Coastal view just a hundred yards from our apartment
Shirley and I last visited The Algarve region of Portugal in 1983. We tootled all over in our little green Mini rental car - from Cabo de San Vicente in the far west to Vila Real de Santa Antonio in the east where we gazed across the Guadiana River into Spain. It was a wonderful holiday, before the children came along, when our bones never ached and grey hairs were impossible.
This time we were more sedentary - like sea-lions basking on a sunny beach or by the lovely swimming pool which our apartment overlooked. It was the very first holiday I have ever taken in the month of September. We were just outside the resort of Albufeira in the quite splendid Alfegar holiday village. It was a last minute booking. Some readers will remember why this was so. (More of that in another post)
One day we hired a car - a nippy Renault Clio - and headed for the hills - places we had missed in 1983 like the ancient former Moorish capital of the region - Silves and the mountain spa village of Monchique. We also ventured to the far western township of Aljezur and a spectacular beach at Arrifana, returning to Aljezur for a delicious traditional evening meal taken al fresco by a cobbled square. Then it was back along an empty motorway that had not even been dreamed of when we last visited to see a troupe of traditional Algarvian dancers in our holiday village.
Here's a small sample of the photographs I snapped:-
Silves - The twelfth century Moorish castle walls
Amazing sand sculptures in Albufeira
Old lady in a Monchique window
The fabulous beach at Arrifana
View from our apartment
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