Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort and Spa Tavira

... security passes that had to be scanned on exit and entry. If you had not used a card to get out you couldn't use it to get in and going out or in the car required that you hand over all three cards to one of the gate attendants so that they could scan the cards for you.

We walked into the town through a nature reserve that was adorned, in what we now recognized as normal Portuguese style, with plastic bottles ...

Op de rechteroever slaat de torenklok een keer vaker dan op de linkeroever: in Spanje is het een uur later.
Drie stukjes film: weer dolfijnen, de eerste die we in de Algarve tegen kwamen, blijft voor ons erg leuk, ik hoop voor jullie ook. Dit keer een wat grotere varieteit. Het tweede stukje film is uit de zoutwinning bij het plaatsje Tavira waar kluten, reigers en lepelaars fourageren. Het derde stukje film zijn wat beelden in en rond de Guadiana, de grensrivier.

... I talk briefly with a receptionist in a Best Western hotel. She's actually quite interested to hear my story, and takes my email in case she knows anyone that needs a bit of work done in exchange for room and board. This is the only beacon of hope, in an otherwise very bleak situation.

I eventually find the Youth Hostel, and thoroughly abuse their complimentary internet service. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

Well it's been almost 28 hours since we left a cold, wet and windy Melbourne on Monday and we are here at last! The flights were generally OK with no major issues, aside from a plane load of children on the BA flight from London to Faro (we were prepared for this since July/Aug is the summer holiday season in Europe) and BA deciding to split us apart in the seating but were not able to seat us together cos the plane was full - very odd).

The flight connections were ...

No trip to Portugal would be complete without a trip to the Algarve. Its reputation as Portugal's Costa Del Sol does it no favours and we've been deliberating for ages to see if we can get some beach time without the socks and sandals brigade, Sky Sports, bacon and eggs and News of the World. That said, the Algarve offers mile upon mile of beautiful coastline dotted with countless beautiful beaches and this is tempting ,for one of us at least.

Tavira, Algarve, Portugal warm

... discovering a gem of a local restuarant with amazing bbq chicken. 6 euro for dinner!!

The next day to fill in time before departing we looked at the Chapel of Bones, which was built from the bones of the monks from the local cemetary. Over 1200 skulls. Definite goosebumps eh!

... 1755). Faro oli looduslike jõude poolt täielikult maatasa tehtud.

Algarve piirkonna pealinnas käisime vaid korraks õhtul. Mulle jättis see nn piirkonna suurima linna kohta ikka väga väikse linna mulje. Jalutasime pisut vanalinnas, kindluses ja sadama ääres. Elav koht oli Shopping Mall, kus olid taas esindatud samad brändid nagu Lissabonis. Ostukeskuses oli hängimas palju noori ja lastega peresid.


Parque Natural da Ria ...

Esialgu olime broneerinud 3 ööd looduslikult kaunis kohas, Quarteira lähedal, kuid viimasel minutil helistati meile, et hotell on ülebroneeritud ja meile pandi juba kinni samas hinnaklassis teine hotell. Quarteira sai linnaõiguse alles 13. mail 1999 ning seda oli ka näha, sest linn oli üsna v ...

... piirkonnas asuvad ühed kaunimad rannad, mis on suured turistimagnetid.

Foiniiklased ja kreeklased seadsid Lagose jõesuudmes üles poe, mille Afonso III vallutas mauride käest tagasi 1241.a ning portugallased said jätkata siit Põhja-Aafrika moslemite ahistamist. Siit algas Avastuste Ajastu, mida juhtis 21aastane prints Henry the Navigator, kes purjetas esmalt Marokosse. Hiljem tegutses ta nii oma laevas ...

... Portugal exports a lot of sea salt. They pump ocean water into large, shallow ditches and when it evaportates, they shovel it up and sell it. Past the saltpans is a small ferry that takes you across the estuary to a long 5 mile stretch of beach that´s part of a national park. No highrises here. Just a couple small restaurants and bungalows. It was cold that day, about 62 but the sun burns hot here. If not for the wind, we could´ve gone ...