Portugal Notes 2006Portugal Notes 2006Brief Notes - April 2007 - PORTUGAL - Neils Travel Web



Notes on this years trip - still under construction!

Algarve - Portugal - April 2007
Here are a just few brief notes on this year’s trip, I'll add to them when / if I remember what we did!
Our thoughts were for George this year as he had to miss the trip due to illness. Hopefully next year.
A smaller party again this year (7), therefore just the one villa. A definite bonus by leaving on a Thursday a.m. instead of Saturday as we got the complete weekend. Worked well and our thanks to Mary, the villas' owner for the additional days at no extra cost!.
As usual the tournament was for Keith's mum's trophy.
Again, quite a lot of photographs taken this year as I borrowed a camera from Chris Fox yet again, his Canon 10D. Still 'over the top' for me really, but getting easier to use, despite its weight. The 2 x 1 GB memory cards and double battery grip meant I managed around 400 photos without needing to change anything! Regrettably I managed to leave my long lens behind and had to make do with a 35mm equivalent, great for the panoramas but not the portraits. Fortunately the quality of the camera and lens was good enough to post production crop and zoom a lot of the shots to emulate 50mm. It may be apparent to the purist, but I'm fairly happy with the results. As I planned last year I have retired my trusty Casio EX7000 and now use my new Exilim 850 for the 'miscellaneous' shots. Though it is a compact it still requires some getting to grips with, but extremely happy with it so far.

The weather was a bit of a mixture which is not unusual for this time of the year, overcast for the first mornings golf (Friday)  but got progressively hotter and sunnier from then on, just what we needed. Tat was three rounds of golf as usual two with late morning tee-offs and one mid-afternoon tee off time, when the temperature was verging on suicidal .
As there was only the one villa again this year, the group stayed pretty much together on our trips out.
Alvor is still fairly quiet at this time of the year, with a lot of bars quite empty during the week. Not that it mattered to us.
We re-introduced  the 'whip' system with a few improvements this year. The main change being the upping of contributions to €50  (from the €20 of previous years). This allowed everyone to eat and drink throughout the whole day (including the evening meal) on the kitty. It actually worked with just the odd 'abuse' but it all balanced out in the end and even covered the petrol and shopping for the villa.
Thursday 19th
Keith did the honours driving to the airport,  picked up Graham and myself at 5.00 in the morning! Andy's Nicky picked up Cliff and we met Gary (slightly late due to a parking cock-up) at Gatwick.
A straight forward run to the airport, as it was so early. We used the off site long term car park (a north terminal summer special £50). Check-in was painless again due to the time of day. An Easyjet flight this time, complete with seats designed for midgets. An uneventful flight (just how I like them) taking off and landing on time. A hot, bright and sunny Algarve greeted us. Collected a Citroen Jumper 9 seat bus comparable to the nice new Opel Vitaro of last year, managed all six of us plus the kit comfortably. Arriving at the villa at 12.00 was spot on for a chance of an a late 'breakfast' at Marcos' and an early beer. Unfortunately as Marias had closed down and we didn't fancy a trek into town it was bottled Sagres in a cafe next to Michaels. Eamon arrived (under his own 'steam'). Afternoon anti jet lag 'kip' then off to an evening meal at Goodvilles. A quick visit to Boozers, saw Miquel (Jimmy is no longer involved) then to Michaels bar until 05'ish.
Friday 20th
Breakfast at Marcos. Raining at first but clearing as the day went on. First days golf at the Alto Club in Alvor. Evening meal at the Lusitania (Graham / Cliff) as the others were still kipping. They ended up at Al Dente eventually. Sports bar, Boozers to see Nelson and Michaels until 04.00.
Saturday 21st
Day off. Breakfast at Marcos 11'ish. Star of India II for a decidedly mediocre Indian.
Sunday 22nd
Day off. Breakfast at Marcos. Sports bar for Wolves match (unfortunate) and the Chelsea match (boring). Bumped into Carlos (Luz Tavern). Pool for the afternoon. whilst the others went down to the Beach Bar.
Monday 23rd
Breakfast at Marcos. A early arrival at Boavista for Golf meant a bit of waiting for tee off. After seeing them off I travelled into Luz for 'the day'. The Bull, Soozies. Major road improvements causing a bit of a mess in Luz. A good evening meal at the Chinese. The Venue.
Tuesday 24th
Day off. Luz trip in the afternoon Keith, Graham & Eamon. Graham splashed out on a new camera (Sony) whilst in Lagos. Checked on Keith / Mick's house. Lunch at the Bull. Saw Paul (Atlantico) re. website work. Venue for footy. Goodvilles for meal with Jimmy and Debbie. Rest to Charlie's Place. Me to Boozer and XLs' (Graham) till 04.30, an excellent Portuguese bar with good music. Graham retired speechless me on to Happy Nights till 07.30. Hideous condition.
Wednesday 25th
Day off. What the hell did I / we do? I remember dying at Marcos over breakfast.
Thursday 26th
Alamos. Jimmy's friend Paul played (both I'm convinced are bandits). Late morning tee-off time, breezy but still hot. Sports bar, Paddy's' bar, Michaels. Congratulations to Cliff  who won the Golf competition overall, with Keith second. Jimmy actually won all three days but as a guest it doesn't count :)
Friday 27th
Marcos. Venue. Late afternoon Barbeque by the pool with Jimmy, Debbie. Andy cooking. Sports Bar. Michaels.
Saturday 28th
No problem staying on in the villa until 16.30 finishing the BBQ booze by the pool. A leisurely drive to Faro for our 20.00 flight which was delayed by 30 minutes. Home for 1'ish.
Special thanks to Mark, Jackie, Gina and Lisa at Marcos. Jenny, Laney and Chris, Den and Kelly at Michaels.
Another excellent tour, love the country, love the company, love the craig. Say no more.

Last Update: 02/12/2008