Greetings from the Algarvel

Yes, here I am, enjoying the Algave, the southern region of Portugal. You may not have heard of this part of Portugal, but it is a very popular summer destination for Europeans. And it seems that people also head here for the Christmas holidays. Now is a quiet time however still there are people enjoying the gorgeous beaches and for me, someone who hates heat, it is the perfect time to enjoy the beauty of the area. I've found myself in Portugal each fall and this is the fourth fall that I have visited Portugal, a beautiful time of year for me.

The trip here was long. And yes, flying this far with a few connections to spend four days with Cesar, my Portuguese friend, may be crazy, but what is life if you can't just do crazy things once in a while. My travels took twenty four hours from the time I left my house until I walked off the plane in Faro, Portugal. Actually a bit more because the last flight was late. The flight from London Heathrow to Lisbon was late because we couldnºt fly over French air space and had to detour over Spain. I was stressed that I would miss my next TAP Portugal flight from Lisbon to Faro but in true Portuguese style, everyone said "Don't worry", about 15 different times I heard that and they were right. Luckily the flight was also delayed and I did make it to the last portion of the trip, Lisbon to Faro for the 45 minute flight. Luckily we had winds in our favor because that trip turned out to be 30 minutes, a very good thing because ater all that traveling there was a lovely Finnish lady in the middle seat next to me with a screaming little girl, yes she screamed and kicked and hit for the entire flight. She was exhaused and so was I and if I could have gotten away with it, that might be just what I would have done too.

And after all that time, finally we landed and I was pleasantly surprised that my suitcase actually made it with me after that long journey. And finally I walked out of the secure area and there was Cesar, waiting patiently for my very late flight, I had arrived! How fun to see him and suddenly my exhaustion was gone. As we started driving to the hotel the fog got so thick that we could barely see the front of the car. I was so thankful that happened AFTER we had landed or who knows where I might have spent the night. It was midnight and I was hungry and Cesar had planned to cook dinner for me at his guest house. So we went there for dinner and about 2AM we were headed to the hotel that he was sure he could find. Well after many turns on the roundabouts we did indeed find the hotel I'd reserved. He unloaded me, my luggage and his things and parked the car. By the time he was walking up I was outside telling him we were at the wrong place!

No matter how much you travel I think there are always lessons to learn. My pattern is to find hotels recommended on trip advisor and then go to the websites to book directly with the hotels. I had done that, or so I thought. Well, after we repacked his car and drove to the other CS hotel it turns out I had booked through a booking agency even though it had the name of the hotel. Long story short..we were not going to be in a very good room. The man at the desk said he would give us a nice room after all and we walked and walked and walked to an end room, walked in to it, a tiny room with barely enough room to enter the bathroom. The balcony was beautiful but the ocean view over the rooftops was minimal. I was sad but exhausted and we decided to stay, the room was prepaid. And then we started talking and laughing and at 5:30AM we decided to stay awake until breakfast and then sleep and then we both fell asleep. We woke up at 9:55AM and since breakfast ended at 10 that was one missed meal. We ended up getting a nicer room, although I did have to pay more for it. It's a suite and much more comfortable.

We drove around and went to the Fiesa, the largest sand sculpture show in the world. It was fabulous! It's been there all summer and tomorrow is the last day. At that point Cesar said all the artists will go in and destroy the sculptures and next year there will be a new theme and new sculptures. Wonderful experience. We then went to a restaurant overlooking a beautiful beach in Albufiera. We don't drink but when I saw the most beautiful pitcher of sangria being delivered to the next table I asked for just one glass of that. Turns out they only make it by the pitcher but the man brought out a pitcher that was small that he made for me. It was the most delicious thing I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. I was only sorry I couldn't bring home all the fruit that was floating inside to enjoy later. We had a salad and then a monkfish/shrimp kabob that was also excellent! A delightful lunch overlooking the beach! Cesar knew one of the waiters so when we got our bill most of it had been given to us for free, a nice gift! I might just have to revisit that place for more sangria before I leave!

After that filling lunch we returned to our suite and slept for a few hours. Then we had the delightful experience of going to the grocery store and yes, I was taking pictures of that too. We left with 3 bags filled with snacks for our trip and the total was only 17 euros, such good prices! Then we returned to Cesar's guest house and he once again cooked me dinner, such a nice evening! And now we are sitting in the suite, enjoying a quiet evening.

Tomorrow we will make it to an early breakfast and then have reservations for a tour of the grottos and caves in the area. We will board a boat that will take us out and then we will climb down to little boats it is pulling to go into the grottos and caves. WHAT! I say to Cesar, we have to climb down the side of a boat to little ones and yes, I got the classic Portuguese answer, "Don't worry!" And so, being too tired to worry anyway, I guess I won't worry! A wonderful adventure awaits us tomorrow. In the afternoon we are going to find a famous waterfall and then on Saturday we will go into Spain to see the countryside and Sunday my visit will be coming to an end, with another long journey ahead. But I'm in Portugal so I won't worry and trust all will go well.

Bon nuite de Albufiera, the Algave, Portugal...