and just spent the afternoon relaxing around the house.  Some went to have an afternoon sleep, some swam and sun tanned and some played or worked on their computers. We also watched the first World Cup game but for some reason the internet kept dropping the whole day so it was a little frustrating.

After dinner tonight we headed to the other beach on the west side of the Marina. It is the Praia da Falesia and to get to it you have to drive through the Eco area which is a wetland with apparently very good bird life. Being a birder I would like to explore it a bit more but I didn’t bring my binoculars with me this time but will do next time.

The sun was setting and so we messed around on the beach taking photos and selfies. Stephen & Michael have also been arguing who is the fastest for about 2 years and so we finally got them to actually race on the beach. Michael was the clear winner but Stephen insisted that it was because they were running on the beach. On the way back to the car they raced on the tar and Michael was a Usain Bolt length ahead of Stephen when they crossed the finish line. Finally we  know with certainty who is the fastest and so hopefully that debate is now settled.

 

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 best supermarket in Portugal was not an easy task though. The aisles were so narrow you could hardly pass another shopping cart. It is also hard to actually find things. The layout is strange and trying to read Portuguese labels is not easy work either. Chloe comes in handy as she knows Spanish and some of the words are quite similar so she is our walking translator.

It always amazes me that when I go to a supermarket anywhere else in the world how they have items we have never seen before. The amount of salted, dried fish available in the supermarket was incredible. Clearly a high demand item – not from us though! They also had some fruit and veg that I have never seen before and we still need to figure out what it is. The good news is that food is not particularly expensive here and is comparable to SA prices and in some cases cheaper.  Chicken for instance is only €3/kg or about R45/kg and that is definitely cheaper than South Africa. We also noticed that shellfish (like prawns) are about 75% of the price we would pay in SA. I can see we are going to eat a lot of chicken and prawns!  We had a full shopping cart and paid pretty much the same as what we would in SA for a full shopping cart.

Helen went for a run when we got home and we didn’t see her for the next hour.  I thought she must have gotten lost (the roads are like a maze around here – thank goodness for a GPS) but it turned out she was just running a long distance in the rain (quite heavy rain for short while) and she did find her way back to us again.

Stephen, Michael and I then went out to the Algarve Shopping Mall. It is a genuine mall like we know them and included an electronics store and also a Hypermarket. The electronics store was essential as we wanted to get SIM cards but ended up with data only cards (Michael tried out his Spanish on the store assistant and it clearly wasn’t that effective) and also a telephone (we actually have a line in the house but they don’t supply a phone) and most importantly a printer (yes that is an essential item in any Temple household). It also turned out that the Hypermarket is really the best supermarket in the Algarve and so now we know we really to shop in future. We also got some essential items we needed for the house like a new dirt bin for the kitchen and screwdrivers (in case Helen wants to fix something).

We got back just after the football had started but in time to watch Suarez bite another opposing player (what is it with that guy’s brain?!). At about 5:45pm our friends the “Blacker’s” arrived.  They are joining us for the next few days in the Algarve. They had a long day thanks to French airtraffic controllers. They went on strike this morning and will be striking for the next 7 days. That means all flights into and over France are disrupted. They were meant to leave just after 6am and they eventually left at 10:20am. They flew into Seville and then drove to us (about 2 hour 30 min drive).

We had our first dinner in the house – a braai of course (barbecue for everyone in the world who isn’t South African). We tried out some Portuguese sausage which was pretty good and definitely worth repeating. Also had some Portuguese wine – I bought the most expensive white wine I could find and it was €3 a bottle – it actually turned out to be passable as well.  We have actually eaten/drunk a few Portuguese things already include Portuguese Rolls (at least that is what we call them in SA – just called rolls here!) and I have also had the Portuguese beer (Super Bock).

Helen and the “Yellower’s” went out shopping again for more groceries after dinner while we watched the ref rob Ivory Coast of progressing through to the next round. Now everyone is settled in (at 11:50pm) watching an animated movie (we came with everything needed to connect the TV to the internet so that we could stream off it). Only person not here is “Mrs Yellower” who is in bed and probably fast asleep despite the loud laughter from downstairs.

Tomorrow we will hopefully actually start to have a proper look around the area now that we are sort of settled in.

Until then … P, H, S, M & C

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 and most importantly it was my birthday.  Birthday presents were severely lacking though – I did at least get one from Helen – fudge which I always like to eat while drinking Port.  Now I just need to get a bottle of genuine Port (which I am sure I will do tomorrow). After breakfast Helen and I went for a walk around St James Park. It was another lovely day in London with a predicted high of 26C.  We enjoyed the walk even though we had to dodge numerous tour groups who were all going to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  We walked past the Palace at about 11am and heard a band playing from the Horse Guard’s barracks.  The changing of the Guard happens at 11:30am every day and so we wondered over to see what was going on.

It was the Royal Marine regiment and they had their band playing while the troops were being inspected.  They normally don’t do guard duty at the Palace so we were not entirely sure what it was about.  However, we later learnt that is was the 25oth anniversary of the Royal Marine’s and so as a special honour they would be taking over the Guard at the Palace for the next week and this was the change over. They went through a thorough check from the CO and then they marched out to much fanfare to go to the Palace to take over.  I have seen the changing of the guard before but this was the most impressive I have seen (we took some video but at 12:46am I am not going to figure out how to upload it now!)

We had to leave for the airport at 2pm. We have a reasonable amount of luggage and so the easiest was for us to take a car to the airport. Unfortunately the flight was from Gatwick and given the traffic in London it took us an hour and 15 minutes to get there.  Check in was relatively painless and we headed to the BA lounge for a quick afternoon tea and then onto the plane (which left from the furthest gate possible at Gatwick). We left slightly early and besides having a baby sitting behind me banging on the tray table for the first 20 minutes, the flight was uneventful.  We flew in Faro (pronounced Far-O) – the flight takes 2 hours 50 minutes.

It is a pretty small airport and everyone on our flight was clearly coming on holiday. We have residency status in Portugal now and so when we arrived we were welcomed home.  Quite strange being welcomed into a country as your home when it isn’t.  The luggage took awhile to come out – we figured they might be watching the football. Collecting the rental car took up some more time and then we had the impossible task of fitting 5 people into a station wagon along with 2 sets of golf clubs, 5 suitcases and 3 backpacks. First attempt to put the golf clubs in the boot (trunk for the Americans reading this) was a failure and we quickly realised the golf clubs had to go on the kids laps.  We put one set at their feet and the other set we slid across their laps but it was clear that wasn’t going to work either as we couldn’t close the door. Eventually we decided on two sets at their feet but Stephen still couldn’t put his feet anywhere.  We worked out he had to sit in the middle so he could stretch his legs through the middle toward the gear shift. We were tightly packed in and we headed to our house in Vilamoura.  (When I have the energy – it is now 12:48am – I will give some more details on this!)

We got to the house at about 9:30pm.  Fortunately we had saved the location on our GPS from the previous time we were here in December (briefly) otherwise we might still be driving around looking for it. Helen, Chloe and I then headed out to see if we could find a shop open. After driving around for 30 minutes and finding everything closed, we eventually found a Lidl supermarket open and got some essential items for snacking tonight and breakfast tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow we will find a better supermarket.

When we got back the boys had decided they wanted to rearrange the beds and so we (mainly them with a little bit of assistance and direction from me) moved two single beds down a floor and moved a double bed up a floor.  Not easy work especially since it is quite hot and humid here. We also haven’t quite worked out how the TV works yet but I am confident that Stephen will figure it out and have the necessary cables to ensure everything is working. At least the WiFi is working and at 33Mbps we are operating at 10 times the speed we get at home (oh wait this is home as well now)!

Tomorrow we will do some exploring.

Until then … P, H, SMC (all squashed together)