Tuesday 23rd October
Bright blue skies greeted us this morning and we couldn't wait to get into our swimwear and laze by the pool.
What we didn't bank on was the 15mph wind and also the fact that actually it really wasn't all that warm. The kids braved the pool again and it was possible to sunbathe but a shirt was needed and sunscreen was pretty much unnecessary.
A quick check of the local forecast indicates that Saturday will be nice but between now and then there will be rain and thunderstorms. The ground is pretty sodden now so heaven knows what it will like after 3 days of rain. Time to revise the plans I think. We'll have to make enquiries about hiring a car or checking out the local buses because there is absolutely nothing here other than a Lidl supermarket 10 minutes walk away. In fact, the area probably shows Portugal and the state of the European Union at it's worst; there are a few nice houses and villas, but several empty and boarded up properties including an entire complex which is up for auction with Sotheby's.
In amongst this, there are some brand new properties with optimistic "For Sale" signs and right next to Lidl itself, a part excavated and semi developed building site that once was going to be the hottest new development and is now just a big hole, some scaffolding and not much else. It begs the question how the area will ever recover, as there simply is no-one here. I know it's the end of the season but there just doesn't seem to be the accommodation to cope with the capacity that would be needed to enable the area to survive. It's very sad.
It clouded over mid afternoon and I think boredom started to set in with the kids as they started to get fractious and argumentative. Things actually got to the point where we threatened them with going home early unless the behaviour improves.
There is an apparently fantastic Gypsy Market on tomorrow morning but only if it isn't raining. Fat chance then.
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