Lagos Pt 2

Mon 12th Nov - Sun 18th Nov: A partial return of the better weather lifted our spirits and meant that we could enjoy some local area sightseeing. The week was mainly sunny days but a heavy thunder storm/tornado paid us visit on the Thursday and the weeks temperatures were more pleasant at a high of 21C and a low of 11C. Fortunately the the tornado, which came in off the sea, hit the coast just west of us at Lagoa and travelled up to Silves and caused a lot of building damage and over turned some caravans and motor homes (Euro boxes) - but thankfully no fatal injuries. With the first months stay here completed we settled the bill - not too bad at all only 17.45 per night especially as it has ticks in all our boxes, and we confirmed our booking for a further month and provisionally 2 months. Still a bit early to head north, we are happy and settled here for a while and there is plenty of time before we need to be heading homeward. Had a good walk around and investigation of Luz, really nice small fishermen village type place, great beach, lots of eateries and the people are very nice and friendly - quite a few Brit residents so the shops tend to have most of the normal UK commodities. An ideal location for fishing, diving and surfing with a clean sandy beach and clear sea waters Luz is well worth a visit. There is still some evidence of the continuing search for Madeline McCann in the village with 'what she would look like now' posters displayed but unfortunately, generally time seems to have moved on.

Luz Portugal

Luz Church Portugal

       

The Beach
Praia de Luz

Where are those birds?
Praia de luz

With most of the places accommodating Brits, Linda decided to trust another haircut in time for her birthday next week - no language problems as all the staff were expats. Neil managed another game of golf, just to keep Bob company of course - nice course but expensive in 'ball costs'. Skype is still working well but is not really up to video conference calls, so it is one to one or just verbal calls - still it is free.

Mon 19th Nov - Sun 25th Nov: Well another birthday, strange how they come round ever year. Linda became '24' on the Monday which of course meant a meal out - this time we visited the Alitalia in Lagos for lunch, a really nice 3 course meal with drinks was consumed whilst sitting out in the sunshine just watching the world go by. In fact the week's weather was really good - mainly sun with blue skies and comfortable highs of 20C and lows of 13C but an occasional shower appeared here and there plus we had our first single figure temperature when a couple of the night times reached 9C. A quick run through to Ferreiras near Alberfeira mid week for a lovely lunch with Mark and Pat was a real pleasant interlude and helped to prevent 'site fever' building up - too much on site time (nice as it is) can be a bit depressing, so we try and get out as much as possible. The good weather motivated Neil into doing some vehicle maintenance and he managed to get the RV's jacks working again, at least we do not rock from side to side now and are able to level ourselves up. Whilst having a few problems on the 'beast' it is till amazing us with its general serviceability and comfort levels. The Jazz needed to be topped up and as expected the fuel costs have not gone down - still much cheaper than the UK though. The cost of living has gone up a bit in Portugal but is totally acceptable to our current budget, unfortunately the local population are suffering with the country's economy problem and unemployment is now very high. Although whilst not joining the Movember appeal, Neil did decide to support Terry's sponsorship both financially and by not shaving for November - very scruffy!

Mr Scruffy

Mon 26th Nov - Sun 2nd Dec: We started the week with a visit to the shopping centre in Portimao, although the retail park is closed due to extension fire damage there is still the Aqua Centre with shops to spare - including a Primark. The town is quite large and is situated at the mouth of the river Arade and will be the subject of a more involved visit later. Linda had been very patient enough to wait for her birthday presents so off we set in the drizzle to get her some nice things - warm clothing is on the list as we under packed winter type clothing. The rest of the week was dry and fairly sunny with 16C but the nights were very chilly, dropping to 7- 9C, still much preferable to the UK as the news is showing lots of snow, ice and -4C. Neil decided that the trailer wheels and brakes (bedded in after renewal in Poland) needed a quick service, so completed the right hand side - no need to rush the left hand side can be done next week and then will mean it should not require any work on it until we get back to the UK. Just to ensure no withdrawal symptoms affected Neil a quick early morning game of golf was completed at the Espriche course. A bit strange this year, our first on on the road, Linda did not know what to do with herself as the first Sunday in December has always been 'Christmas decoration day'. We agreed that we would have a few festive decorations in the RV just to prevent any 'Bah Humbug' feeling creeping in, at least we will have the eating part of Christmas sorted as we have booked to have dinner in the site restaurant on 'the' day - a rare day off for Linda.