European Holiday - Portugal 3 - Algarve

Also joining Tom with his signs from around the world. Please check this link.

We arrived in Vilamoura in the early afternoon. My parents stayed with my sister Isabel and brother-in- law in the apartment they own there, while Jose, I, Karina, Thomas and my sister Luisa stayed in an Airbnb apartment, in the street just behind my sister's apartment.

Top: Our apartment block, my sister's building, the tall one, can be seen behind.
Bottom: view to the front of our apartment

Our 2 bedroomed Airbnb apartment was comfortable, roomy and nicely furnished, with a pull-out couch in the lounge for my sister Luisa.

We enjoyed 8 days of family time going to the beach (only once) as we preferred the pool...having lunch and dinner together either at my sister's or in restaurants and meeting up with family and friends who live in the Algarve.

First day at the beach

A fun ride and slide at the beach for the 5 of us (younger ones)

The pool at my sister's apartment block

The pool at our apartment block - seagulls drinking at the pool

The happy family out to dinner

We had a fun evening at an English owned Karaoke bar - Parkys - where we went for a drink, to listen to music and dance. My two sisters and I tried our hand at singing (very badly) in public for the first time, but we had great fun.     

My mom, me, my sister Isabel and sister Luisa at the back, dancing at the Karaoke bar

Parkys- always ready to kick off your Saturday

A couple of nights we went to the Vilamoura Marina, to have an ice-cream and walk around. Too crowded as usually in the warm summer nights!

The whole family met up with our friends from Perth, who were also holidaying in the Algarve, in their apartment just across from the beach, in Armacao de Pera .

Then we all drove to the historical town of Silves, about 20min away, where we had lunch. Some had the "Cozido a Portuguesa" a heritage dish - a boiled stew with a variety of meats, potatoes, cabbage. I'm not a fan actually, so I ordered grilled squid with potatoes. 

Our friends and our group outside the restaurant

The town of Silves was the old Moorish capital of the Algarve region. The castle on top of the hill overlooking the city, was occupied by the Moors between the 8th and 10th centuries. 

Walking around the mains street facing the river, I found a lovely park with lots of statues, and I lots of murals too :)

The statues depicting scenes of daily life of Arabic people who lived in Silves during the 11th century reign of Al Mouhatamid Ibn Abbad, the governor of Xelb (Silves), who was also known as one of Andalusia's best poets.

The statues are carved in a local stone, standing on stainless steel islands and some islands are inscribed with Arabic texts.

Park with statues inside a pond

The castle above the town of Silves

Praça Al Mouhatamid Ibn Abbad - this square where the statues were, serves as an entry into the city, and is named after the Governor of Silves in the 11th century, who also reigned in Seville (Spain) and died in Marrakech (Morroco).

After lunch, our friends returned home and we drove on until Praia da Rocha, (Rock Beach) 30 minutes away - known for the rock formations in the water and vast sandy area. Karina and Thomas still went for a quick swim, while we wandered around and sat at a cafe having a drink.

Tourist train in Praia da Rocha, a snail shell "Love I want to move" (for a building company) and a Tapas and Wine bar with a double meaning - in Portuguese it means "bad of knife", but if you read it quickly you will get "motherf****) We had a good laugh when we read it twice :)

On a different night, we picked up Jose's older brother and sister-in-law who live in Faro, the southernmost city in the Algarve, and took them to dinner in Olhao, a fishing town 10km away. They choose a Fish and Seafood restaurant, the food was superb, but again the portions were huge!

I liked the boat shaped planters along the streets, and the sardine tin rubbish bins

With Jose's oldest brother and sister-in-law

One of my parent's oldest friends from Mozambique days, who after living in England retired in the Algarve, joined us for lunch at my sister's place, and one of Karina's and my niece's friend, joined us for dinner one of the evenings also at my sister's apartment. 

My sister Luisa, our friend, my parents, me and my sister Isabel

My Dad, Luisa, Mom, Jose, Isabel, Karina, K's friend, Thomas and I

Jose and I had booked to renew our Portuguese passports and ID's - which had long expired but couldn't be renewed in Perth as we didn't have a Consul for a long time.... and we did those in Loule, an inland town about 20min drive from Vilamoura. We had to go there twice, once to do them and three days later to collect them, and of course we visited a few things around the town.

The Municipal market was huge, but only operated on Saturday

Various statues around the town

There was a small castle but seemed to be surrounded by construction

                               

I was keen to visit an out of the way small town, and one of return trips from Loule we visited the inland village of Alte. It has a population of under 2000 people and is known as one of the Algarve's most typical and unspoilt villages.

It was so charming, with its whitewashed houses and cobbled streets, I fell in love with it! 

There is a waterway, which they call the Big Fountain and there were lots of people relaxing on the margins.  It was a very hot day and after a long walk the bar at the end of the riverway was closed!

Along the walk there are plaques with poems by Cândido Guerreiro, a poet and lawyer who was born in Alte.

 

We then drove into the town centre, walked into a cafe which happened to have a beautiful view over part of the town, and we had a freshly squeezed orange juice and an almond pastry, which is typical of the Algarve where they have lots of almond trees.

        

Jose and Thomas flew out from Faro, a week before Karina and I left Portugal - Thomas flying via Marseille before returning to Cologne to celebrate his dad's birthday and Jose returning to Perth, via Frankfurt.

The day before, Karina and Thomas invited us all to lunch at the beach restaurant - Forte Novo - in Quarteira, the town next to Vilamoura, just 10km away, and we had the most amazing fresh fish.

Fresh delicious fish at Forte Novo restaurant

 The day after Jose and Thomas departed, the rest of the family drove back to     Lisbon, as the following day, my niece, husband and 2 kids who live in San     Francisco, would be arriving from Switzerland where they had been spending time    with her in-laws and the following day my other niece and 2 kids would be arriving from Luanda, Angola.

And I end this very, very long post with a last photo of my parents and their 3 daughters. 

My parents, my middle sister Isabel (back), my youngest sister Luisa and I (front)