A Portuguese Adventure

I almost named this blog post after the daytime TV show ‘a place in the
sun’, as I seem to be watching a lot of said programme during the day
recently since coming back from Portugal (and having a good old case of
the post holiday blues) I’m taking a bit of a time out from work at the
moment due to some health issues, but I look forward to getting back to
fighting fit soon. I shall try leave this post to more pictures and less
writing – just a collection of my favourite photos from our 10 days in
Portugal. I feel like my posts have been very picture heavy lately, I
hope they’re not taking a silly time to load on your computers and
phones! Bring on the sunshine…

Pete and I flew to Faro in Portugal, then got a transfer down to a little fishing town called Alvor. My Aunty has a couple of apartments there with a rooftop terrace, just a few minutes walk from the town centre so it’s super handy location wise.

Stripy Bikini: Ripcurl @ Spartoo // Animal Print Bikini: AMI Clubwear 

Custom white & pink Sunglasses: Sungod //  Flipflops: Spartoo

Retro Sunglasses: Toms (Old) //  The Crossroads of Should & Must: Best gift ever from Ashley

We spent almost half of the holiday lazing down at the beach, swimming in the sea, and reading. My friend Ashley bought me a book just before I went away, which was the perfect read for me at this moment in time. It talks about how we often come to a crossroads in life between what we feel like we ‘should’ do, and what we actually ‘must’ do, in order to make ourselves happy. We tend to listen to the voice of safety and reason more than that brave voice deep down inside of us, which speaks our hearts truest desires. Sounds cheesy, but it’s true! This book was a firm kick up the backside to note down my priorities and start making my dreams a reality. I gave Pete my copy of The Beach to read, which I’ve had since high school and is one of my favourite books. It did make him want to escape the Algarve in search for some hidden island of paradise though…

One morning we went on a boat tour which left from Portimao Harbour, and took us around the caves on the coastline. It was absolutely beautiful! We jumped off the boat for a swim at one point, and it was so much colder than just paddling along the beach front. The sort of cold that renders you breathless as soon as your chest hits the water.

Back at the apartment we made a little feline friend who came to visit a few times, mostly when we were getting ready to go out in the evenings. I even ended up buying a tin of cat food awaiting another visit, but kitty never returned!

Alvor is a fishing village, with restaurants leading right down to the harbour who all cook fresh catches on their big open barbeques. We had some delicious meals watching the sun go down, along with one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. We also developed a bit of a taste for Sangria, which makes getting tipsy in the afternoon far too easy…

Cover up: AMI Clubwear // Bikini: ASOS

On the walk down to the main strip we normally passed this dog hanging out the window every night saying hello to people! A couple of days we ventured outside Alvor and got a taxi to the nearest big town, Pria da Rocha. Here we experienced our first Portugese nightclub, some bubbling dry ice cocktails, and I took Pete for his first shisha. We also went to a gorgeous beach/pool bar called NoSoloAqua which was at the end of Portimao Harbour. The food and drink was quite expensive as you can imagine, and from the posters it seemed like MTV hold all their big summer session events there. It was a lovely little day of luxury though (thanks for the treat Pete!) We also took a day trip to the water park which was megalolz, however I did feel super aware of people looking at my tattoos. Which after my last tattoo tour post, you would think doesn’t bother me! But when people repeatedly stare you up and down, and don’t even bother to look away when you clock them… it begins to make you feel a bit self conscious. That was the only thing that started to unsettle me a bit, but apart from that we had a wonderful trip and I would do it all over again tomorrow ♥ (especially if that kitty decided to come back for some food and a cuddle, I missed Dexter and Binx quite a bit while we were away!)