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| APARTHOTEL PALADIM |
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| OURA BEACH WITH CLIFFS BEYOND |
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| A ROSE BETWEEN TWO CACTI |
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| FRIENDLY LOCALS |
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| MUSICIANS IN THE OLD TOWN |
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| I'VE GOT A LUVERLY BUNCH OF 'NANAS |
By the middle of January, the Xmas and New Year breaks seemed but a distant memory. A foreign holiday beckoned, but we wanted to preserve some of our holiday fund for later, so where could we go that was warmer than the UK and cheap?
After a bit of searching on the Internet we chose Albufeira in Portugal's Algarve. Buying everything separately, the cost was a mere £400 for the two of us. That's flights, 7 nights in a self-catering apartment, car hire for 4 days, car parking at Gatwick and transfers from Faro airport to our apartment! Bargain! Departure was set for Tuesday 21st of February.
Daytime temperatures in the Algarve at this time of year are typically around 13 degrees C - cool for the beach brigade but fine for us walkers. However, as the time for our departure drew closer it became apparent that our stay was going to coincide with a bit of a European heatwave, and we would be treated to temperatures exceeding 20 degrees. Perfect!
Catching our 6.30am flight to Portugal involved a very early start to the day but, after an uneventful journey, we were being dropped off outside the Aparthotel Paladim in Albufeira by 11.00am. Our room wasn't ready but we were able to leave our bags and, armed with a street map given to us by the receptionist, start exploring the town.
We quickly located the supermarket, the beach and the 'Old Town'. The sun shone upon us, as expected, although a cool sea breeze coming over the Atlantic ensured that we kept our jackets on.
Back at our lodgings mid-afternoon to check in, we were pleased to find that we had a spacious room with a kitchenette, dining area and balcony. The early start seemed to suddenly catch up with us the moment we tested the beds - we both nodded off and didn't awake for 3 hours. By then it was getting dark, but we coaxed ourselves out to the supermarket to get provisions for the next couple of days. One counter was selling freshly roasted chicken. Along with a few vegetables and with few shakes of piri piri sauce, this served as a delicious supper back in our room.
Next morning we decided to do a much more extensive tour of Albufeira. We walked east from our lodgings to see the so called 'Strip', which is where all the bars and night clubs are. It was all pretty quiet on a February morning though. We then walked down to the beach at Oura, fending off a keen timeshare salesman on the way. The idea was to walk back along the full length of the beach as far as Albufeira harbour, but cliffs appeared to block our way.
On closer inspection we could see a path weaving its way through the highly eroded yellow sandstone cliffs, so we thought we would try our luck. It took us about an hour to make our way through, but this turned out to be great fun and a highlight of the day.
The cliff walk behind us, we continued along the beach and eventually reached the harbour and the marina beyond. Making our way back, we enjoyed a drink at a beach-side bar and picked up some more roast chicken from the supermarket before returning to our lodgings. Nothing wrong with having the same meal two day's running when it is this tasty.