WHERE ARE WE ANNE?: 2013

Friday, 27 December 2013

THE AUDI IN MOROCCO MOVIE IS UP!

Here's the link to the movie we saw being made in Morocco of the Blue Audi with some of the Moroccan landscape we drove through on the day.

Er, I can't change the colour of the link.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18t832_essai-audi-rs-q3_auto

My thanks to Florian the cameraman who shot this.

Hope you like it!

LISBON

IT'S A TRAM THING

15TH DECEMBER 2013

Lisbon. A charming city of trams and dog turds. It really is a charming city but the navigational hazards for pedestrians are extreme.

Anna runs a very classy B&B which we had all to our selves. Great to cook a meal in for once.

Three nights in Lisbon then TAP to Gatwick.

ART GALLERY

TRAM HOME

TRAM TERMINUS

THE FAMOUS BELEM CAFE

PORTUGUESE EXPLORERS

OUR BUILDING AND STREET

CITY VIEW

TUK TUK WITH TILING

MARKET STALL

TAXI TO THE AIRPORT FOR BLIGHTY

Thursday, 19 December 2013

VILA NOVA DE MILFONTES

BEACH WALKS AND THE LUXURY OF A HIRE CAR FOR A FEW DAYS

ON TOP OF FOIA UNDER THE MILITARY RADAR

MONDAY 9TH DEC 2013
Faro airport was very quiet when we picked up our hire car but it is clearly built for a major influx of summer hordes. The hire car concourse although empty, went on and on.

Once at the wheel of our Fiat Punto, we went back the short distance to Olhao, loaded our bags and headed north for Vila Nova de Milfontes. Foia is the Algarve's highest mountain. We took a detour via Monchique to drive to the top. The summit was something of an anticlimax, it was freezing cold with clouds whistling through the wires of the telecommunicaion equipment. We jumped out, took a selfie and drove our way back down.

We checked in for three nights with our airbnb hosts, a lively Spanish couple who took us in like family. Luckily, their son was visiting as he was the only English speaker although Anne spoke French with Javier's wife.

Vila Nove de Milfontes is a lovely beach and riverside town, clearly a big favourite in summer. Anne and I walked a number of beaches with our best discovery being Alteirinhos beach with it's rocks and cliffs.

VILA NOVA DE MILFONTES ON THE RIVER MIRA WITH FORT CONSTRUCTED IN 1600 BECAUSE OF NASTY PIRATES

COLD BUT GOOD

NOT PAINT BUT QUARTZ

VILA NOVA DE MILFONTES

ANNE ON ALTEIRINHOS BEACH

ALTEIRINHOSS

ALTEIRINHOSS SAND CALLIGRAPHER

ALTEIRINHOSS CIRCLE WORK

CIRCLING AT ALTEIRINHOSS

OF COURSE, I COULD HAVE HELD IT ALL DAY....

OUR HOSTS AT VILA NOVA DE MILFONTES

Wednesday, 18 December 2013

DAY TRIP TO CULATRA, PORTUGAL

WINTER RECESS IN FAROL

THURSDAY 5TH DECEMBER 2013

Ilha da Culatra is a sand island, a short ferry ride from the dock at Olhao. It's a bustling, working fishing village at it's core with a holiday house section at Farol, the lighthouse end of the island.

It's stunningly gorgeous and cast somewhere back in time. It also has the cheapest espresso in Europe. We spent a day on the island including walking the eight kilometres return from the ocean side up the beach to Farol and back to the ferry wharf. ('Farol' meaning 'lighthouse' in Portuguese)

The island is 6 kilometres long with no roads or vehicles save for tractors on the beach. It's interlaced with walkways and there are about 1,000 inhabitants on the island year round.

We managed to mistime our return walk from Farol by about five minutes and missed our ferry which suited me fine though I'm not sure Anne was too impressed. We waited another hour forty five for the next one which gave me time to enjoy a beer, take a walk, take some more pics and get to know the local tough as nails pussy cat. I first saw him walking in a circle on the sand before I realised he was pretty much blind. Chewed off ears, bashed up and decidedly lean, he fends for himself and keeps the local dogs at bay which must happen every day of his life.