Algarve Boating

As promised, we've got lots more scenic photos from Portugal to share with you - here's some from our trip out on the boat to the grotto caves off the coast of the Algarve, which is the classic postcard scene of the area. The old guys driving the boats were unbelievable - they went right into the tiny caves and out again without touching the sides. A lot better than certain boat captains we know, who shall remain nameless.


Getting ready to board our boat for the three-hour cruise.... the three-hour cruise...


... The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew.....


This is the very lovely Praia Dona Ana. We also had a swim there (see below).


I used to complain about all the steps down to Bronte...


We went through that hole in the boat


Happy sailors


Pop kept asking the skipper for boating tips, but unfortunately couldn't understand his accent too well.


Flying the flag


A nicely painted boat


Back on land - ah


Jo enjoyed the boat, but was still happy to make it back to land. The Marina is called Marina de Lagos in Portuguese, but now having learned a bit of the language, we know this translates to Lagos Marina in English - just in case you were wondering.


So this is Praia Dona Ana from the land-side


Caiti likes collecting rocks and shells at the beach, but this was ridiculous

Portugal - Lagos

Apologies for the break in transmission there. We're back now.....

So, our first visit to the Iberian peninsula was very enjoyable. We visited the Algarve in Portugal with Nanna & Pop. We stayed in Lagos which is a lovely town and the weather was absolutely fantastic. We also managed to get about in the hire car and saw lots of great places along the Algarve coast. The beaches were beautiful, the shopping was fun, the food was fresh and the wine was an absolute steal. Jo has decided this is her favourite holiday spot and is ready to go back next week (assuming we win the lotto, which is highly likely).

We've got lots of photos to share, so we won't try and post them all in one go. So to start with we hope you enjoy some of our pics in and around Lagos.


Lucy smiling on Praia Meia - "praia" is Portugese for "beach"
but you probably already guessed that!


Busy Caiti on Praia Meia. That's Lagos in the distance.


Postcard from Praia Meia


Praia Meia from above


Girls cruising the streets of Lagos... white paint is a big seller in Portugal it seems


This is the famous Lagos local, Henry the Navigator... he sat in the passenger seat


Checking the menus in Lagos... the restaurants were all quite nice and surprisingly inexpensive. Grilled sardines are not for everyone though!


Still looking for the best place to eat


Why do girls smile so much when they are shopping?


Town walls.... and a relatively dangerously placed station of the cross by the road there


This photo was also taken in Lagos - purely for reference purposes

The Lake District - Sun

So, as we were saying... the sun finally popped out on our last day in the Lake District - on the morning we were heading off east. But it was such a lovely day, we took some time to get a few snaps before we left.


Mum & girls


Dad & girls


Lake Windermere


Lake Windermere (with gulls)
The snowy hills in the background are the very same Langdale Pikes that we couldn't see the day before, even though we stopped at the pub right beneath them.


Funny little house over the funny little bridge in Ambleside - with funny little Caiti in foreground





A few pics for the mantlepiece... just need to get a mantlepiece now.


But despite the lovely day, we had to be on our way from the Lakes and get on to our next destination, York. And after about half an hour of driving Lucy did her usual "I'm feeling car sick" routine. We've learnt (the hard way) that you shouldn't ignore her when she says this, so we stopped at the first town we saw, which, luckily for us, was the chocolate-box-pretty Kirkby Lonsdale. No, we'd never heard of it either (Keezee thought Kirkby Lonsdale was a heavy-weight boxer) but we were so glad we happened to stop off, as it was a lovely place. Nice shops, nice town square, nice church, nice river, nice bridge, nice views.... nice all round. The town bakery was a real find - it looked as if it hadn't changed much since 1850 (including the prices) with old beams and an open fire - very nice.


That's the Devil's Bridge thorugh the trees. Apparently a national monument or some such thing. No devil to be seen fortunately.


The High Street has a number of pubs, two of which can be seen here.


View over the River Lune. We're told the famous English artist Turner painted this view back in the 1800's (possibly - no, probably - stopping off at the bakery for a sausage roll shortly afterwards.


The local church... very nicely kept grounds we must say.

The Lake District - Snow

You probably realise by now, that if there's any sign of snow, we break out the camera. Well luckily for us, the snow fell on our second day in the Lakes... not great weather for sight-seeing, but it beats the rain at least.

Let's start with a bit of snowy scenery






That's a pub through the trees, called the Alfred Wainwright. He's actually quite famous in these parts and there's documentaries about him on the BBC all the time - Google him!



More cold sheep


This is the pub where we had lunch. It was nestled under a group of fells called the Langdale Pikes, which are apparently quite spectacular (when you can actually see them). The pub was nice... open fire, food, beer, pool table.... all the essentials.


This was the pub next door, where we didn't go for lunch, but looks more photogenic.


And here we are at Tarn Hows, which is another lake (there's a lot of them round here actually). The cool thing was it was frozen.




Caiti took this one... we're impressed.


Boat on Lake Windermere... we were testing out the superzoom on the camera when we took this one.


No snow in this one, it's true, but this is where Beatrix Potter lived. The cottage is called Hilltop - quite possibly because it's located on top of a hill


This is the view of the village from her place. Lovely.