Winter in the Sun with all walks of life!

November 2015
The weather in Portugal since the floods has been wonderful with blue skies and a pleasant 22 degrees for about four weeks now, the evenings are a bit nippy but who cares, we have the sun!

After 4 months now of living with Bessie we are realising what foods we should have stocked up on.
Baked beans! they are about €1.70 each here! Stock cubes and cereals are expensive and gravy granules are virtually non- existent here, apart from one supermarket we found which I think has been opened for all the expats living on the Algarve called Apolonia. It feels just like a Waitrose and most of the products are English brands but it all comes at a price!  A box of Walkers 6 mince pies cost €7.99 and a box of crackers €22.99!  I am thinking toilet rolls and wrapping paper as our crackers this year! I wish I had thought harder about what we needed at Christmas but we are hoping Morrisons in Gibraltar is going to come to our rescue!
Continente is our favourite supermarket in Portugal, the discount card gives you big savings on offers  it is just like a Tesco Clubcard but instead of points you receive the discount straight away. Mork and Mindy told us about the card, we wouldn't have known about it! Continent seems overall to be the best value for food and drink in our opinion. Lidl is a close second and sometimes cheaper, but you can't get everything you need.


Wifi and Satellite
The I-booster for the Motorhome has been worth its money and cheaper than splashing out for a satellite system. Of course you have to pay for Wifi on a site but since they stopped UK programs in Spain and Portugal through satellite it is now better to stream live t.v through your wifi on sites like Filmon.com. This will only work if you have a strong signal on your wifi, which is where the booster comes in and in our case a Motorhome I-Booster.

I have learnt a lot through a forum I joined before we left called www.motorhomefun.co.uk  any question you ask is always answered albeit with a joke at the end from someone but well worth the £10 a year membership to know there is always someone there to resolve any problem you may have.

We met Chris and Iris through the forum, I was typing away on the forum one day and Chris said they were thinking of staying at Turiscampo I sent him a reply back with all the info they needed and next thing we knew Chris was calling round to introduce himself and we arranged to meet when they were settled in. We had some great evenings at the camp bar, and for Chris's 50th we took them out for the day to Sagres. They too are on an Adventure of their own in their first motorhome. They are flying home for Christmas so we hope to meet up again when they return as we are both travelling the Spanish coast in the New Year. We really enjoyed their company.

The wine store at La Tasca, Sagres

La Tasca Restaurant Sagres.

We have also met up with our ex-pat friends, John and Sandra who are about to move out of their villa in Espartal. They know all the best places to go,  they took us to Espiche Golf Club which is hidden behind the village next to the site, you would never know this oasis exsited unless you were a local the scenery is stunning from the clubhouse and the food is really good! We had homemade fish and chips and Apple pie with ice-cream, a little taste of home and it was delicious! The golf club was recently voted 3rd best Clubhouse by a top golfing magazine and it is definitely worthy of its prize!

A table with a view!

After a lovely lunch we visited the Grottos in Lagos, you can hire a little boat to take you all around the little caves for €10 each.

We said goodbye for now to our lovely neighbours Val and Ray who are heading off to wild camp for a bit before meeting up with us again at Bellavista  Campsite where we are going to spend Christmas with them. A couple of cockneys that drink us under the table anyway! Christmas is going to be one to remember!

Another Merry Evening (Sky the dog didn't want his photo taken!)

                                             

We have been busy exploring the coast, finding lots of different beaches and this time of year the beaches are so quiet you can park almost anywhere, but there are always people around, we thought the tourist resorts would be like ghost towns and although by the end of November you are limited to  a choice of bars and restaurants there are still people mainly brits here escaping the UK for some winter sun.

We visited a resort on the south coast called Carvoeiro another nice resort popular with holidaymakers with plenty of bars, restaurants and shops, a pretty cove and a coastal walk with stunning views.

Carvoeiro Beach

Our favourite beach along this coastline is just outside Lagos called Praia Dona Ana.
There are 2 fantastic beach bars one called Antonio and the other called Campi Mar both with views out to sea and serve great food.

Praia Dona Ana

A winters day on the beach.

Neil wearing my glasses again!

Another small resort along the same coastline is called Amacao De Pera. We didn't like the area very much, it is full of high rise buildings, an Aire at the front which is ok but there is a large number of working fishing boats and everywhere stinks of fish, but the stray cats love it!

Cats waiting for their dinner!

Fishermans Huts along the seafront.

Sunset over Armacao De Pera


My Dad and his wife Valerie came to visit for a few days, it is always nice to see someone from home and this time of year you can find really good deals on hotels and apartments. We found a lovely 1- bed apartment for them on a complex called Estrela da luz in Praia da Luz. The spacious apartments are set in beautiful gardens with outdoor pools, indoor pools, jacuzzi and sauna and all €38 an night!

The apartment gardens

We took them to see our favourite spots on the Algarve, and to see Bessie and experience a little of what camp life is like here. The weather has been amazing with a steady 22 degrees and sunny all day. The evenings are a lot cooler and by 5pm you will need a jumper or cardy on but we can cope with that!

Enjoying our life!

Me and Dad on my favourite beach.

A couple of posers!

Lagos Harbour

My Dad always likes to visit a Marina whenever he gets a chance so we took him to Lagos Marina. He has a 38ft Yacht at home and is a qualified skipper occasionally I am deckhand back home! I said he should have sailed over to see us instead of flying!

 There is also a good Aire right next to this marina which seems to be popular with motorhomers visiting Lagos.

Treat Lunch at Espiche Golf Club


The time flew and they both wished they had booked longer but it was time for us to say goodbye,  it seems strange dropping people off at the airport and not going home ourselves but for us it has been so nice to see friends and family from home. It seems to give you a little boost and motivates you to carry on.

After 4 months of no haircuts for me I called on our friends Sandra and John to see if they could recommend a local hairdresser. Sandra uses an English speaking hairdresser in Lagos so I was quick to call her and make my first appointment! I was very pleased with the result although my hair has lightened a little too much in the sun. I have bought with me 9 months worth of the same colour hairdye so I will have to keep to the same colour until I return home. Think I will be white by the time I return!

Before we left Portugal I wanted to make a roast dinner in Bessies oven, our first roast dinner in 4 months! we kind of succeeded but I burnt the Yorkshires! Dad brought out some Bisto gravy granules so the gravy was good!

After 7 weeks in Portugal it is time to hand back the hire car and start to pack up Bessie and move on to our site in Spain. We have had a wonderful time here Turiscampo has been up till now our favourite site without a doubt, the staff, the cleanliness the facilities are going to be hard to beat. We plan to stop at Cadiz and Tarifa along the way before we arrive at Bellavista Camping just outside Estapona in Andalusia, Spain for Christmas and New Year.

The Adventure before Dementia continues......