Muckies Portugal/Algarve trip report part 1
Jul 14th, 2006 | 07:36 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,085
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Muckies Portugal/Algarve trip report part 1
This is only our second visit to Portugal, our first time was in October 2005. The weather then was ok and we thought it would be great to go back again to the same area, but this time in the Summer.
Our main consideration was to go as a family, there are 4 of us Mrs Muck (Cath), Son (Gareth 19), Daughter (Emma 16). In October Gareth couldnt come because he is away at University and this was his 1st year studying Law.
Its not very often that I will book a package holiday, in fact I wont usually but Thomsons here in the UK have a wonderful Villas with pools brochure that shows privately owned Villas for rent. The deal is straight forward and includes flights, Villa and Hire car as well as use of their local representatives.
http://www.thomson.co.uk
As explained earlier, one week was all we could muster due to other commitments, but we took the single week and went for it.
We live in Cardiff, Wales and we have an international airport here, however to fly from Cardiff adds a further £480 to the price of the holiday for the 4 of us so we decided that £480 would be better spent on us.
So we decided to fly from Gatwick, seems dull, but fuel is about £40, parking is about £46. That gives us £394 towards spending money and other things.
So off we set at 07:30 on the Sunday morning, knowing that the M4 and M25 motorways should be clear. Thankfully they were and we arrived at the car park Courtlands at around 11:00am
http://www.courtlandsparking.com
Car was booked in and we were soon on the way to Gatwick which was just a few minutes away.
After a quick meal at Garfunkels at Gatwick (we didnt want food on the plane)
Check in went ok and we were soon jetting up the runway towards Faro.
When we arrived a couple of hours later, the captain gave us the weather, the local time which was +1 hr according to them and welcome to Palma. Very strange as we were in Farolol or so I hoped. So they were a bit confused but we were in the right place .
The weather was gorgeous and we made our way to collect the car. Thomson use Europcar http://www.europcar.com/ and we picked up the car with no fuss at all as I had pre registered on line placing all my details on their database, this reduces the time by about 15 mins.
The car that is provided in the package is a small Vauxhall Corsa type vehicle, which is a bit daft for carrying 4 adults and bags, so I arranged an upgrade to a larger car.
The Renault Megane we got was about 6 months old and plenty big enough for us all, it was a diesel which was good for fuel consumption.
We left and headed west towards the Villa which we had been to before. Villa Danielle is at Sesmarias, a residential suburb of Carvoeiro which is central Algarve.
After about 45 mins we arrived, having stopped off at a shop to get some basics for evening and breakfast.
We found the key and we were in.
Day 1
After a good nights sleep we awoke to beautiful sunshine, Cath and I slipped out to the supermarket, left the sleeping teenagers to get their teenage beauty sleep.
When we came back about an hour and a half later, they were still in bed!
Eventually they arose and appeared downstairs. Now with half the day gone, the question arose about what we were going to do today, weather was fine. So it was unanimous.. shopping.well not quite unanimous but I was outvoted.
Now you can call me a grumpy old git, but shopping is probably the last thing on my list of things to do. Anyway I was outvoted and we drove to Guia to Algarve shopping.
The shops here were just like shops and they sold things like clothes. Sadly I was not too interested so I went to get some food, now being a hater of everything Mcdonalds, I ended up with some Brazilian food, which included spinach, chicken, beef, pork, quite nice. Anyway Muck family joined me and the kids had Big macs; Cath had a sandwich. So a good variety of food here
There were no shopping bags in sight so a wasted shopping trip. IMHO.
The Megane car has a key card, and no metal key, a bit like a credit card but thicker, now this card fits into a slot on the dashboard, sadly the receiver had collapsed into the dashboard but I managed to get it working and started the car.
Give me a real key any day.
I called the hire company who offered a new car but by now I was confident that the car would start so I declined and said I will call into the local office when I was nearby.
So we made our way back to the Villa and into the pool, thats more like it !!
Dinner tonight was at the gorgeous Oasis restaurant in Carvoeiero.
http://www.restaurantoasis.com/
Eventually after much deliberation, Mrs Muck decided what to wear and off we went.
It was again a fabulous meal and great atmosphere.
We went there last October and the impression was the same.
We needed a taxi there and back but for €5 each way it was ok.
Day 2.
Having popped into the Europecar office when I got up, the guy there was not in the least bit concerned about this key fob hole. Anyway I came away with it working the same. But it was working, so that is all that mattered.
One of the places I wanted to visit was Portamao pier as recommended here by Teresa, thank you we found it and it was just as you said.
On one side of the dock there were men cooking fresh Sardines, (and many other types of fish) the smell was delicious. On the other side of the dock there were tables and chairs to sit and eat the fish as they are cooked.
Anyway Mucky family are fairly new to eating fish, we never really liked it, but the last few years we have endeavored to eat several different types of fish, with the exception of Gareth the student who feels sorry for them; so he doesnt eat them. He prefers a steak or a chicken lol
So I chose 6 sardines and they were taken away for cooking.
They were beautifully cooked and smelt gorgeous. Anyway Emma asked if I will top and tail it and get the bones out for her. So I placed my knife in its neck to take off the head and a load of liquid came out of its mouth, it was just like this poor little fish was being sick. Now Emma and Mrs Muck were almost throwing up, Gareth was looking away in disgust and I was laughing my head off(so was the fish lol)
Anyway eventually we tucked in and it was really gorgeous, Gareth enjoyed his burger lol.
We left portamao and headed west to Sagres as suggested by SloJan and Tere.
Now Sagres is at a South westerly point and is Europes most southerly populated town. It has a fort type structure, which is thought to have been Prince Henry's School of Navigation.
We paid the €1.50 each and spent a couple of blustery hours walking around the cannons and fortifications. Well worth a visit.
The weather was distinctly different in this part of Portugal, definitely more open and windy.
Now time was getting on and the World cup game between Portugal and France was on TV. Portugal was gradually coming to a standstill so we wanted to get back to see the game with the Portuguese people.
So we had a quick swim something quick to eat and watched the game.
France won 1-0 and Portugal were out, but the attitude of the Portuguese was great, the people I talked to said that they were pleased with how well they had done and there is always next time.
Now by contrast, England, and especially the English press are never happy, even if they had won they would have given them a hard time.
The evening was spent drinking Portuguese wine and beer watching the football.
A good end to a great day.
Part 2 to follow..
Our main consideration was to go as a family, there are 4 of us Mrs Muck (Cath), Son (Gareth 19), Daughter (Emma 16). In October Gareth couldnt come because he is away at University and this was his 1st year studying Law.
Its not very often that I will book a package holiday, in fact I wont usually but Thomsons here in the UK have a wonderful Villas with pools brochure that shows privately owned Villas for rent. The deal is straight forward and includes flights, Villa and Hire car as well as use of their local representatives.
http://www.thomson.co.uk
As explained earlier, one week was all we could muster due to other commitments, but we took the single week and went for it.
We live in Cardiff, Wales and we have an international airport here, however to fly from Cardiff adds a further £480 to the price of the holiday for the 4 of us so we decided that £480 would be better spent on us.
So we decided to fly from Gatwick, seems dull, but fuel is about £40, parking is about £46. That gives us £394 towards spending money and other things.
So off we set at 07:30 on the Sunday morning, knowing that the M4 and M25 motorways should be clear. Thankfully they were and we arrived at the car park Courtlands at around 11:00am
http://www.courtlandsparking.com
Car was booked in and we were soon on the way to Gatwick which was just a few minutes away.
After a quick meal at Garfunkels at Gatwick (we didnt want food on the plane)
Check in went ok and we were soon jetting up the runway towards Faro.
When we arrived a couple of hours later, the captain gave us the weather, the local time which was +1 hr according to them and welcome to Palma. Very strange as we were in Farolol or so I hoped. So they were a bit confused but we were in the right place .
The weather was gorgeous and we made our way to collect the car. Thomson use Europcar http://www.europcar.com/ and we picked up the car with no fuss at all as I had pre registered on line placing all my details on their database, this reduces the time by about 15 mins.
The car that is provided in the package is a small Vauxhall Corsa type vehicle, which is a bit daft for carrying 4 adults and bags, so I arranged an upgrade to a larger car.
The Renault Megane we got was about 6 months old and plenty big enough for us all, it was a diesel which was good for fuel consumption.
We left and headed west towards the Villa which we had been to before. Villa Danielle is at Sesmarias, a residential suburb of Carvoeiro which is central Algarve.
After about 45 mins we arrived, having stopped off at a shop to get some basics for evening and breakfast.
We found the key and we were in.
Day 1
After a good nights sleep we awoke to beautiful sunshine, Cath and I slipped out to the supermarket, left the sleeping teenagers to get their teenage beauty sleep.
When we came back about an hour and a half later, they were still in bed!
Eventually they arose and appeared downstairs. Now with half the day gone, the question arose about what we were going to do today, weather was fine. So it was unanimous.. shopping.well not quite unanimous but I was outvoted.
Now you can call me a grumpy old git, but shopping is probably the last thing on my list of things to do. Anyway I was outvoted and we drove to Guia to Algarve shopping.
The shops here were just like shops and they sold things like clothes. Sadly I was not too interested so I went to get some food, now being a hater of everything Mcdonalds, I ended up with some Brazilian food, which included spinach, chicken, beef, pork, quite nice. Anyway Muck family joined me and the kids had Big macs; Cath had a sandwich. So a good variety of food here
There were no shopping bags in sight so a wasted shopping trip. IMHO.
The Megane car has a key card, and no metal key, a bit like a credit card but thicker, now this card fits into a slot on the dashboard, sadly the receiver had collapsed into the dashboard but I managed to get it working and started the car.
Give me a real key any day.
I called the hire company who offered a new car but by now I was confident that the car would start so I declined and said I will call into the local office when I was nearby.
So we made our way back to the Villa and into the pool, thats more like it !!
Dinner tonight was at the gorgeous Oasis restaurant in Carvoeiero.
http://www.restaurantoasis.com/
Eventually after much deliberation, Mrs Muck decided what to wear and off we went.
It was again a fabulous meal and great atmosphere.
We went there last October and the impression was the same.
We needed a taxi there and back but for €5 each way it was ok.
Day 2.
Having popped into the Europecar office when I got up, the guy there was not in the least bit concerned about this key fob hole. Anyway I came away with it working the same. But it was working, so that is all that mattered.
One of the places I wanted to visit was Portamao pier as recommended here by Teresa, thank you we found it and it was just as you said.
On one side of the dock there were men cooking fresh Sardines, (and many other types of fish) the smell was delicious. On the other side of the dock there were tables and chairs to sit and eat the fish as they are cooked.
Anyway Mucky family are fairly new to eating fish, we never really liked it, but the last few years we have endeavored to eat several different types of fish, with the exception of Gareth the student who feels sorry for them; so he doesnt eat them. He prefers a steak or a chicken lol
So I chose 6 sardines and they were taken away for cooking.
They were beautifully cooked and smelt gorgeous. Anyway Emma asked if I will top and tail it and get the bones out for her. So I placed my knife in its neck to take off the head and a load of liquid came out of its mouth, it was just like this poor little fish was being sick. Now Emma and Mrs Muck were almost throwing up, Gareth was looking away in disgust and I was laughing my head off(so was the fish lol)
Anyway eventually we tucked in and it was really gorgeous, Gareth enjoyed his burger lol.
We left portamao and headed west to Sagres as suggested by SloJan and Tere.
Now Sagres is at a South westerly point and is Europes most southerly populated town. It has a fort type structure, which is thought to have been Prince Henry's School of Navigation.
We paid the €1.50 each and spent a couple of blustery hours walking around the cannons and fortifications. Well worth a visit.
The weather was distinctly different in this part of Portugal, definitely more open and windy.
Now time was getting on and the World cup game between Portugal and France was on TV. Portugal was gradually coming to a standstill so we wanted to get back to see the game with the Portuguese people.
So we had a quick swim something quick to eat and watched the game.
France won 1-0 and Portugal were out, but the attitude of the Portuguese was great, the people I talked to said that they were pleased with how well they had done and there is always next time.
Now by contrast, England, and especially the English press are never happy, even if they had won they would have given them a hard time.
The evening was spent drinking Portuguese wine and beer watching the football.
A good end to a great day.
Part 2 to follow..
Jul 14th, 2006 | 08:36 AM
#4
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,085
Likes: 0
Hi LN,
Thanks for the enouragement,isn't it a shame that some people (almcd)prefer to respond in the manner of an arse and not like a constructive human being.
Never mind.
No we haven't been back to Australia yet but hopefully in a couple of years, maybe we will be there same time as you, !
Your right I do have some great chums in Australia. Some here too, but I don't think almcd is one of them,lol
;-)
Muck
Thanks for the enouragement,isn't it a shame that some people (almcd)prefer to respond in the manner of an arse and not like a constructive human being.
Never mind.
No we haven't been back to Australia yet but hopefully in a couple of years, maybe we will be there same time as you, !
Your right I do have some great chums in Australia. Some here too, but I don't think almcd is one of them,lol
;-)
Muck
Jul 14th, 2006 | 10:24 AM
#6
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,801
Likes: 0
Very informative and helpful information contained in here! Have been contemplating a trip to the Algarve myself for a while but haven't yet made up my mind. Your descriptions are thus followed eagerly here. Thanks for keeping it coming!
Count me among your fans ;-)
Count me among your fans ;-)
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Jul 16th, 2006 | 01:14 AM
#9
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,085
Likes: 0
Part 2
Today we are driving up into the mountains Sierra De Monchique.
These hills in western Algarve consist of beautiful woodlands, cork, arbutus, eucalyptus and many others.
According to my guide book the hills are volcanic by origin and form a barrier between the colder northern air, thus providing a warmer temperature in winter in the Algarve.
Monchique
This is a small hill town surrounded by woodland.
There was a chocolate shop in this town and the owners originated from Cardiff which was quite nice.
Also here is the police and Fire brigades heliport, they were on high alert for woodland fires and the helicopter just came into land as we arrived.
The cobbled and steep roads are charming but not suitable for anyone with walking difficulties. We wandered around for a little while then drove back down to the beautiful spa town of Caldas de Monchique. This can be done with a walk through the various trails too.
This was a Roman spa town and the water here is very sulphurous, there are plenty of restaurants and a few hotels hidden in the woodland, one of the hotels was the hotel termal which looked reasonably priced when I googled it earlier although some of the other hotels look like they are quite exclusive, and a great place to stay for a couple of days to really unwind.
We parked up and found a delightful bar hidden under the shade near the main square couple of drinks were quite reasonably priced and we soaked up the ambiance.
Whilst we were there a tour group turned up they were from a P&O cruise that we had seen as we were coming through Portamao.
They all headed up the hill so we tagged on..lol and went to a beautiful wooded picnic area, with a running spring water totally shaded and cool, a great place to take a picnic. Next time we will do just that.
One of the local liquors is called mendronho taken from the arbutus berry.
Sadly I had to decline as I was driving but many of the other people were sampling it.
Another town nearby is called Foia, I understand it to be worth visiting, sadly we spent so long in other places that we ran out of time.
We headed back along the winding newly laid tarmac roads back to Sesmarias.
Tonight was BBQ for dinner, so we nipped out to the supermarket and bought some beautiful Salmon steaks and fresh pork for the BBQ.
Every Portuguese villa has an enormous BBQ in the garden and we cooked the food which smelt gorgeous and tasted even better.
After a long day out, a swim in the pool was well deserved, followed by the gorgeous BBQ.
Part 3 to follow
Jul 17th, 2006 | 01:56 AM
#10
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,085
Likes: 0
I have started adding photographs to the following site, more will follow.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15072087@N00/
Hope the link works
Muck
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15072087@N00/
Hope the link works
Muck
Jul 17th, 2006 | 04:34 AM
#12
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 111
Likes: 0
I enjoy reading your report, Mucky. I eschew designer clothers, expensive hotels, and the partaking of drugs and alcohol. It is so refreshing to read a plain and sober report on this site. Usually the reports are frivolous and materialistic in nature--"What I Bought In Paris." (example)
Being plain is the way to go.
Being plain is the way to go.
