Adventure - 2
First we hope you’re Ok, having seen all the awful weather on the TV and heard about it from Sonia and Maria - the heavy snow and now the floods. The weather here is very mild, most days we take Sammy to the beach!
Having said that last week we had a week of squally, showery weather. We’d read that January is “winter” for the Algarve. A winter in which they’ve never heard of frost or snow! The site has very nice chalets in which we can accommodate our guests. Faro airport is about an hour away and has convenient flights from Bristol so having visitors to stay is easy.
As usual we’ve been walking and cycling in the area which is very varied. People, including us, tend to focus on the spectacular coastal scenery, stunning beaches, fantastic cliffs,but there are also mountains, (well hills – approximately 3000 feet) as well as some very interesting agriculture. Nearby is the main centre of orange growing and the peak of the season was in December so the laden orange trees were spectacular and we’re now just beginning to smell the next cycle, thousands and thousands of orange trees are just starting to blossom.
Spring is already springing here, almond blossom is providing pink blushes all over the landscape. Pink and white tree heathers are just starting to flower and there is a profusion of an attractive yellow weed which is plastering the fields. Wild white narcissi and the daisies look like snow.Concomitant with the attractive landscape are the birds and butterflies. The Azure winged magpies are common, the Hoopoe less so. The Monarch butterfly we didn’t realise was a resident of Portugal.
We continue to have minor technical issues with our home which we’re slowly resolving. Having purchased a macerator we can now pump our sewage and grey water some distance thus obviating the need for dragging a waste tote to the chemical toilet disposal point. Aaaggghh - it’s an exciting life in a trailer! We have a nice shiny new stainless steel roof rack for the truck which we had fabricated here so we can carry the bikes (safely) on top the truck.
We’ve also navigated our way through Portuguese hairdressers, vets, doctors and dentists, though it has to be said that Chris, having seen the effect of a Portuguese lady hairdresser (who spoke no English) on my coiffure, chickened out and found an English speaking one to do her hair!
I’ve also had my first fine from the Portuguese police! I didn’t see a no left turn sign and.....turned left. Just my luck the only policeman in the town must have been having a coffee in the cafe opposite! We’re having Portuguese lessons each week and although we’re picking up some vocabulary we’re finding the pronunciation especially difficult but we shall persist.
We’re staying on this site until the middle of March and then we’re heading to an inland site in mid Portugal at Marvao and plan to stay there for a month. Then we’re hoping to stay in northern Spain near the Picos de Europas for a few weeks before heading into Southern France, probably the Lot/Dordogne area, and still hoping/planning to be back in the UK in July for a short time.
Contributed by Chris & Cliff
(Published 1st Mar 2013)
