Portugal & Spain
Aug 25th - Sept 11th
2024 

It was 2022 when we last went to the villa in Portugal so we felt it was time for another visit.  Sue and Gary were more than happy for us to use it.  The weather forecast temperatures in the mid 20's in Faro, which would be perfect for us, but mid or even high 30's in Spain!  We left Portsmouth on the 9.45 ferry on Sunday August 25th arriving Bilboa two days later at 8am on Tuesday 27th.  There followed a pretty long 400+ mile treck down to the Paradore de Mireda - the one with the Roman buildings and history. 

 We'd decided we'd explore Merida the following morning when we were refreshed and the temperatures were not as extreme so wondered round and had a drink in town in the late afternoon before eating at the Parador that evening. Although warm we ate outside and it turned out very pleasant. 

We saw the amphitheatre and theatre in the morning and set off on our way to the villa, arriving around 4pm and with plenty of time to do a shop at the local ALDI for food and drink.  The Villa was still looking fine and the garden beautiful.

The forecasst had been for the mid 20's but im the end most days at the villa were in the low 30's.  Absolutely hot enough to make full use of the pool and as before we kept the roof on Lynette's car up to take advantage of the air conditioning.  On one such hot day we visited Loule, as per normal, but this time on a Saturday with the markets open and in sweltering temperatures.  The place was bustling and for some reason looked somewhat different from how we remembered it.

Most evenings we stayed in the Villa and had a BBQ but on a couple of nights we did eat out.  One of these was at the Bird's Nest Restaurant, which we'd often considered going to as it was the closest, but it had been closed for some time. Now, however, it had opened again so we took advantage of that and eat there.  Very pleasnt place, very good food, somewhat expensive and pretty empty apart from us and the group from Dagenham in the courtyard.  The other time out was, of course, to the Piri Piri and as normal the garlic prawns followed by Piri Piti chicken.  All was good.  We chatted to the Dutch owner who, it has to be said, seemed older and a little doddery sadly.

We did the normal round of visiting sites of historic interest, both those we'd seen before, those we had visited and one we had been to before but now seemed to have a brilliant museum we hadn't been into previously. First off was the castle at Paderne.  We managed to get there along the rocky track but sadly it was closed.  Unsure if or when it will open. Steve tried to take a different route out and had to turn back. 1-0 to Lynette! The one with the meusem we hadn't managed to see before was Salir.  A bit of a walk uphill which maybe didn't help Lynette's knees but the little museum was great - with a glass floor over the ancient foundations. (Map Link)

The new site we hadn't seen before but were very impressed with was the Roman Villa in Vallamoura.  This was well worth a visit and though there is an entrance charge we came away feeling it was well worth it and happy to contribute our little bit to its upkeep. (Map Link)  Finally there was a visit to the ever impressive castle at Sevres.  It took a littl;e finding, we should have following Lynette's intuition to take the left off the roundabout, and we were lucky to get the last space in the car park, but it was well worth it.  Especially the iced coffee in the new cafe inside the castle.

We also did a little 'random driving out' into the mountsins north of Loule and really enjoyed viewing some of the scenery.  One little village we loved was Quarenca.  The tiny village square was lovely, with a beautiful church, an impressive cross and a couple of ideally placed cafe/restarants to have a coffee and watch the world go by.  Very pleasant. (Map Link)

But our 10 days in the villa were now up and it was time to head north.  We started off through Portugal before crossing the border into Spain and staying the night at the Parador de Ciudo Rodrigo.  We really loved this place.  An old castle that really still seemed like a castle with very sympathetic renovations that didn't at all detract from the old building.  Placed on the edge of the old town, it was easy to walk into the centre for a beer.  After that we stayed one more night in Spain at the Parador do Argomaniz.  Founded on an old nunnery but with the feel of a very modern building.  Expensive but a wonderful room - trouble was you needed to drive out to see anywhere.

Nonetheless a fitting end to a very enjoyable two weeks in Spain and Portugal.  The weather had been even nicer than forecast and it was lovely chilling out together at the villa.  Saw several old and new sights but just enjoying the days together, popping to the shops for stuff to eat and great BBQs and Lynette's special lunches in such a beautiful setting.

 The beautiful Lynette, showing off her lovely lunch, with the backdrop of the glorius garden.  What's not to like?!

The Video

Checking Out the Villa

Checking Out the Pool