Saturday, April 13, 2019

Albufeira, Portugal!

 

Spring break diaries consisted of last-minute orders and arrangements for the charity fashion show, stress-writing my social psychology essay (which thinking back now I wish I did a better job) and bidding my time until I was lazing on a beach in Portugal.

Iain and I booked this trip well in advanced we almost forgot we did it. Well he did, I could not wait to get out of our lovely little town for a while and head straight for warmer temperatures. Read a tweet the other day of something along the lines of "the only way to get through life is to always have a holiday booked to look forward to", could not agree more hun. We decided to head to the Algarve, Albufeira in particular for some sunshine and beaches and cheap drinks. Apparently, Albufeira gets about 30 days of rain a year (don't quote me on that) which makes it the perfect holiday destination and brilliant for tourism but not so great for the agriculture sector. We stayed at a lovely 5-star hotel called the Grande Real Santa Eulalia Resort & Hotel Spa (a bloody mouthful and honestly not the easiest to convey to taxi drivers), because we booked early we got an amazing all-inclusive deal for our flights, hotel room and a massive buffet breakfast every morning. It was such a steal!


It was a really relaxed holiday. We spent our days either wandering the Strip, the Old Town or the beaches. The strip was pretty much party central and I've never seen so many stag and hen dos in one area. I thought it was a laugh, our uber drivers didn't, apparently loud rowdy men on the streets scared of families and other tourists from visiting. It was just an amusing sight, to see groups of men and women in odd outfits stumbling across the neon-lit streets. It was a fun area for a night out with so many bars and pubs to choose from and not to mention pints for €1.50!!! Alcohol was insanely cheap , to which our tour guide joked that locals didn't mind a tipsy day and rather shell out money for some beer or wine instead of a bottle of water which would cost the same amount of money. 

We did a wine-tasting tour as well which was good fun. Coming from a gal whose entire knowledge of wine comes from Tesco's finest £4 bottles, it was interesting to actually enjoy wine and not cringe with every sip. We visited a quaint vineyard that was started by a French doctor, who basically makes wine by night and saves lives by day. Not a bad way to live if you ask me. We were taken into the winery and taught how the processes differed when making red, white or rosé. I knew the art of making wine was a long process but never really hit me how long it takes before they bottle a good batch of wine. It was fascinating, and especially when we were plied with the local bottles of wine and platters of cheese and meat. It was interesting to actually be able to taste the differences they mention, notice the variation in colour and scent. Things I never really considered when drinking wine. It was an intriguing experience and definitely one of the highlights of the trip. 

Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side for a boat trip. I was really looking forward renting a little boat and taken out to see the stunning cliffs and explore the coves. That week was a windy one as they just had a big storm, so no boats were out at sea for a while. It was a bit disappointing but we made the best of it. Explore the old town centre, just spent our days walking up and down the little, walking along the beaches and finding nice little resting spots to fit in some reading time. It was a lovely, relaxing holiday. I felt so rejuvenated when we came home and ready for the next two weeks of uni hell. Internship interviews, a research proposal to submit, a mid-term statistics exam to revise for and to get through the crazy prep for our charity fashion show that week.

It worked out in the end, hope that explains why I was MIA and why the next few posts are long overdue. I am excited to go back to portugal though, I would love to visit Lagos next and maybe finally make it to the stunning coves. 

Talk soon xxx

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