Smell the roses

Is it really 4 years since I gave the benefit of my thoughts on the Algarve - unbelievable.

This short intermission was caused by my having my head to the grindstone in the UK, and now, pausing for breathe whilst seeking my next opportunity to add grey feathers I suddenly find I have time to think about the things I love again.

Much has changed in the beautiful landscape around the Algarve; the rise of Pingo Doce with its great seafood counter, the bizarre planning escapades threatening to destroy the ramshackle yet perfect (although expensive) beach restaurants at Julias, car park charges at Vale do Lobo (so no popping down there for coffee then), very nice improvements around Vilamoura ...and, of course, Portugal generally going bust.

All these things go on around us, but little changes in my garden. The orange trees come out every year with a huge harvest most of which ends up rolling down the drive and lodging by the back gate, my lemon tree is spectacular with plump fruit and the roses smell of heaven.

Note to self - must smell the roses more!

ps. yes I know that's not a rose :)

Is there anybody out there?

Is it just me or is there nobody in the Algarve at the moment? Usually by the end of June the place is really building up with tourists, the beaches are busy, supermarket is packed and you need to book your favourite restaurants in advance to get a table.

Not this year. Tumbleweeds are blowing down empty streets, deserted beaches stretch out for mile after mile. Everywhere is strangely quiet.

There seem to be lots of negative factors involved, not very good weather in the Algarve when the UK has been warm, cost of living and mortgages in the UK rising leaving less cash to spend on holidays, lack of advertising of the Algarve as a holiday destination (see my Allgarve blog), and of course the terribly sad Maddy factor.

Flying backwards and forwards I've noticed that the flights aren't full, and Easyjet are offering July flights from Faro to London for a carbon emmission busting £20. Bit worrying that, isnt it?

It needs someone in the tourist office to grasp the nettle and do something spectacular now!

Ole

Some years ago I was responsible for a business based in Madrid. I loved Madrid and my love for seafood came from those times, fab tapas bars with sizzling prawns on the griddle and beautiful dorada and lobster....yummy!

Anyway, I digress, the business had as a customer Madrid council, and I was alarmed to find that they owed us for 3 years worth of service without paying. I needn't have feared because I was told that if we turned up at 10.00am exactly on the specified day we would be paid for the first of the 3 outstanding years..well that's ok then.

Two years ago an official from our local camara (council) showed up at the house in the Algarve and said he was to revalue the house for council tax purposes. Nothing happened after that so I assumed in my naivety that all was well. No chance. We just had a council tax bill for the last 3 years for 4 times the original bills..and payable immediately. 4,000 euros extra.

I'm tempted to say that taking 2 years to send out a bill is inefficient and rather rude - in fact I will say it is inefficient and rude because it is. Luckily we are in a position to be able to actually pay the bill, but I guess there are many who are receiving these demands who are not so fortunate.

Do I look like a murderer?

Well im back! after a while offline due to moving boxes in the UK (see last blog below) my broadband has been delivered to my new box which is even smaller yet more expensive than the last one. The reason it's more expensive and smaller is because it's in central London.

As I got back the other day and was waiting for the lift to my 2nd floor box, a woman came along to get the lift too. Forgetting momentarily that I was in London and not the Algarve I said 'Hi' too which she completely ignored me. On entering the lift she hesitated before pressing the 4th floor button.

I didn't think anything of it until yesterday when I saw her coming out of her apartment on the 2nd floor.

To be honest I'm quiet upset that she thought I could murder her or worse.

One of the things Pink Flamingo and I often say to each other is how friendly people always are in Portugal. The first time I went to my local barber shop I was suprised when all the portuguese occupants turned and said 'good morning' to me. Local people always acknowledge you when they recognise you. The expats are friendly too on the whole and always open to chat.

We feel part of a real community, which is more than we ever did in the UK.

Little box

So I'm stuck in my little box, otherwise known as 'Luxury Apartment', in the UK.

It's compact and bijou....why anyone would want more than 20m2 of space to live in I have no idea. Currently, every small plot of land in the UK is being built on, usually in a vertical direction. Pokey little houses with cardboard walls are described as Executive Homes, although no self respecting executive I know would want to live in one. Or you can have a tiny apartment designed by japanese space and efficiency experts. When you get out of the shower you bang your head on the fridge and put your foot in the toilet bowl whilst groping for your towel.

Oh for the space, warm weather and outdoor life in the Algarve - can't wait to get back! Make sure you smell the roses every day you lucky people.

ps. Thats not Pink Flamingo in the picture. She's much more glamorous than that :o)

magic roundabouts

Sooner or later I had to come to the subject of driving.

It's particularly relevant now as there is a traffic roundabout building blitz going on near us. At least 10 new roundabouts have popped up in the last few months, reminding me of those suspicious man-made looking crop circles that appear overnight in country fields each year.

No, the roundabouts are not being constructed by aliens dressed in silver suits with one large eye, but curiously having two arms and legs and speaking english in a dalek style voice. These new roundabouts are courtesy of major construction companies. Weather beaten burley portuguese labourers, who stride through the traffic and dare you to run them over. Incidently, in the UK, health and safety measures would have closed off whole sections of roads to allow for the construction causing untold delays, but not here. It never ceases to amaze me the way that things are built in Portugal whilst traffic still zings around the workers building whatever they are building.

So portuguese drivers will now have to enter the whole new world of road positioning! That is, being in the left hand lane to turn left at an island, not cutting across the car in the left hand lane who intends to go straight on (or who more realistically wants to turn right). In my experience, this is a tough one, as having been cut-up by a portuguese driver just about every time I enter a roundabout it seems the lesson is not to be learned quickly....probably not for a few generations at least.

Oh what fun it will be when the holiday makers arrive and fill the roads with their rented Vauxhall Corsas thinking that they have right-of-way and not realising that in Portugal they have to get-out-of-the-way! A suggestion for the authorities. It might be worth having the GNR and an ambulance parked near to each roundabout to save time getting to the inevitable daily accidents.

On the subject of the GNR....hmmm no i'll leave that 'til next time..

Maddy