Albuferia, Falesia & Vilamoura

Sat 20^th

After a quick cycle around Quarteria which was ok but nothing special, we packed up and drove along the coast to a commercial aire at Falesia. It was well laid out, and very neat and tidy. It only opened last year and seems to be popular as there were quite a few vans parked up. A mixture of the by now normal longtermers, and folk like us who stay a few days and move on. There were quite a few Brits who were friendly and helpful. Quite a few trees so the sunshine had to be chased! The beach was only 500m away, the sand cliffs were spectacular as was the sunset. Lovely.

sand cliffs - true colours

 

another sunset!

Sun 21^st

Cold overnight but a lovely sunny start to the day. We quickly moved slots as we couldn’t get a tv signal, are we becoming as picky as the German / French ?  we cycled into Vilamoura about 4km along a nice rough track. The marina was quite posh and full of gin palaces and more modest boats. Lots of appartments but quite attaractively done. The marina sems to be the focal point which suits us. We had a drink and bite to eat. It was warm and very relaxing. Tee shirt and shorts weather on the 21st December, blooming marvellous!

Vilamoura - posh marina

enjoying the sun

On the return journey we looked at a wild camping spot in a beach side carpark. We spoke to a lovely Swedish lady who advised us on where to eat locally, isn’t it great when complete strangers help each other out.

wild camping spot

A good day out exploring. After the obligatory cup of tea we tried to look at things on the internet, but the site wifi was p**ts as is becoming the normal.  Note to self – buy local data sim card for our mifi.

Mon 22^nd

Cloudy!  Scoot out we zipped along to visit Albuferia to see for ourselves if it really is the Blackpool of Portugal.  Yes it is.  Lots and lots of hotels, appartments and rows of bars and cafes all seemingly catering for us Brits. The majority of the folk walking about were Brits with a few Dutch and Germans.

Albuferia old town

sand sculptures on beach

The old part had some nice bits but round every corner was a bar advertising English breakfasts or a Chinese restaurant! There was also quite a few Indian restuarants.

We had a coffee and excellent slice of apple cake before scooting along to the marina. Very art deco with a hint of Miami might describe the style. The pastel colours were not to Tina’s liking but I quite liked some of it.

Albuferia marina

We then dropped into a shopping centre to buy a data sim. The guy in the MEO shop spoke perfect English and we left with a great promotional deal – 10GB for €9.90. The frustrating site wifi would be a thing of the past. In the evening we tried it out and used Facetime to speak to our friend Cheryl, who still giggles when we call her and can show her where we are. She liked our mini xmas tree and lights.

Xmas lights in the van