movingtoportugal

(Ben) I must start today’s post with a humble apology. This blog’s been a little neglected of late, due to a combination of hosting guests, working to save up for our impending tax bill, and our decision to move house in the near future.

I’ll go into more detail on the latter in a future post, as I want to give the story behind our plans to move and details of the plans themselves the space they deserve. For now, however, I’ll just say that we are remaining in the Algarve but moving somewhere with a little more life and variety.

Now, I’ve got you guessing, I’ll proceed with today’s post, which is about travel within the Algarve. The tourist season is underway, and we find ourselves being asked lots of questions (both by our own guests and by random people we meet) about how best to travel around the Algarve region. I’m going to start by talking about trains.

Trains in the Algarve

The Algarve train line stretches for almost the entire length of the coast, beginning at the border with Spain at Vila Real de Santo Antonio and ending just shy of the far West in the city of Lagos.

Algarve Trains

For those visiting the East Algarve, where we currently live, the train is a great way of getting around. It’s cheap, and practically hugs the coast from Faro to the Spanish border. It’s not especially fast (Faro to Tavira takes 40 minutes), but it’s cheap, and, importantly for tourists, it’s possible to access beaches and resort towns by alighting at Olhao, Fuseta, Tavira, Conceicao or Monte Gordo.

West of Faro, the train’s not quite as good as the route map might suggest. Between Faro and Portimao, few of the stations are anywhere near the towns that they suggest they are. Albufeira station, for example, is several miles from civilization. Journeys on this section of the line seem long, with Faro to Lagos taking nearly two hours – twice as long as by road.

Still, I for one love a journey on the train, but if you intend to take a long trip, don’t do it in July and August. I travelled from Tavira to Lagos and back last summer for a meeting when the temperature was pushing 40 degrees, and it was torturously hot on board.

Buses in the Algarve

The Algarve has a surprisingly extensive bus network, and for some journeys (Faro to Albufeira being a good example), bus travel is a more sensible option than riding the rails.

Faro Buses

However, it’s fair to say that travelling by local buses and locating the correct bus stops and timetables can be a challenge if you don’t understand Portuguese.

If you do fancy giving it a go, however, I can recommend a fabulous website, Algarve Bus Info. The site owner has clearly spent hours amalgamating all possible Algarve travel information into one place, and the information also covers train timetables and tips on journeys to Lisbon as well as Spain and beyond.

Car Hire in the Algarve

If you really want to experience the Algarve properly, it’s undoubtedly best to hire a car. Most of our guests don’t bother, but they’re lucky enough to have my wife to drive them around!

If you really don’t want to drive in Portugal, then it’s best to choose a resort such as Lagos, Tavira or Albufeira, where you can rely on an airport transfer at either end of the holiday and have sufficient amenities on hand that you need not travel away from the town.

But this, to me, is missing the point. You won’t find tucked-away, “secret” beaches without a car. You won’t be able to stop at tiny makeshift fruit stalls, and you won’t get to go off the beaten track and find the “real” Algarve.

Explore the inland Algarve with a hire car

Also, at least outside of peak tourist season, it’s often cheaper to hire a car for a week than it is to pay for two airport transfers.

So, my local’s recommendation is to take to the roads when you visit the Algarve – you’ll see so much more of this wonderful region.

If you’re looking for a hire car, we recommend Economy Car Hire. Alternatively, use carhirefaroairport.com to search a host of local companies all at once. Enjoy your trip!

Image credits: guymoll, Wikimedia Commons

Life in Portugal can be tricky enough when you’re trying to negotiate the endless paperwork or identify strange looking cuts of meat in the butcher’s, let alone when you try and work out how to speak Portuguese.

How to speak Portuguese – be prepared to study hard

The difficulty with learning Portuguese is that what you say and hear doesn’t seem to correspond much with the written language, especially when you live in the Algarve where people have a heavy accent. With accents peppering the words and changing both the sound and the emphasis, Portuguese is a hard language to master. We have been here for nearly 3.5 years now and are still nowhere near fluent, although I do feel that we are learning more every day. In our case it doesn’t help that we both work from home, rather than having jobs where we spend all day with people speaking Portuguese.

If you are moving to Portugal soon or even just holidaying here, here are my top ten (tongue-in-cheek) Portuguese language cheats that will hopefully help you out.

Speak fast

When you are uncertain of what you are saying in another language, it is natural to speak slowly and try to say each word perfectly. If you do this in Portugal, you may well be met with a blank look. Instead, speak as fast as you can, pretending that you are speaking flawless Portuguese. You will have a much better chance of being understood.

Uma imperial

A beer please!

‘Uma imperial se faz favour.’

This means ‘a small beer please.’ In most bars you will get a lovely, small glass of beer. Given how hot the Portuguese summer is, ordering a succession of small beers means you don’t end up drinking the too-warm second half of a pint. In some touristy areas, even if you ask for an imperial you will be given a pint (‘uma caneca’) anyway, so that the bar can charge you more.

This phrase is often usefully followed by ‘mais uma, se faz favor’ – ‘one more please!’

Obrigado/obrigada

To say ‘thank you’ in Portuguese, men say ‘obrigado’ and women say ‘obrigada.’ The gender of the person to whom you are speaking does not matter. This is FACT, even though some Portuguese people will try to tell you that’s not how it works.

Can to be this

‘Pode ser isto’ – the literal translation is ‘can to be this,’ but this rather awkward phrase is actually used to mean ‘can I have this,’ so you can use it in shops, cafés, restaurants and anywhere else where you are able to point to the item that you desire.

Pode ser isto – useful for buying all kinds of things

If in doubt, smile and nod

When we first moved here, even basic interactions could be a struggle, despite six months of me obsessively playing Portuguese language CDs in the car anytime I drove anywhere before we left England.

There were many times when neighbours, shop assistants and others that I interacted with tried to make pleasant conversation about the weather, football or other random subjects. At first I would freeze in such situations, looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights while my fellow conversationalist painstakingly repeated the sentence in a futile attempt to make me understand. The result was usually an awkward silence while I blushed and felt stupid.

These early struggles allowed me to develop the smile and nod policy. Now when someone speaks to me and I don’t understand them, I don’t panic, I just smile and nod. Astonishingly, 90% of the time this is accepted as an appropriate and satisfactory response on my part. Although I still have no idea what has been said to me, instead of just feeling tongue-tied and stupid, I use my nodding time to replay the sentence in my mind and try to catch the key words that will make it all become clear.

Of course, this policy is far from fail-safe and it is absolutely not to be used when dealing with government officials, lawyers or anyone else where you could be agreeing to something serious without realising it!

Instantly get rid of excess waiters!

Warding off additional waiters

‘Já pedi’ – this means ‘already asked,’ and is a handy phrase for using in bars or cafés where you have already ordered but you spy a second waiter approaching with a notepad and an eager look in his eye.

Write it down

If you need to deal with officials in Portugal who don’t speak English, it’s often helpful to write down your request and take it with you on a piece of paper. That way if you bungle the pronunciation and they look confused, you can just hand over your pre-written request and – provided your handwriting is neat – be understood.

This approach was essential when we were trying to obtain our atestado document to prove that we lived in our village and had to ask two local residents to sign our form (apparently in the village council’s eyes the rental agreement for our apartment was not sufficient proof that we lived there).

I’ve also successfully used this method the first time I ordered a large takeaway and the first time we had to exchange our empty gas bottle – knowing that my grasp of Portuguese was at the time insufficient for these (now mundane) conversations, I took along my trusty piece of paper, which on both occasions saved the day.

Write it down

After-dinner conversation

‘A conta, se faz favor.’

In Portugal you are welcome to sit and relax once you have finished your meal in a restaurant. You can enjoy the company of your friends or family and engage in after-dinner conversation, without the staff desperately trying to get you out of the door so that they can turn the table. This is part of what makes dining in Portugal such a pleasant experience. However, for those ready to pay and leave, it can be a little frustrating. If that’s you, use this phrase, which means ‘the bill, please.’ Of course you could also use the internationally recognised mime of writing on your hand!

Have a glass of wine

It’s astonishing how much more confident a glass of wine can make your attempts to speak Portuguese. After three glasses I’m unfailingly convinced that I’m fluent, much to the dismay of my Portuguese friends.

Confidence in a glass!

And if all else fails…

‘Desculpe, não entendo.’

If all else fails, you can resort to this phrase, which means ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand.’
Our efforts to speak Portuguese have been overwhelmingly well received. Even when we get in a muddle and mispronounce things or say something silly, the fact that we have tried always goes down well. Even if you have no plans to work out the full intricacies of how to speak Portuguese, a few choice phrases will ensure you stand out and earn you service with a smile wherever you go.
Boa sorte!

If you want to hear more about our adventures with the Portuguese language, why not check out our book: Moving to Portugal

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons, Flickr

It’s been quite a weekend for us here in Portugal.

It started on Friday with a visit to our accountant. This is an annual meeting, which reveals the provisional figure for our tax bill.

Suffice to say the news wasn’t good. We have a gargantuan bill to pay in the summer and sadly, due to the fall of sterling, something of a shortfall to make up between times.

Portugal Blog – Saving up for the tax bill

If you’d have told me late last year that it would have made better sense to keep our tax savings in the safety and security of a Portuguese bank, I probably would have laughed. We left it in a UK bank. However, a run of bad news out of the UK this year has hammered the pound. On a Portuguese tax return, your UK-based earnings are converted at the exchange rate on the last day of the tax year. For 2012, that was about 1.23. We ended up moving the money at 1.15. Well, it doesn’t take a mathematical genius to work out that that’s a pretty crappy turn of events does it?

Now, the events in Cyprus have seen the Euro struggle a bit, so we may make back some of our losses in the coming months. But this does go to prove that living in one country and continuing to earn money from one with a different currency can put you in some precarious situations. You win some, you lose some.

“Still, at least we have the sunshine,” my wife said. This proved rather ironic when at 9am on Sunday morning we were woken up by an apocalyptic hail storm, featuring stones the size of marbles.

This weekend, we’ve also spent a lot of time on the phone with various friends and family members planning their holidays in Portugal. Strangely, we don’t get an awful lot of visitors in the winter(!) but we have a flurry due in the next month or two. Hopefully, summer will make an appearance soon for us as well as them, as right now you can’t predict what’s going to happen from one day to the next.

Portugal Blog – More days like this soon please

So, for now, it’s time to get our heads down and make up the tax bill money as quickly as possible, which means switching to frugal mode. The irony here is that we actually rather enjoy the lean times – being economical yet inventive in the kitchen, and being forced to enjoy free (and healthy) outdoor activities. We just need it to warm up a bit. The beach costs nothing – but it’s not much fun in a hailstorm.

PS. We’ve had some great (and enlightening) responses to our Portugal Blog Survey, posted last week. Soon we will publish some details of the responses, and start to tailor some posts based on requests readers have made.

Euros image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The climate in Portugal at this time of year is unpredictable – there was even a mini tornado in the local town of Cabanas last week that damaged boardwalk sunshades and sent tables flying. Last week’s rain and strong winds have left me yearning for the sunshine so that we can get back out to the beach and enjoy days of basking in the sun and splashing around in the sea. It got me thinking about my favourite beaches, so here are my top five beaches in the Algarve.

Praia da Rocha

Praia da Rocha – sunlight sparkling on the sea

Located by the city of Portimão, Praia da Rocha (‘beach of the rocks’) is a beach of contrasts. The beach itself is in two halves – Praia da Rocha is a huge flat expanse of man-made beach backed by a boardwalk with small cafes and restaurants. Around a large outcropping of cliff, is the adjoining Praia dos Três Castelos – a long stretch of rock-strewn coves. It’s all backed by some stunning, dramatic cliffs. The top of the cliffs are crowded with hotels, gift shops and bars, some nice, some not so nice. The ‘strip’ is hellish in summer, crowded with drunk tourists and men selling fake watches, cheap ornaments and worse. All of that is forgotten though the moment you step onto the white sand after walking down the (many) steps from the cliff top.

Praia da Rocha was the beach we stayed at during our very first trip to Portugal and was one of the reasons we moved here in the first place, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. The light sparkles on the sea there in a way that I have yet to see anywhere else.

Praia Dona Ana

Praia Dona Ana

Praia Dona Ana is near the town of Lagos. It’s a fairly small cove beach, accessed by a clamber down the cliff via a steep staircase. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. The water is crystal clear, with deep blues and greens – perfect for swimming in. Small boats can be hired for cave trips along the coastline, which are well worth doing. I will always remember our 90 year old grandmother braving the steps down to the beach and then insisting on going on one of the cave trips, much to the astonishment of the boatman.

There is one restaurant on Praia Dona Ana and it’s well worth a visit. Prices are very reasonable and the food is really good – much better than you would expect from a beachfront restaurant. We always include a stop there when we visit this beach, although it can involve a bit of a wait during busy periods.

Exploring the caves at Praia Dona Ana

Praia Verde

Praia Verde (‘green beach’) is a lovely, flat beach of soft, white sand that seems to stretch on forever, backed by a dense, green forest (hence the name). It’s located a few kilometres east of the town of Tavira, about 10 km shy of the Spanish border. Praia Verde is a great beach to visit if you have young children, as when the tide goes out it leaves long, shallow tide pools behind that are perfect for splashing around in and offer greater safety than playing in the sea.

I haven’t tried the restaurant at the beach for anything other than drinks since it was renovated a couple of years ago. Before the renovation, it was a rather charming ramshackle place, serving good quality seafood at reasonable prices. It is now much larger and smarter and although I haven’t eaten there recently I suspect that its prices have gone up along with its size, if the drinks prices are anything to go by.

Praia da Cabanas

Praia da Cabanas is in the fishing village of Cabanas (meaning ‘huts’), in the eastern Algarve. It is accessed by a short boat ride (lasting about 60 seconds) across the river and then a walk along the boardwalk up and over the dunes. It’s a delightfully pretty beach, which boasts endless flat sands and usually a few kite surfers to watch idly while you laze in the sun. Although it attracts large numbers of tourists, it seems to absorb them better than most of the Algarve’s beaches, making it a haven for residents during the summer months.

Forte de Rato beach

Forte de Rato beach – perfect for boating

This last one was a difficult choice. Although Ilha de Tavira is unquestionably one of the Algarve’s most beautiful beaches, with sparkling waters and sugar-soft sand, the beach near Forte do Rato in Tavira has to be my final choice. This is essentially a small, tidal river beach on the edge of the delightfully pretty town of Tavira. I’m not sure what it is actually called, as it’s not signposted and everyone I know who has been to it just calls it, “the beach near Forte do Rato.” If you want to find it, just follow the signs to Forte do Rato from Tavira.

The sand itself is nothing to shout about, but the water is where this beach really comes into its own. Shallow and clear, it is perfect for paddling, swimming, or (if you are as young at heart/just plain childish as we are) buying an inflatable boat in the nearby Gran Plaza shopping centre and rowing around in circles for hours on end. It has no facilities whatsoever, so be sure to take a supply of snacks and drinks when you visit.

Forte do Rato from above – plentiful shallow water to play in

This beach is backed by the Ria Formosa nature reserve, which is lovely for walking across and seeing the salt pans and wild flamingos (in the winter months) and also has the tumbledown Forte do Rato (‘fort of the mouse’ – also known as the Fort of Santo Antônio de Tavira and Forte da Ilha das Lebres) which is fun to explore and pretend you are fighting off marauders. Or maybe that’s just me

This is not the most beautiful beach on the list, but nonetheless it’s one of our favourite places in the whole of the Algarve.

And a quick mention for…Alcoutim

Alcoutim – don’t be put off by the green water!

Although it didn’t make the final cut, I have to mention the river beach at Alcoutim, a small riverside town facing the Spanish border. The water is clear but with a greenish tinge, though there is a reassuring blue flag flapping merrily on the beach. The water is warm and still and although the beach itself is tiny, we found space to relax there even in mid-summer. It has a rather hippy-ish vibe, which makes a lovely change from the intense tourism of the Algarve’s coastal beaches during the summer months.

So while the climate in Portugal continues to frustrate us this year, these are my all-time top five favourite beaches in the Algarve. Do you have one to add to the list? If so, we would love to hear about it – please leave a comment below.

Today finds me still somewhat disorientated after just returning from our holiday in the USA, where we visited New York (VERY cold) and Florida (very warm).

I won’t dwell on the holiday itself, wonderful though it was, as this is a blog about moving to Portugal. Suffice to say we had a great time and created many memories. I have scattered a few photos across this post.

A change from Algarve scenery

Instead, I’m going to list five reasons why I’m glad to return to Portugal. When we lived in the UK, we used to find the end of a holiday awfully depressing. Now that we genuinely love the place we live, the sadness of the end of a holiday is mixed with genuine joy at being “home” – and that’s definitely a good thing.

So, here are five reasons why I’m happy to be back in Portugal:

1. I NEED fresh food now. We spent ages looking forward to burgers, New York pizza and the International House of Pancakes. Now that I’ve been there and done it, I want fresh fish, food that isn’t fried and, most importantly, I want salad and vegetables.

No more of these for a while

2. I love having space around me – on the beach, on the pavements and on the roads. The sheer human traffic in both New York and Florida was exhilarating for a while, but I prefer the Algarve’s slow pace.

3. I have my own bath back, with its comfortable slope at the back – and my own toilet, which is always nice.

Whimsical characters – or my own toilet?

4. The first thing I see when I’m nearly at my front door on returning from the airport is a bright sea vista, as wide as the eye can see, as I head down from the motorway towards Tavira. When I lived in the UK, the equivalent landmark was Tolworth Tower. There’s a photo here for those without knowledge of South West London:

Our pre-Portugal, post-holiday landmark

5. There are loads of things I want to get on with now! As expected, our holiday gave us time to regroup and reprioritize. Now we’ve made those plans I’m keen to get them underway. First, however, we have trips to Ikea and clothes to sort out.

All in all, I feel surprisingly upbeat considering our holiday is over – certainly more than I would be if our final destination yesterday had been London rather than Lisbon. It’s good to be back.

Until next time NYC

Considering moving abroad? I’d recommend it! Please check out our book:

Moving to Portugal: How a young couple started a new life in the sun – and how you could do the same

Readers in the US and Canada will find the book here.

“Christmas already?” goes the well-used cliché. Many years ago, I worked in a supermarket, and I’d hear it at least a hundred times on the day we began to load the seasonal stock onto the shelves.

For many expats, Christmas has to start early. For starters, getting hold of many of the things that make up our non-negotiable traditions takes time and effort, especially if we are to get them at sensible prices. I’m talking about things like mincemeat, marzipan and Christmas crackers.

Christmas is coming

Then there are the presents. When you have to send gifts a couple of thousand miles, you can’t be doing all the Christmas shopping in a fun but frantic rush on Christmas eve.

Luckily (and as you will know if you’ve read the blog for a while), my wife and I love Christmas. In fact, we’ve already watched a few Christmas films this year and my wife’s “Christmas music embargo” was lifted a few days ago. We’ve even already made the chutney.

In a couple of weeks, we set off to London for our annual mad dash around family and friends. It’s fun, tiring and slightly thankless all at once, as there never seems to be enough time to go round. It’s perhaps a little known fact of expat life that you end up using most of your holiday time visiting people and having people visit you – it’s hard to end up with any real time off for yourself.

Snow and traffic on our last Christmas trip back to the UK

This December visit will be even more hectic than usual, as I have a couple of big work projects in progress. It’s quite depressing to know that we’ll be in England with insufficient time to get around to all of the people we’d like to see.

Anyway, I’m only having a little moan; working is part and parcel of a trip to London for us. There’s always next year, and if people want to visit us instead, they know where we are.

Speaking of which, people have already booked to come out and see us next year, and next week we have a friend coming over for a repeat visit. We’re looking forward to showing her the winter version of the Algarve. Tavira, our local town, is really rather enchanting at Christmas. I hope the town hall budget permits similar decorations to these this year:

Tavira Christmas Lights 2010

So, I’ll end today’s post with an apology that my updates may be a little sporadic over the coming weeks, as we attempt to spread some seasonal cheer in the UK and earn enough to pay for the festive season. I’m already looking forward to a glass of pink fizz on Christmas morning. In this age of austerity, it will be Portuguese sparkling wine, not the posh stuff! Until next time.

Stuck for Christmas gift ideas? It would be awfully seasonal of you to buy someone our book!

Moving to Portugal: How a young couple started a new life in the sun – and how you could do the same

US readers can find it here.

Those outside the UK may not be aware that this past weekend was a bank holiday. As my wife works for an English company, we observe UK bank holidays and not Portuguese ones. While this is a shame in that Portugal has far more than the UK, it meant we just got to enjoy a three-day weekend.

Our only objective was to have the kind of weekend that makes you feel sad when it’s over. We succeeded, and managed to fit plenty in, including the exploration of a couple of places we hadn’t been before.

After getting ahead and doing our grocery shopping in Spain on Friday night, we were ready for a day of exploration on Saturday. We set off in the car in the direction of Alcoutim, a small riverside town facing Spain over the border.

Alcoutim River Beach

Our intended destination was the Praia Fluvial, a picturesque river beach we had seen in a tourist guide.

The drive itself was a great surprise, being on a modern road cut into the mountains and featuring some stunning views. Upon arrival at Alcoutim, we spotted some signs to an archeological site, so decided to go and find the monolith in question before heading for the river beach.

The signs led us up a treacherous mountain road and then onto a gravel path that got narrower and bumpier as we progressed. We eventually found the monolith.

Now, perhaps there’s just no historical romance in my soul, but I must confess to being….underwhelmed by the fenced off bits of rock we drove all that way to. Perhaps my naming it the “shitolith” was a tad harsh, but it wasn’t exactly the highlight of my weekend.

The Shitolith

The river beach, however, met all of our expectations. Small but relatively undiscovered, it was peaceful even on an August Saturday. We were surprised to see that it had been awarded a blue flag for clean water as we didn’t realise they applied to river beaches. The flag gave us extra reassurance when we took to the water, which was clear and surprisingly warm.

Praia Fluvial Alcoutim

Saturday evening was spent at the medieval fair in Castro Marim. Having already visited the fair in Silves, we were interested to compare the two and surprised that all present agreed that the Castro Marim fair was far superior to the more well known event in Silves. The stalls seemed to offer far more authentic and unique items and the place just felt “more medieval,” however subjective that may sound! On the down side, if was frantically busy, so not the place for those who dislike crowds and/or waiting for food and drink.

Castro Marim Medieval Fair

Plans for a swim and a barbecue with relatives on Sunday were scuppered early in the morning by the discovery of a flat tire, probably picked up during our dirt-track journey to the shitolith. As it turned out, we had an unexpectedly enjoyable day, ending up with friends having a fish feast at a beachfront restaurant, followed by some time paddling on the beach and (unsuccessfully) flying a kite.

Unfortunate flat tire

The weekend was rounded off nicely by an impromptu Monday trip to Praia da Rocha, one of our favourite beaches, and an enjoyable meal at Casa Algarvia in Cabanas.

We certainly made the best of our weekend and felt suitably melancholy about returning to work today. We could do with cheering up, so, if you’d like to help, please take a look at our new Moving to Portugal book on Amazon and consider buying a copy!

Moving to Portugal: How a young couple started a new life in the sun – and how you could do the same

Until next week ☺

I realised this morning that it has been almost a month since I gave a full update on life here in Portugal.

I have a good excuse. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been putting the finishing touches to Moving to Portugal – the book, and am proud to be able to finally show you the cover:

Moving to Portugal Book Cover

Over the years, several people have said that I ought to turn the blog into a book. To start with, I dismissed the idea, mainly because I didn’t wish to repeat what I had already written.

The solution was for my wife to produce a brand new narrative from her perspective. This means that while those wonderful people who have read the blog from the start may recognise certain events and situations, there is still plenty of brand new content to read.

The book should be available on Amazon within the new few weeks. You can be sure I’ll let you know when it is!

Meanwhile, summer has gathered pace, and with the exception of an oddly cool and overcast week last week, we are enjoying plenty of heat and sunshine.

When I say “enjoying,” that’s not strictly true. “Observing” would probably be a better word, as we both currently have a work schedule that resembles the one we left London to get away from!

However, some friends arrive next Monday for a ten-day stay and then we will officially switch to holiday mode. Their arrival marks the start of our visitor season; A quick count up reveals we have 18 different individuals coming to visit between now and mid-October.

We are determined to take in plenty of the things the Algarve has on offer this year. We felt a little short-changed last summer. We reached October feeling like we hadn’t done nearly enough in terms of beaches, events and festivals.

Silves During the Medieval Fair

This year we have already visited the Medieval festival in Silves, where we had a great evening enjoying hog roast, craft stalls and plenty of sangria consumed from porcelain flagons. Olhao’s shellfish festival and Portimao’s sardine festival are next on our list.

We are also determined to do more swimming in the sea. I think we may have become acclimatized to Algarve weather and water temperature. When I look back at photos of us here on holiday years ago, we were clearly spending hours in the sea even in April; now, in July the sea seems REALLY cold.

Perhaps we were just more determined to make the most of our beach time back then? Either way, I refuse to reach the end of the summer and feel like we’ve hardly set foot in the sea – so from next week onwards, we’re going in every time we go to the beach!

In other news, our region in the East Algarve has been through some awful wild-fires. Now extinguished, the fires burned one third of our borough, according to the local mayor. The fires raged for days and our local firemen, who are mostly volunteers, have been rightly hailed as heroes.

East Algarve Wild Fire at Sunset

It came as a shock to me that they receive such limited state funding that they require food and drink to be provided via public appeal. However, the success of the appeal meant that, within hours, the local community had provided far more than required. I was pleased to be able to do my bit, and it was heartwarming to know that a “blitz spirit” is alive and well here in Portugal.

The risk of further fires still exists and there was another in the West Algarve only yesterday. It is also important to remember that central Portugal and the Alentejo go through this every year. Our dry winter has increased the level of risk across the whole country.

I think that concludes my update for today. I have five more working days until holiday (yes I AM counting) so I’d better get on with it. Back soon – hopefully with more news of the book.

If you want something to read in the meantime, I recommend this inspirational moving abroad memoir, set in neighbouring Andalucia:

Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia (The Lemons Trilogy)

Last week was great. My family came to visit, and as they had already been to the East Algarve on two occasions, we all decided to seek out a change of scenery and rented a beautiful villa “up the other end” in Lagos.

The weather was mostly beautiful all week with temperatures that hit the mid-30s several times. I was delighted that my mother got to experience true Algarve heat, having previously only visited in winter.

Enjoying the Water at Praia da Dona Ana

Accompanying my mother was her partner and his 90-year-old mother, who wowed us as well as serveral passers-by with her determination to experience everything the holiday had to offer. This included walking up and down dozens of wooden steps in the midday sun at Praia da Dona Ana, climbing onto a small fishing boat for a sightseeing trip and enjoying the water in both pool and sea.

Lagos is a favourite destination of ours and somewhere we were tempted to move to before we settled on the Tavira area. As always, we thoroughly enjoyed being in the town with its happy blend of tourist tat and authentic Portugal. This was, however, the first time we didn’t feel any temptation to move there, which gave us a pleasing sense of having fully settled where we are.

Lagos pre sunset

We fitted in several barbecues and enjoyed homemade coconut shrimp, presunto wrapped asparagus, sirloin steak, chargrilled salmon and stacks of sparkling fresh local sardines. When we weren’t eating, we did plenty of sightseeing including a trip to Silves castle and a tour of local beaches.

Silves Castle

As ever, with our family visits, time passed all too quickly. Before we knew it the end of the week had arrived, complete with tearful goodbyes and a sullen reloading of the car. Things were rather quiet at the villa when everybody had gone and we spent some of our last day looking for cheap flights in the hope they can come again before the end of the year.

On the bright side, however, the sad end of an Algarve holiday is far easier to deal with when you still live there. Within an hour of driving away from the villa, we were back in Tavira, enjoying an espresso in the square by the Roman bridge. We really can’t complain.

Enchanting Views in Silves

As ever, our travelling companion was the “Rough Guide Directions” series, see below:

Rough Guide Directions Algarve

When blogging about our new life in Portugal, I am always keen to be completely honest and to share the lows as well and the highs. Regular readers will know that I often highlight the fact that life in the sun is far from being one long holiday.

It’s important to mention this to deliver a reality check to those who may have been on holiday in the Algarve, returned home and impulsively typed “moving to Portugal” into Google. Nowhere is a complete paradise and real life follows you everywhere.

Sometimes, however, all the stars come into alignment and everything feels perfect – and last weekend was one of those times.

Sunset over Santa Luzia Algarve Easter 2012

It started with a visit from some guests, consisting of one of my wife’s colleagues and her partner. As I have now told them this in person, I can be honest and say I had a mild sense of foreboding about their arrival, as they weren’t people I really knew.

Anyone who has lived in a desirable location for any length of time will know that “guest politics” can be fraught with difficulty. When you live abroad, seeing friends and family usually means spending multiple days and nights under the same roof – doing everything together.

This is not the normal course of events. When you live in your home country, people may stay the night here and there, but they rarely stay multiple days or weeks. These long periods of closeness can either cement true friendship or signal its destruction. While plenty of enjoyable “cementing” has gone on since we arrived in Portugal, there has also been one “destruction” incident, about which I shall say no more at this point! Suffice to say though, that guests who we haven’t lived in close quarters with before now cause me concern!

Algarve Easter - Praia do Barril

I needn’t have worried. Our guests were a true pleasure to have around and we bonded against a backdrop of good seafood, soul music and Grey Goose vodka. A good time was had by all I think, and despite a grim weather forecast, the sun appeared at least a couple of times each day, allowing for some unexpected beach time and a couple of fun drives on our electric mopeds.

We finished off the Easter weekend with a day of fishing, walking and biking near the coast of Tavira. Our day was complemented perfectly by my mother in law’s homemade pasta salad, plenty of pink wine and a fresh crab that we bought at the supermarket and cracked into on a rock by the shore. If there’s a better way to enjoy shellfish I have yet to find it! Before returning home we stopped for an espresso, caught the last few minutes of the hot sun and felt more relaxed than we had done in some time.

Fishing spot near Tavira Portugal

All in all, it was a perfect, low-cost, feeling thankful kind of day. The kind I moved here for. Sometimes being here DOES feel like a holiday.

If you’re considering a move to Portugal, take a look at this book:

Buying Property in Portugal (second edition) – insider tips for buying, selling and renting