Hi, Ben here, looking suitably shame-faced as to the amount of time it has taken to write this update post. It’s been so long since I wrote a personal update that some kind readers have even been in touch to check all is well with us, which is very touching. So, today, it’s time to…
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…
It is now just over a year since we waved goodbye to Old London Town, and got on the plane to Portugal, leaving our old life behind. Needless to say, the year has been one of the most eventful of our lives, and I’m finding it surprisingly difficult to work out how to summarise our…
Last week was a week of really loving being in Portugal, without a single wobbly “what have we done?” moment. The process of settling in has continued, helped by some beautiful weather especially over last weekend. As we currently have a car, we took advantage of our mobility, and the sunshine, and went on one…
When people come to visit us in Portugal it always gives us a chance to re-evaluate our decision – it encourages us to view the place through their eyes and is a good chance to take stock. After a slightly complicated Christmas (see previous post,) and torrential rain, we were most grateful that our relatives…
Apologies for my prolonged absence! Our first festive season in Portugal has been mixed, to say the least – so here follows a bit of an update. Much as I am a “glass-half-full” kind of person, there have been some negatives in the past few weeks, so in the interests of being fully representative of…
We had an eventful weekend in the Algarve. It started off with a wonderful walk around Tavira looking at the Christmas lights. When you think about some of the awful “too cool to actually be any good” displays that have adorned London’s Regent Street is recent years it is fantastic to see Christmas done right.…
For the next few days, we spent our time exploring our local coast. Our first stop, just to the west of Tavira, was a beach called Praia Do Barril. As with the majority of beaches along the Eastern Algarve, the beach is on a sand-spit island. Several of the beaches require you to take a…
After much exploration, we have decided on Tavira to start with. We also intend to try the silver coast, renting in both areas to check all goes to plan and see which we prefer. We have the deposit paid on a lovely town house and when not stressing about finalising things here in…
Hello world! My blogging hobby starts here. My wife and I are six months away from swapping our hectic London life for a new one in Portugal and here I hope to keep a record of everything as it happens. At worst, I hope to be able to refer back in years to come and…