Portuguese Praias

The last weekend in February was a holiday weekend here.  The 27 is Andalusia Day.  We had Monday off work and Tuesday was the actual holiday.  You may recall that I have Wednesdays free, so it was a great break for me!  We decided that February was a fine month to skip out and close the bar for the weekend so we were planning to take about five days vacation...in the end it was only three.  At the last minute some people asked to "rent" the bar for a baptism celebration the Saturday before so we couldn't leave until Sunday after all the aftermath was cleaned up.  Still, it ended up being a much-needed get away.

We booked an apartment in Olhos de Agua, Portugal.  It was about a four hour drive (that's about our max. as far as driving goes--yes, we are admittedly wimpy in this regard).  We arrived at about 5 o'clock Sunday evening and once we got our things out of the car headed out to explore the beach nearby.

The decision to go to Portugal came about after my boss suggested it to me one morning when we were discussing plans for the long weekend.  We had wanted to go explore some of the more beautiful beaches around--Cádiz or Huelva--since there's not a chance we'll ever go in summer.  For one thing it's quite a drive: at least two hours each way; and of course in the summer those beaches are usually absolutely packed with people.  Not my idea of fun.  Still, they are famous for their huge expanses of beautiful, fine, yellow sand.  Huelva is also very well known for its gambas blancas (white shrimp).  But as the weekend drew nearer we were unable to find anything that looked acceptable and also allowed dogs (what's a family vacation without the dog?!).  Marisa suggested Portugal and when she showed me pictures from the beaches in Albufeira, I was sold.

On Friday morning I booked the apartment (!).  And Sunday we were on the road headed west.  The beaches did not disappoint.  They were amazing: great long streches of pristine, fine, yellow sand bordered by impressive multi-colored sandstone cliffs.  Knotty costal pines bent by the ocean breeze off the Atlantic covered the hills and the waves crashing on the shore were an enticing saphire blue.  It was very picturesque indeed.

Emily had just as much fun playing in the sand and the waves as she did sledding in the snow, and of course, so did Bela.  So in that respect, too, the holiday was a big hit.  Although the weather wasn't sunny, it also wasn't cold and we let her run around in just her onsie.  As the waves would aproach she'd squeal with delight, waving her arms up and down saying, "Water's coming, Mommy!" :)

We were a little disappointed with the apartment just because it was annoying to have neighbors who sounded as though they were right there in the room with you.  In general it was pretty quiet, but in an apartment building noise is inevitable.  We are very spoilt by the silence here in our home in La Roda (with the execption of the ocasional train) .

Most of our days were spent at one beach or another, but we did venture into a nearby village to experience their carnaval (mardi gras) celebration.  It was pretty cute/hokey and reminded me of the celebration in La Roda for King's Day in January.  Lots of people dressed in costume having a grand time on homemade floats pulled by very old tractors.  The highlight of the little parade were the donkeys that Emily got to sit on for a bit!  She was pretty cute, and as I crouched to take the picture telling her, "smile!" I could hear a whole gaggle of Portuguese women swooning over her. ;)

Wednesday morning we packed up our little apartment and hit the road as early as possible.  We wanted to stop in Huelva on our way home for a lunch that would include some white shrimp.  Just accross the boarder we stopped for café and had a little run along the beach.  It was the shelliest beach I have ever seen!  My mother, shell hunter extraordinaire, would have been in heaven.  The shoreline was covered with the most beautiful, interesting shells, and nearly all of them were whole!  Emily and I hunted around for a bit, but we couldn't stay as long as either of us would have liked.  After about another 45 minutes of driving we stopped for lunch and the famous gambas didn't let us down--they were delicious.

It was tough for all of us to get back into the routine of being back at home.  Emily was very sad when I had to leave for work Thursday morning and had several melt-downs throughout the morning.  I went to work dragging my feet, of course...but the break from our routine and the chance to spend some prolonged quality time together did recharge our batteries.  And of course, there's noting like a trip to make you appreciate your home.  It's good to be back.