Portugal – with the Wilson’s

This July, Clare and I set off for Portugal with my parents to spend five nights out there with Jill and Dave – followed by another week out there with the Weavings and Hannah! It was my parents first visit to the villa, so we were all excited to show them around. We arrived just after sun down, with the lights of Portimao and Lagos twinkling in the distance and the warm smell of eucalyptus in the air.

The first couple of days were spent around the pool – a perfect opportunity for us to test out Dave’s new Spa Bar! We spent the Saturday afternoon in Alvor and found a fantastic restaurant not far from the harbor, called A Lota.

On the Monday we headed down to the coast to a small beach at Praia De Benagil, a fantastic little beach surrounded by tall sandstone cliffs. Dave had booked a boat trip for all of us to explore the many caves that made up the coastline. The little boat went right into the caves, sometimes needing everyone to duck down and avoid the low ceilings! There were a couple of quirky landmarks – the cave opening in the shape of a heart, a group of rocks that looked like a large sea monster – and an elephant! Once back on dry land, we made our way up the hill to a lovely little restaurant called O Pescador – which looked out over the bay and had fantastic food! Clare enjoyed the biggest Prawn Cocktail I’ve ever seen!

That evening we took a short drive up to the top of the mountain to watch the sun set on the west coast. As the sun started to drop and turn red, a local farmer strolled over – chanting “Boa Vista, Boa Vista!” (good view!). It sure was, until he stepped right in front of the camera and smiled. Maybe he wanted his photo taken? But we thought he was probably after a glass of fizz that everyone else was enjoying! Rather than move the camera, I seized the moment and captured some great shots of this local farmer gazing out across his fields into the setting sun. Maybe I’ll take a few copies back for him next year…

On returning to the villa, we could see that a large fire had started in the distance near a builders merchants half way to Portimao. As the light dropped, an orange glow was surrounded by blue flashing lights. Luckily they got the fire out within a couple of hours.

Sadly the next day, my parents had to leave us – Clare and I spent the next few days at the villa with Jill and Dave before Kate, Rob, Polly and Hannah were due to join us on the Friday. One evening Dave and I went exploring on the road up to the summit, looking at the huge wind turbines on the other side of the mountain and the fire lookout tower (which, to our surprise, was manned right the way through the summer months). We also spotted a pair of Short Toed Eagles, soaring above the ridge of the mountain – hunting in the early evening light.

Being about fifteen miles from the nearest large town – the skies in the evening offered great views of the stars. With very little light pollution, the milky way was easily visible to the naked eye – stretching out of the ocean from the south and up over the mountain. I spent a few evenings collecting photos from various angles at the villa – the results turned out pretty good!

Here are some photos from our first week in Portugal. The second week was a little more eventful, involving five fire trucks and the fire and rescue helicopter – click here to read all about it, or follow the link at the bottom of this page.