Only a week has passed but quite a change in the weather!
It started to warm considerably after the weekend, so this week has mainly been a ’stay at home’ week. It made sense to us as we had the pool and the beaches were all walking distance too. There was still the usual shopping to be had from the local supermarket, but nothing made us anxious to go and visit somewhere in particular. We did pop in the Lara’s Plaice for some cracking english style fish and chips, but in general, its been a quiet week for eating out. We did have a ’small’ bit of cake with a coffee at a pastelaria though!
Directly down from our location, there was a short boardwalk which brings you out onto the Praia da Ouro and if we swung a left at the roundbout and just a bit further on was the access to Praia de Santa Eulália. Both beaches are great to relax and chill on and have plenty of space ”usually”. We say that, because the weekend from the 15th is ’Páscoa’ or Easter weekend. That means its a public holiday here in Portugal. And, just as the English flock here, so do the rest of Europe and it seems the world. So in the space of a week, we have had the pleasure of largely empty beaches. But that changed drastically for the weekend commencing on Good Friday! It seems just as many brits extend their holidays around the easter break, so might the Portuguese (and Spanish, French etc…).
We did have other things we wanted to do, such as: Doing the ’Seven hanging valley’s’ hike (elected as one of the best hikes in Europe!), Visit Faro (old town), as well as visiting a few of the more isolated coastal villages. We may even get some dolphin spotting in. Our thoughts were to wait until the public holiday period ended and hope it became a little quieter again.
We did manage to see our next house sit location as we mentioned in our last blog. That was in a super hidden little beautiful spot. Isolated, but not too remote. We also plan to visit our next house sit after that location, which again looked to be a much more serene location than here on the coast, and fingers crossed we get to revisit our first housesit couple and their pets again too!
We developed a bit of a morning routine. We first popped down the road for a round of coffee. It was a local cafe that stood out as it has a rather noisy inhabitant! A grey parrot who went by the name of ”Lovejoy”! We were met by his loudly proclaimed ’Bom Dia’ and other phrases he had picked up from passers by no doubt. He was also a fantastic mimic and could easily pass for a yorkshire terrier any day of the week.
We then would spend a while exploring all the different routes there was to reach the various beaches within walking distance. There were quite a few, and we even ended up half way up valleys and dead ends. But each one was a mini-adventure. We usually picked up a few supplies needed on our way back. After a quick lunch we could chill next to the pool and enjoy a refreshing dip if the weather was good. The pool is great but is cold, however, very refreshing against the hot sun!
So as mentioned, as it has been a ’stay-at-home’ week it was going to be brief.
Keep coming back to follow our adventures though. We hope to get some trips in next week…
Our Portuguese Life 