Arriving In Algarve
June 08, 2008
How exciting it is to pass the border and enter a new country! Mozart
always whoops and hollers! It is even more exciting than crossing
state lines in road trips that I remember as a kid, but the same
general celebratory feel, minus the Burma Shave signs. Entering
Portugal from Southern Spain, one crosses a dramatic bridge that
reminded me of the ones in Dubrovnik and Patras with its high span.
It is the Guadiana river that separates these two countries in this part of
the Iberian peninsula.
We headed to Camping Olhao which would be our first stop in the
Algarve and it is one of the most popular winter homes for Northern
European "snowbirds". It has lots of amenities like a large pool that
is open all year, great kid's playground, restaurant and tennis courts
plus it is super cheap off season at only eight euros a night. There
is an even bigger discount for long stays. They had lovely shade
trees, good showers and I liked a little scare crow nearby a small
garden and mansion.
One could get wifi from inside one's RV ( which was not so cheap, but
worked out since the basic cost was so low), but the pitches in the
areas near the wifi hotspot were the tiniest that we have seen. We did
what we saw many people doing which was taking over two spaces since it
was practically empty. The other alternative is to use wifi in a
clubhouse or cheaper internet at reception, but we can get more done
online if we have it available 24/7 in our RV as I often work on it
when DaVinci and Mozart are asleep. Over all we were quite content
here, so caught up online, talked to family and continued our vacation.
We lose all track of time, especially while traveling, but spent about
a week here.
How exciting it is to pass the border and enter a new country! Mozart always whoops and hollers! It is even more exciting than crossing state lines in road trips that I remember as a kid, but the same general celebratory feel, minus the Burma Shave signs. Entering Portugal from Southern Spain, one crosses a dramatic bridge that reminded me of the ones in Dubrovnik and Patras with its high span. It is the Guadiana river that separates these two countries in this part of the Iberian peninsula.
We headed to Camping Olhao which would be our first stop in the Algarve and it is one of the most popular winter homes for Northern European "snowbirds". It has lots of amenities like a large pool that is open all year, great kid's playground, restaurant and tennis courts plus it is super cheap off season at only eight euros a night. There is an even bigger discount for long stays. They had lovely shade trees, good showers and I liked a little scare crow nearby a small garden and mansion.
One could get wifi from inside one's RV ( which was not so cheap, but worked out since the basic cost was so low), but the pitches in the areas near the wifi hotspot were the tiniest that we have seen. We did what we saw many people doing which was taking over two spaces since it was practically empty. The other alternative is to use wifi in a clubhouse or cheaper internet at reception, but we can get more done online if we have it available 24/7 in our RV as I often work on it when DaVinci and Mozart are asleep. Over all we were quite content here, so caught up online, talked to family and continued our vacation. We lose all track of time, especially while traveling, but spent about a week here.
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Oh how I envy your lifestyle. My family has the travel bug bigtime as well but we go away for short spurts of time eg three weeks as we are on a farm. It is not so easy to leave our animals for any length of time.
My two sons are working in London and we are going to see them in two weeks time and are so looking forward to it. We will spend three nights in Barcelona, some nights in London and then journey onto Scotland where the boys will meet us for a few days. Our youngest son is at uni and is going to Thailand for his mid semester break.
If ever your daughter would like to comment on our students blogs (does she have one as our kids would comment on hers) let me know. I have entered my school blog address above and if you scroll down on the RHS you can find the grades and year levels of our bloggers. It might be fun and quite educational to keep in touch with each other. the class blogs are linked there as well and the grade 6 one is excellent.
Posted by: Anne Mirtschin | June 09, 2008 at 04:32 AM
Come to Finland! :) Or to Norway.. Beautiful places...!
Posted by: Lina | June 16, 2008 at 01:13 PM
Anne, Thanks! I think Mozart would really like that, but right now we are having problems with internet connecting. I use to live on a farm, so I know just what you mean about that too. Enjoy your travels!
Lina...I have been to Finland and loved it and this summer we are going to Scandinavia! Looking forward to it!
Posted by: soultravelers3 | June 16, 2008 at 02:00 PM
WT, great to see you are on the road again and how Mozart is growing...loving the pictures great to see you are all happy and healthy!
Lesfaye
Posted by: Leslie Woodbridge (lesfaye from slow trav) | June 21, 2008 at 05:03 PM
Awww, thanks Leslie! So nice to hear from you! Yes, Mozart seems to be growing like a weed these days. lol.
We are really enjoying our travels this year. Oh, I guess I always say that,huh? lol.
Posted by: soultravelers3 | June 22, 2008 at 06:24 AM