Football

Started off this morning with doing a load of laundry. They have put a new washing machine in the kitchen which is great. The owner had never used it before so she told us to just read the manual. Found the manual, had to choose between reading the Spanish or Portuguese instructions. Did not flood the place, so all is good. Everyone hangs their laundry outside to dry here, first time we have done this for over 10 years. I forgot what crunchy clothes felt like.

This week the 2012 Algarve Woman’s Football Cup is in the area. 12 ladies teams from different counties from around the world are participating. For those who might not know football means soccer here in Europe. Today there is a game to decide 5^th and 6^th place in a town near where we are, about 5 km away. No problem getting there as is it on the main road on the way out of town. I get there around 10:30 for the 11 am game.

There is about 5 cars in the parking lot. Mmmmm I am at the right place. I see a bunch of girls on the field which could be high school as well as ladies. Then I see a man with a vest that says Photo. I guess this is the place but I ask the guy just to make sure. I have never been to a professional football game ever so this should be interesting. The teams are doing pre-game drills on the field which is neat to see. As the game gets closer there is about 50 people in the stands. Did I say there was no entrance fee to watch the game. I was expecting hundreds of fans screaming. At least there will be no mass rush to get out of the parking lots.

The game is pretty interesting, lots of shouting going on between the players and the coach from the sideline. I would not be a good coach right now as I have lost my voice due to a bit of congested throat. The girls are quite good as this is at the national level. Iceland & Denmark were playing. Denmark is ranked 12^th and Iceland 15^th by FIFA. Not a bad game to watch if you like blondes.

Team Denmark

Team Iceland

They only had to called the team medic 2 times because of head butts when they jump for the ball. The bench for the Denmark was right in front of where I was sitting. When one of the team girls that came off because of injury she has tears in the eyes. It must have hurt like hell. They had a ice pack on her head. Well she was off on the field a minute later. A lot tougher than I would have been. Lots of contact on the field as well.

At half time I went to the cantine to get something to drink and eat. I got 2 snacky things. One looked like a hybrid between a samosa and a fried wonton. It was filled with spicy chicken. The other one was in a half moon shape. Not too sure I could guess what was in there or if I want to. I am guessing pork and not the lean kind with a bit of potatoes added for filling. They were both good.

The game results was 3-1 for Denmark. They looked like the better team on the field, so I guess they deserved to win.

Gooooaaaaaaaaal

On the way home I stopped at the grocery store for a few things we were missing. I did not have my discount card, so it is hard to shop when you can not buy what is on sale. One thing I noticed that was funny is that they have white bread like we have but the crust is already off. I guess kids here are the same as kids at home and they do not like the crust. Save you the trouble of taking the crust off when making the kids sandwiches.

Just back from our walk after work. Wendy did not have the best work day today, lost the internet connection for part of the afternoon, hopefully this is a one time thing as it has been working great up until now. She had a demo scheduled so she said Kevin did it for her from Canada, thanks Kevin, you made my wife happy!

A couple of questions people have asked: Parking, we have had no problem with parking right outside our apartment. We are in a one way loop at the very top of the hill to the beach, so it is quiet and no problem for parking. Gas, I think I saw a sign for 1.60 Euro a litre, I am sure I will have heart failure the first time I fill up. I know for the car rental we were forced to pay for a full tank to start and we return it as empty as we can and they are charging us 106.00 Euro, ouch...Wendy is going go make me push the car that last km on empty to return it.

Didn’t get much on my list done today. Found a place that will cut my hair for 8 euro on our walk tonight, so I know I need to go there tomorrow, plus tackle everything else on my list from today that didn’t get done.

A nice sunset tonight. Picture just for you Joey....