Friends and Family – Part 1

It was with great excitement that we arrived in Praia de Rocha at our apartment for what turned out 2 weeks. We had booked Jose’s apartment on Air BNB for a week to have a little break from the van and share it with friends Linda and Sid from Dorset.

Jose met us at the apartment, he was a super friendly guy who spoke great English. He had been sending me little videos of the apartment along with instructions on how to find him, how to park and how to get it.

Shortly after Linda and Sid turned up in their hire car and after we dropped our bags we headed off for what would be the first of many fun filled meals out in and around the area.

Praia de Rocha is a beach resort in Portimão on the Algarve about 30 mins west of Albufeira. It has a small port and marina at the mouth of the river Arade and our apartment was very close to the marina. We were about two blocks away from the beach so it was 5 mins to walk to the top of the cliff and look down on a huge expanse of sand, in the summer it is covered in sun loungers!

The Algarve coastline is known for its beautiful beaches interspersed with rocks and caves cut out of the cliffs made from limestone. The coastline is dotted with different rock formations and alcoves that divide the beaches up and there are many boat trips that you can take to explore these caves. Bob and I went on one of these trips about 5 years ago when we went on an Algarvian Walking holiday, it was great fun and I remember jumping into the deep blue sea off the boat at the end – it was heaven but the temperature was in the thirties. As it is only 15-18 outside it wasn’t a trip that we could persuade Linda and Sid to repeat!

During the week we explored the area around Portimão and although we didn’t see the rocks and caves from the sea we drove to the pretty coastal town of Carvoeiro and visited Algar Seco where there is 600m boardwalk that takes you right down to the caves and you can walk around them.

The limestone caves dates back to 24-16 million years ago and they contain a high content of marine invertebrate fossils. These marine sediments are very vulnerable to water contact so rain and sea can easily carve out the landscape to create the terrain that makes this area so special.

We visited Silves again on the Saturday to explore the town and castle with Linda and Sid. The site of the castle actually dates back to the Romans. The Moors occupied it between the 9^th and 13^th century before being taken from them by the Christians.

Standing guard outside the castle walls is a giant statue of King Sancho 1 of Portugal who along with the crusaders conquered the city and lived at the castle.

You can walk all the way around the fortress walls, they have been restored during the 1960’s after being damaged by an earthquake during the 1800’s. The walk around the walls has magnificent views of the surrounding area making it an ideal spot to keep an eye out for the enemy! .

Silves is made up of lovely white cobbled streets, known for its fish restaurants and the day we visited was market day so it was bustling with locals as well as tourists.

We had our best Sangria whilst there (Linda and I were testing it out quite regularly) and some great fish including a local dish made clams and rice served up in a large saucepan. I had fried whole seabass cooked on a BBQ grill.

Linda and I would get up early and take George for a walk and explore the area and catch up with girly gossip whilst the boys slept in!

One evening we walked along the cliff top to a bar where we watched the sunsetting over the sea – although the weather during the day was warm and sunny 17/18 degrees, the mornings and evenings would be cool so you needed a warm coat as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon.

We’d been recommended a Tapas Bar in the old town of Portimão so on Bobs birthday we headed to the old town to buy Bob some new shoes and eat Tapas next to the Port.

Sadly the weather for the last couple of days was cooler with some showers but we decided it was still worth heading up to Monchique mountains about 30km inland. These are the mountains that protect the Algarve from the northern winds resulting in over 3000 hours of sunshine per year. Monchique became an important town due to ‘healing’ thermal waters, wool and flax weaving and forests that are rich in eucalyptus, cork oak and chestnut trees. It is now mainly a popular tourist attraction selling artisans crafts and offering thermal spa activities. It was pretty chilly up in the mountains so we didn’t stay for very long but it was a scenic drive for Linda and Sid to see some rural Portugal away from the developed tourist areas.

All too soon the week was up, we have had such a relaxing week with Linda and Sid, hopefully they have had a good taste of Portimão and the area with our little trips out in Sid’s dreadful hire car. We finished our puzzle – Sid was not going to leave until we had – but found it had 2 pieces missing. Sadly It was time to say goodbye but wait…….we have another visitor on their way!