Monaco Hotel Faro

... to sit with them.

That's all behind us now (including being last through customs in Faro - but we got plenty of travel advice and tips). The hotel we are calling home in teh Algarve over the next 5 days is called Monte do Casal and it is fabulous! Notwithstanding that they upgraded us to a Suite with our own private terrace with views to the ocean. Will upload some photos of the hotel (where no kids are allowed), but before we do that, some welcomed sleep is needed.

Bussed to Faro, a small seaside town with not a hell of a lot really!!

Our room had no window, but faked the appearance by having a curtain anyway... nothing like a little bit of closet sleeping!!

Went for a swim at the beach/lagoon with our 1.60 euro bottle of red ...

... ferien zusammen mit christophs frau mischa, deren 1jährigem Ivan und dessen Grossmutter Dana.
Ist fast ein bisschen ein Kulturschock von den Hostals in Tarifa mit den travellers nun hier zu sein und die Gäste zu sehen,welche bei sonnenschein drinnen tv gucken oder im internet surfen, am flipper spielen oder im hallenbad (also indoor) schwimmen :-)



dabei hat es enorm schöne strände ...

... emerging to burn off the mist that hung in the fields. We reached the AP4 - E5 that we had travelled up on yesterday and turned north, into heavy mist. As we approached 'Seville' it started to rain heavily and we decided to bypass Seville. It had been quite a chore in the dry and I certainly didn't fancy repeating yesterday's madness in the pouring rain. I had wanted to see Seville's architecture but had no intention of getting wet ...

1540.a alates omandas Faro linnaõiguse. Selle kuldne aeg möödus 1596.a hispaanlaste võimu all olles, mil Earl of Essexi väed (olles teel Hispaaniast Inglismaale) rüüstasid ja põletasid linna ning vedasid kaasa hindamatuid teoloogilisi teoseid piiskopi paleest. Need teosed asuvad nüüd Oxfordi Bodleian raamatukogus. Rüüstatud Faro ehitati taas üles ning oli juba jõudnud kujuneda üsna edukaks, kui teda tabas 1722.a maavärin, mille järel saabus ka ...

... ja inimtühi (seevastu suvel pidavat populaarne koht olema). Hotelli taga oli suur rannariba, kus meil õnnestus väike piknik maha pidada. Piknikukraami hankimiseks pidime tükk aega supermercadot otsima ning lõpuks leidsime meie mõistes säästumarketi. Lähim korralik pood asus ilmselt Faros (22 km).

... Sagreses) kui Lagoses kaubavahetustegevuses. 1434.a lahkus kohalik poiss Gil Eanes esimesele reisile Lääne-Aafrikasse Bojadori neeme juurde. Seejärel järgnesid ka teised, kes hakkasid tagasi tooma koos infoga ka elevandiluid, kulda ja orjasid. Väidetavalt toimus 1444.a just Lagoses esimene orjakaubanduslik tehing, kus müüdi Aafrika inimesi orjadeks eurooplastele. Peale seda kujunes Lagos orjavahetuse keskuseks.
Tavira, Algarve, Portugal pille

... to our balcony to take it easy and have one of our classic dinners of wine, bread, cheese, olives, etc... and of course fabulous conversation. The next day we wanted to see what Faro was like open for business. The only real site that intrigued us was the "Chapel of Bones". It is in the back of an old church and dates from the 1800s. The chapel is actually made out of bones dug up hundreds of years ...

This Episode has yet to be finalized and edited. Read at your own risk. This morning I woke up in hallway after a night of battling shouts from kids who appeared far too old to behaving as they were and an olypic level snore-athon staged by one of my room mates. Let me explain how it came to this. I retired to my Hostel early last night in hopes to have a good nights rest and get an early start to my day trip to the nearby villiage of Olhao. In the beginning of the evening some ...

... way to the beach, due to the tides and my sore back ("boo hoo - you're breakin' my heart!"). After a short siesta early in the afternoon we were back out to meet friends, watch Germany scrape by Argentina in the quarters and get prepared for the Festival Med concert that would be happening in the neighbouring town of Loule that night. Loule (pron. Lol-le ...