Greetings from Faro, Algarve, Portugal

Early this morning we left with our five passports and headed to Portugal. It’s been quite many year since we had a vacation in Praia de Rocha near Portimão. We really liked it there then and I remember thinking and possible talking about one day perhaps moving there. Well, we almost made it there permanently, but have decided to stay in Spain. For many reasons.

1)The language is easier and we’ve already learned the basic principles of Spanish and lots of basic words.

2) Portugal is more expensive. Houses are more expensive. Our Lidl grocery shopping today was also more expensive. Things that here cost 1€ cost 1,20€ over there. Same currency. Same shop. Same items.

3)It’s easier to get to Spain from Finland than to Portugal. Only holiday flights go straight to Faro. And Lisbon might be the only city to get regular connection from Helsinki. So we have more options in Spain.

Anyway the owner of the hotel has called someone in it and booted something and everything should be okay regarding connection, but it is not. It worked semi fine on Sunday and Monday and then it died. That’s it. No hanging around internet before Coin. Just a quick upload and closing connection. I do hope they have a good connection in Coin.

But we had a nice day in Algarve. Drove the carretera by the sea and stopped few times to take a walk. Atlantic ocean is powerful. We are on Atlantic too, but here is a strip of land along the shore before the open sea, so that calms the sea down. It was nice to see and hear big waves. And it’s nice to have checked Portugal and have the knowledge that we would not have bought a place there. Seriously, here we manage going to shops and dealing with simple mundane purchases. There we didn’t even remember how to say hi and thank you. And the language is nothing like Spanish. Italian and Spanish sound a like to my ear. Portuguese sounds like some Balkan language. My uncle tried to learn the language. He studied in first and then moved to Portugal for some time. He said it’s the hardest language he’s ever tried to learn. And he’s a teacher himself. I believe him now. Spanish is hard enough.

In the pictures from top left to right and the same direction for every row below.
- The bridge between Spain and Portugal. Rio Guadiana is the border. Impressive bridge  don’t you think.
- All the places here have the welcome sign or a sign that states the name of the place you entered. I love it! Most of the time the sign is in the roundabout. Entering Algarve.
- Praia Verde on our morning walk. Nothing is open until March.
- Cyclist on Praia Verde
- Our dogs in Praia Verde
- Bird watching in Praia de Faro
- dead crab on the beach
- waves of Atlantic Ocean
- Very cool house in Olhão. Ruin painted with talented graffiti. This artist had painted quite many walls in the town and they all looked brilliant. It gave the town a very cool vibe.

At the moment it seems that after Coin we’ll head to Alicante.

Oh, and Buddha’s paw has been just fine after a night’s rest. No need for bandage today. The boys just had their carno de cerdo, so they have something to digest for a while. The meat here is so cheap that we feed raw meat to them. They were barfing before, but we bought frozen barf food from pet stores. Now we walk to any grocery store and have barf food for them. Makes life easier.

Oh and more caterpillar encounters today near hotel. Can’t walk anywhere without keeping eyes open and on the ground. I’m not ready to lose a dog.

Did you know that Faro means lighthouse - at least in Spanish? When we’re driving around we often check if the names of the places mean anything. Quite often they do. It’s a fun way to learn new words and make time go faster.

Hasta mañana!