Portugal - Day 1

Monday, March 3 - Day 1 - Arrival

After an uneventful but long flight (7 hours) we arrived in Faro, Portugal at about 8:00 am - a sunny warm day, temperature about 17 degrees C at 9 am - up to about 21 C later in the day.

Faro is the capital city of the Algarve, one of eleven provinces in Portugal.

The bus left for Albufeira, the city in the Algarve where we are staying, at about 9:00 am and we arrived at our apartment/motel near 10 am - met by Jean and John on arrival.

Our apartment at the Club Oceano is very clean - two bedrooms/sleeping areas, kitchenette, general living room area and balcony with a beautiful view, shown in the first and second photos.

After settling into our room we walked along the ocean beach to the "Old Town" for lunch. On the beach walk photo you can see old town in the distance, though not very clearly. Jean then John and Ruth are in the foreground. There will be more of this sort of photo later.

The next two photos are taken on one of our walks around the old town.

After lunch and a bit of strolling around Old Town, we walked back to our apartment and slept for a few hours, then to dinner.

Tomorrow, we will go for breakfast at 8 am then to the Gypsy Market.

At noon we meet with the JM Vacations person to plan our trips to Seville, Lisbon and a couple of other places.

The internet connection is limited in our hotel so postings may be quite limited. I will see how it goes tonight as I try to post this.

Albufeira (winter pop about 20,000 swells to over 100,000 in July and August) where we are staying is an old city (said to have been an important port in Roman times) situated on the Atlantic coast of the Algarve about midway between the eastern and western extremes. Its name is derived from the the period when the Moors occupied this area and it was called Al-buhera or "Castle by the sea". In more recent times it was a quiet fishing village but the city is now predominantly a tourist area with numerous and extensive construction projects, adding to the plethora of large hotel/apartments already in existence. Most of this hotel/apartment construction is outside the old town which is a relatively small area of narrow streets and older buildings situated on very hilly terrain. These narrow streets are lined with white, slightly Moorish style buildings and dominated by small shops and restaurants oriented to satisfying the tourist trade. Nevertheless, the "old town" still has its charm and it is always relaxing and enjoyable to walk 20 minutes along the beach or the streets from our apartment to old town to visit the square, the used book store, T shirt shops and Sir Harry's pub and to watch the tourists.