Dark and Stormy

After breakfast we drove to Vilamoura, which is where we always used to stay when we came to the Algarve.  We knew the forecast was for rain today, but didn't expect it to be as bad as it was!  Luckily, I know the weather in Portugal can be a bit unpredictable so came prepared with umbrella and waterproof jackets - we certainly needed them!

It was nice to see the changes to Vilamoura as it's probably been at least 10 years since we were here, and we weren't sure what to expect and wondered if it had gone 'downhill' in that time, but were pleased to see that it hadn't, and the changes were only good ones.  More development, but nice, tasteful resort hotels and the marina seems to have extended.  We walked around the 'new' part of the marina and down onto the opposite end of the beach to where we're staying now and came across a Thai Beach Club.  It looked so nice that we decided to book a late lunch there and forego our dinner at the hotel later.

We walked down onto the beach, by which time the sky was looking rather threatening as you can see, so we walked back to the marina where there's shops and bars to duck into.  Just as we'd got back the heaven's opened and the rain was torrential!  We found a doorway of a restaurant that wasn't open and sheltered in there until it stopped, then once the sun came back out it was really hot and humid!   We had a nice walk and then sat and had a drink overlooking the boats, and planned to walk to The Old Village which is where we used to stay, but we didn't make it - the rain came again!  Luckily we weren't far from where the car was parked, so we sat in the car to keep dry - thank goodness we hadn't already set off walking as it's a 1.5km walk to the Old Village!  We decided to drive round to the Beach Club and managed to park nearby and made a dash for it - we were pretty wet and windswept when we arrived, but the food was amazing!

Before we headed back to the hotel, we drove to The Old Village as the sun was out by then and we had a walk round, again pleased to see that it still looked as good as it used to be and has been very well maintained.

We still didn't want any dinner, so after a shower and a nap, we went to the bar for a glass of Cava and watched the band that were playing, we saw them last Thursday when we'd arrived and thought they were really good.  We nipped into the restaurant a bit later just to get a small salad and then retired to the bar for the rest of the evening.   So all in all, not a bad day considering the weather.