3 for 1 sale

This is a 3 day blog since we been having internet problems and I have not been adventuring too far from home.

Monday March 19^th.

No big plans for the day. Just some R&R after the busy weekend. A bit of groceries shopping to restock as we did not have much in the fridge. The fridge is smaller than half the size of a normal fridge. It sits under the counter next to the stove.

Lunch time walk with Wendy along the beach. Looks like there are a few more people around. I guess that every week it will get busier and busier. Noticed that restaurants are opening up that were closed when we first go here. That means we will be asked even more to go into there restaurants when we go for walks.

After work, we went to the internet provider to open a ticket as the internet was down again last night. We received the account information from the owners. The clerk wants a phone number so the technicians can phone before showing up since we our apartment is gated. We also do not have an intercom. I say we have no phone. I think she is in shock that we are here and we have no phone. She says they will show up in the next 2 days. Mmmm do I want to wait outside the gate for 2 days. She says come back around 4 tomorrow and I will call the technician and get an update. We decide to reactive the Vodafone that the owners had left for us. It cost 10 euros to get a new phone number because the old one had expired, but with that we get 5 euros of airtime. With the other 5 euros we had paid the other day, we should be ok to get the call from the technician and make any emergency calls if we get stuck driving somewhere. The plan we are on is 30 cents a minutes

From there we walk down to the beach. We decide to see how long it would take to walk from one end to the other. Where we start the walk is not at one end. So a 10 minute walk to get to one end. It took about 30 minutes to reach the other end.. The sand is fairly firm near the water but is not level. 40 minutes walk on the beach and we could both feel. it.

At the far end of the beach there is a ramp going to the top. We walk to some lookouts that are away from town as the town is in a bit of a cove. Very pretty views from there and we can see our little apartment from there as well. From there we return home. In all we had a 2 hour walk with a couple of 15 minutes stops for the internet and the phone. We also looked in a few shop window, thought of Robin when we saw one with a bunch of dinky cars in the window, wonder how many of these he has owned. We both could feel it in our legs at the end of the walk, especially the last hill to get home.

View of Albufeira from the lookout at the edge of town

Robin, send us a cheque and we will bring back as many as you want

After having trout for supper, we decide to watch a movie as the internet is down again. The owners have a few old DVDs . The TV is maybe 20 inches, so this is going to be good. We watch a Room with a view. Like I said old DVDs. It was ok.

Tuesday, March 20^th.

The Gypsies market is in town today. I stop by the internet provider and give them our phone number. The market is about a 15 minutes walk. Strawberries must be in season and I get a 3 Kg box for 3 euros. That works out to about 60 cents a pounds. I picked up a few other vegetables that we needed. I also pick a block of cured ham something like prosciutto. On the way home I picked up some fresh tuna at the local fish & vegetables market. Got home 2 hours later. You do not realize how heavy 1 Sobeys bag full of groceries can be until you lug it for more than 1 hour. Glad to be home.

Normal lunch time walk with Wendy. After lunch, went to pick up milk for breakfast tomorrow morning another 40 minute walk as I went exploring on the other side of the street from the grocery store. Not much there.

One for Jill, Wendy in shorts

Decided to walk around the apartment complex and take a few pictures.

not sure when they last added clorine, I am not jumping in

We are on the second floor on the left

After Wendy is finished work, we decided to go to a beach we had seen a sign for on the way home Sunday. It is called San Raphael. Another beautiful beach with soft sand. Maybe about 20 people on the beach but it is fairly long and wide so lots of space to ourselves. Today it is around 20, so a good day for the beach. We have a snack of fresh strawberries and kiwis. A couple of fishermen went by with their boats. One was close to shore, so we watch him for a while pulling and resetting his traps. Not sure what he is fishing for. The rocks formations at this beach are of all shapes. The stones must be very soft. On the way home we stop for oranges as we are down to 3.

I like strawberries, can I have one, please

Mermiad on the beach

Looks like an animal.  I am not going under

San Raphael Beach

Another strange rock formation

Fisherman tending his traps

Look at the bathroom signs

After our tuna supper, we walk to the Ticket booth to buy me an excursion ticket for tomorrow. Walk to old town and run the gauntlet of restaurant and up the hill home. Another 1 hour walk. My legs should be ready for golf now. With the warn weather that we are having in NB, maybe we will have an early spring and the golf course will be open very early this year.

Wednesday March 21^st

Today I went on a bus tour. Quarteira market and the marina at Vilamoura. Our first stop was at the marina. It is the largest in Portugal. There are many boats there but no humongous ones. It was a quick stop. 20 minutes to see and take a few pictures. There are also some roman ruins there. We did not have time to go but I could see over the fence and I could see the foundations of the buildings.

Vilamoura Marina

Roman ruins

Next is the market. I was expecting more handicraft and artisan stuff but it ended up the same as the one here in Albufeira. Tons of the same thing, Shoes, purses, watches, clothes etc... I did buy 2 belts for 5 euros as mine was done. I also bought 5 DVDs to watch at night for 5 euros. I am sure these are real copies of the movies. At least these movies were released in this decade, mostly new releases. I had a nice lunch. They were cooking chicken piri-piri on a BBQ. I added a glass of wine and bread to make it 5 euros.

Cook making my Piri-piri chicken

My lunch

Walked around some more at the market but still had about 1 hour before the bus came back. 2.5 hour at the market is way too much for me. Headed to the restaurant next to the market and had a pint of beer for 2 euros. Talked to the guys at the next table who owns a house in the area. He is from England. Interesting to hear how things cost etc...

On the way back we drove thru a few good golf courses. Vilamura has a few of them. Sure gives you the urge to go out there and hit that little white ball.

When I got home, Wendy sent me to check to see what time the Internet technician works until at night. I am told they will show up tomorrow morning. We pack our beach mats and go to the beach here for about 1.5 hours. It is a bit more windy and a bit fresh compared to yesterday.

Made pork piri-piri for supper. Might have put too many peppers in the sauce and when I put the pork in the frying pan, Wendy and I had tears in our eyes. I think it was just the fumes. Taste wise it was hot but not too hot.

The internet guys came tonight to fix our problem. The coughed when they came in. I guess there was still some spicy fumes in the air when they came in. The Internet is working right now and hope that it will stay like that, I use it a lot for planning our outings. It has been on and off since they left. They may have to replace the modem if this keeps going on. Wendy was able to phone her Mom using skype, but she did hang up on her 3 times when the internet connection dropped, how rude!

Not sure what the plans are for tomorrow. May go for a drive and visit a couple of places. Will see.