Portugal

We have always loved to travel, even before RVing.  Lots of the time it was tent camping, or quick cheap one week trips down south to all inclusive resorts and trips to England to see relatives.

We had both wanted to go to Portugal for a change.  We had seen a number of ads in the paper advertising apartments in Portugal for two weeks, with kitchens, etc. with airfare and car rental that were pretty decently priced, but you know us we didn't really want to stay in the touristy area.  My cousin from England and her husband also wanted to go to Portugal.  I haven't seen my cousin alot because of the distance between us, but we are quite close relation wise ever since we were about 11 years old.  We get along great and so do our husbands (they both love beer!), so we decided to do a trip together.  Helen booked a cottage in the mountains in the Algrave and Kevin booked the car rental.  Kevin got a great deal on the airfare, we left from Montreal and flew into Heathrow and transfered over to Gatwick where we met Helen and Tony, we were all booked on the same flight from Gatwick to Faro, Portugal.

The cottage we booked was well off the beaten path, I think it took us 20min. to get to it on a narrow twisty, windy road, once we left the main road.  It was certainly very quiet there.  The cottage was a beautiful little spot.  It had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dinning rooom, kitchen and living room with a fireplace, which was used almost every night.  The nights were pretty chilly.  We did this trip during the last 2 weeks of March in 2007.  They had a swimming pool there as well, but it never got warm enough to use it.

Helen, Tony, Ruth and Kevin having coffee in the morning on the patio of the cottage that we rented in Alcaria Fria, Algarve, Portugal

 

View of mountains and the ocean from the cottage

An orange tree that is on the cottage property.  Those oranges were soooo good

 

Our living room

 

Our cottage

During our two weeks we travelled from one end of the Algrave to the other, even drove into Spain for a look see and had supper there.  We also just stayed put some days and wandered around the area of the cottage, lots of places to walk.  The scenery was fantastic, weather could have been better.  It was sunny most days, but pretty windy which made it feel fairly cool out.  We were constantly putting on or taking off sweathers.  I think the temperature was below normal for that time of year, but it was still better than at home.

Here are some pictures, enjoy!

A street in Travira (notice all the cobblestone, most town roads and walkways are done this way), Algarve, Portugal

View from the hillside near our cottage

A cove in Carvoeiro, Algarve, Portugal

A street in Silves with a stork's nest on one of the buildings. Silves, Algarve, Portugal

Steps going up the middle of the street in Monchique, Algarve, Portugal

A view of a beach with surfers near Sagres, and the cliffs, Sagres, Algarve, Portugal

The walkway at the marina in Portimao, Algarve, Portugal

View of the coastline at Albufeira, Algarve, Portugal