I’ve not been blogging daily from here in Olhos de Água as my writing would have resembled a teenagers diary of the ‘got up, had breakfast, went to the beach, came home’ kind. The reality was far more exciting than the routine sounds. For a start, Praia do Barranco is a beautiful beach! It’s a few kilometers long strip of golden sand bordered by amazing cliffs. Once you get away from the areas lined with sunbeds and brollies where most visitors congregate it’s pretty deserted. With it being the Atlantic, the sea’s hardly tropically warm, but it’s still a damned sight warmer than off the UK and ideal for playing in the waves. Here’s a few pictures.

The studio where we’re staying is in a peaceful, well-laid out complex that has plenty of space and includes landscaped gardens with a profusion of flowers, like these.

We’ve also been fortunate to find a really good local restaurant and bar, frequented by tourists and locals alike. Miraparque serves the best Sardines and Tuna steaks we’ve had on this trip, and the prices are hardly extortionate. 9.95 Euros for a plate of 6 freshly grilled Sardines with potatoes and a side salad, whilst the beautifully grilled Tuna steak is 12.50. To make life easier there’s a really good supermarket next door, ideal for stocking up on fruit and drink to take to the beach.

Ironically, having had only one cloudy day throughout the trip we woke up to overcast skies today, which has put the mockers on our plans to make the most of the swimming pool here. Ah, well. Maybe the weather’s trying to tell us something. In a few hours time we’ll be heading for Faro airport before catching an 18:05 flight back to Leeds/Bradford. We’ve both loved out time in Portugal and fallen in live with Porto and where we’re staying now. We’re already planning on coming back.

I’ll add more to this blog later…

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