Hi Portugal

Monday madness melted away when I took the plan to Faro airport via Birmingham International Airport. Sometimes the London airports are cheaper to fly to, but Birmingham Airport is easier for me to get to cause there’s a direct train from Banbury to Birmingham International. Though I didn’t need to worry about train strikes cause I came here with my mum and stepdad. I was expecting delays, but there was none at all. That makes a change for once. I remember one of the flights to Amsterdam was delayed and one of the passengers had a panic attack.

I didn’t sleep much Monday, we left the house by 4 and I had just enough time to shove a banana and peanut butter sandwich down with a green tea before heading out. At the airport I had waffles with fruit which was lovely.

I didn’t much of a culture shock. I was expecting Portugal to have the same time zone as us, most of the Europe cities are an hour ahead of the UK. So I was expecting my clocks to change and then was surprised that the clocks didn’t change like they did in Paris.

Portugal greeted us with warm weather, cold cocktails and an array of cafes, restaurants, bars and shops. Where we are staying has nearly provided which means hospitality industries can get competitive. I’ve seen lots of staff standing outside the restaurants trying to get people in. Sometimes there is staff on both sides of the road.

The weather is warm, not like the cold summers we are used to here. We are staying in an all-inclusive where food and drink is all provided. There’s a few swimming pools, a gym and an array of bars here. You could easily just stay here all day. My friend Vee said I must be having a treat compared to staying in the hostel in Paris, and it does feel luxurious. I feel like the hotel is like a cruise, but on land.

Everyone we’ve met have been really friendly. There seems to be a lot of things to do. Our resort had a singing and dancing show with traditional costumes and songs which I thought was lovely. Last night’s buffet theme was the local dishes, and there was a lot of vegetarian and vegan choices.

I didn’t do as much walking as I did in Paris, but I’ve still done quite a bit. For really long journeys we used an app called Bolt for taxis which works like Uber. Our first taxi driver drove us in a Tesla and my parents really liked it and said they would love a car like this. Hopefully the Uber drives are paying off the Tesla.

The beaches are great! The water is clear too. The beaches have wooden planks which means it’s accessible for people with wheelchairs and prams. It’s a nice touch. You can tell the beaches are really taken care off here.

You can see the fishes! Today we are going to a boat trip to see some caves, but if we are lucky, we might see some dolphins too. Tomorrow we have booked a coach trip to Lisbon. Libson was one of the ports we wanted to go on the cruise that was cancelled because of the pandemic. My mum has friends who live out there and she’s hoping to catch up with them tomorrow. The coach trip worked out €12 each which I think is good. The tourism office quoted €60 each for a trip tomorrow but it wasn’t going on due to a bank holiday. We should see nice things there as it will be a special occasion for the country.