The Start of our Homeward Leg!

Homeward Leg

Tomorrow we start the homeward leg of our trip. We are leaving Turis Campo in the morning and have three overnight stops through south & central Spain before reaching Santander on Sunday. We then stay there for four nights before catching the ferry to Portsmouth on Thursday 14^th. If all goes well we should be home on Friday 15^th at around 18:00.

To comply with UK pets passport scheme we will have to take George to a local vet for the relevant treatment to ensure he is allowed back into the UK, being not less than 24 hours & not more than 48 hours before our ferry departure. Hence our nights at Santander.

Portugal is on UK time so we have to put our clocks forward tomorrow & then back again when we get back to the UK.

We have had a relaxing week with some visits to new places & return trips into Lagos & Praia da Luz.

Ferragudo

Lagos - another visit..
(& yet another lunch!!)

This will be our last blog until we reach Santander. Overall this has been a very enjoyable experience, but it will be nice to get back to the UK & see family & friends. Hopefully the weather will be good to.

Our experience in Portugal has been very enjoyable, we have found all areas we have visited to be very clean & the locals very pleasant. For a country who's only neighbour is Spain & the written language seems very similiar to Spanish, it is suprising that when spoken it sounds Eastern European/Russian!!

Porches & Carvoeiro, The Algarve, Portugal.

Today we decided that after saying goodbye to our new friends Roy & Margaret before they left to travel home with their two Shelties Ollie & Roxie, (sorry if we have misspelt), we would have lunch & then explore more.

Porches

When you travel to an area of interest, in this case the Algarve, it is always important to gather information on where to visit, assuming you do not have friends who can advise you from their experiences!

In line with this our navigator & unofficial tour guide, (Janet), duly got hold of a very impressive A4 glossy called ‘Algarve Welcome Magazine’ – OK it was a 2009 print but nothing should change that much.

Bearing in mind that I am just the driver etc. Janet decided that from said magazine today we would visit Porches (many potteries) & (if time) Carvoeiro!

I have often wondered why a career in marketing eluded me & now I know. The full page & very illuminating description of Porches was very good, but I should have known better when the punch line said “Although pronounced like the car there’s nothing sleek or speedy about Porches” - so the less said the better!

However we did pop into one of the potteries for a quick coffee before moving onto Carvoeiro.

Get out, or I will set the dog on you!!!

Carvoeiro.

Like many similar villages along the Algarve, Carvoeiro nestles in a dip between two hills. The main area of bars & restaurants being close to the small beach. Quite pleasant for a short visit.

Also at this point I would like to add that I have decided that the most important thing when buying a replacement car in which you plan to tour abroad with, is the option of – ELECTRIC FOLDING WING MIRRORS!!

We, (OK I), seem to have an amazing knack of finding ourselves in the very narrow ‘Old Town’ areas of the places we visit. Whilst getting to know the locals, (& donkeys - only joking), should be encouraged, smiling at them through their front room windows whilst they grin back at us does get a bit boring the more you do it!

Luckily the paint is still intact at the end of our mirrors.

Albufeira, The Algarve, Portugal

Albufeira & one of our shorter blogs. Forty-five minutes away from our site & when we arrived I did my usual trick of driving into the town & down narrow streets before realising it. However it does help to convince you are in the right place!!

For us, disappointing & well past its best which was probably in the sixties or early seventies. The town hall planning department has not helped either. Overall the feeling of a place for a cheap package holiday & all that entails!! Although I hope my pictures caught some of its nicer points.

I didn't take any of the main beach as, to be fair, they were working on part of it.

However there are a few areas which still retain some character & we had an enjoyable lunch in one of them. The owner had a good sense of humour, which made lunch even better, or maybe it was the free glass of port at the end of the meal!!

P.S. George is resting under the table having had his lunch & some of Janet's Sea Bass.

Alvor, The Algarve, Portugal

This afternoon we went to the fishing village of Alvor, which is situated between Lagos & Portimao.

Although an earthquake wiped out most of the traditional Moorish village in 1755, it has grown since then into a very nice tourist & residential village. The buildings are mainly low-rise and the charm of the old town with the narrow cobbled streets leading down to the harbour on the lagoon of the river estuary is very enjoyable.

The riverfront in Alvor has been done up over recent years and is now fully paved and lined with palm trees and several beach bars. With the view across the estuary we felt that this was the closest you would get to a similar fishing village/port in Devon or Cornwall E.G. Salcombe.

Alvor’s main beach, Praia de Alvor, is just a short walk away. It is a lovely long, dune backed, and sandy beach & was very clean. The eastern end of the sands has some large rock formations and is known as Praia de Três Irmãos.

For those who have motorhomes this is a great place to ‘wild camp’ for a day or two & we have made a note of this.

 

Just to explain to non motorhomers - it is quite easy to wild camp in a motorhome. You have gas, water onboard & full cooking  facilities etc. Leisure batteries will provide sufficient power, usually for at least three days. (However towing a caravan is not really suited to wild camping!).

Overall a very nice experience, after which we went back to Lagos to do the ‘shopping’ before an enjoyable late afternoon drink at our van & in the slowly setting sun!