Sue and Paul Connolly: Paulo the fisherman was always whistling.......and like a bat out of hell!

No Bull.....Portugal is a great place.

Check out the cobble-like paving.

.
Portuguese souvenirs

Small grottos

Algarve Coast is the southern most region of Portugal.

Paul and I managed to get ourselves to Cork Airport with it being about 30 minutes from Kinsale. The plane journey only took around 2 and a half hours and was all smooth flying. The seat numbers were 13A and B.....I thought they didn't use those lucky numbers in planes and hotels. When we did land at Faro most of the other tourists on the flight broke into a round of applause. Paul and I thought that this only happened on Garuda flights to Bali not Aer Lingus. We worked out that it was because they were showing their appreciation to all the crew on a safe journey and they were now on holidays.

Once we were granted our visa we went through to the arrival lounge where David was waiting to take us to Luz on the Algarve coast about 80k’s from Faro. Driving in Portugal is completely opposite to Oz and it took us a little while to get our heads around this. Paul who was usually the passenger in the front seat did try to sit on David's lap a couple of times. The road system and the standard of the highways were pretty good and the speed limit was 120 however most of the Portuguese wouldí drive around 150. It didn't take us long to settle into the Portuguese lifestyle as Yvonne and David were very generous hosts and made us feel very welcome. Lots of laughs about the good old days with just an odd drink or two of a night on their balcony looking at the beautiful vista.

David our tour guide took us on outings during the day and we managed to see some of the sights that surround this area. The cliffs near their house and other parts of the coastline are absolutely amazing. We did a boat cruise along the coast line and lucky for us it wasn’t too hot. Yvonne has a real handle on the Portuguese language and is really good at organising outings for us 'foreigners'.

One of the places we visited was Silves where we explored a Moorish Castle. The castle walls are made from a red sandstone and Silves was the capital during Moorish rule. We had a couple of visits to Lagos a larger town which is more of a maritime town. We all know from our school days that the Portuguese were great sailors and at another place named Sagres this was evident as Henry the Navigator used this as an important education centre for map and instrument making.

I would say that all of the towns and villages have narrow streets and are paved with a traditional cobble-like paving. Some of this paving is so worn that it is really slippery. A lot easier to walk on when you have been to Clive's bar and had a few cocktails. Clive who is the owner of Clive's is an Englishman who has been living in the area for around 30 years.

Most of the houses in Luz where we were staying are painted white or a light terracotta colour with the terracotta clay tiles on the roof, however, you do get the odd house that would be painted a salmon pink colour. Lots of shrubs and trees that are also found in Australian gardens like the Oleander, Plumbago, Bird of Paradise and a larger version of the Bird of Paradise. Groceries and alcohol are very cheap. The restaurants very good as we tried an Indian and an African. One of my favourite little treats were of course the little custard tarts - pasteis de natas, which went well with a coffee. David and Yve also created some very tasty meals and of course provided the perfect setting.

All great things must come to an end and before no time we were packing our bags and heading back to Faro. Yvonne had organised a lift for us back to the airport on a shuttle bus however it turned out to be a chauffeur driven car. The driver was very friendly and we were soon on the freeway heading to our destination. We were asked by the driver if we minded if he went a little bit faster and the answer I gave back was no. Cod Almighty was silently called on again, as I knew once I had uttered that tiny little word that it was the wrong answer. Paul's leg still bears the scars of where my fingernails were hooked into his leg. The driver was unlike most men I know as he could do more than one thing at a time, drive fast, talk on his mobile whilst driving fast and change lanes whilst driving very fast and talking on his mobile. Arriving at the airport with time to spare Yvonne sent me a text asking how the driver went. She relayed to me a story of when David and her took a chauffeur
driven car to the airport and the driver drove so fast that he scared the snot out of her. I never told Yve ( until now) that both Paul and I will never have to blow our noses again!