So, important things first. Who has been fired from celeb Apprentice? Wednesday night was Jennie Finch (I think that’s her surname). She was a US Olympic softball player anyway. A very pretty blonde but like Nadia Comaneci these top class athletes who I saw as so disciplined and so competitive really cannot take the cut throat world of business. Last night saw the demise of Vinny Pastore, an actor from the Sopranos. After a very explosive episode between him and Piers Morgan the men’s team lost for the first time. Many of the yanks are against Piers. They see him as too aggressive but Donald and Ivanca seem to like him. As does our very own Lennox Lewis who defended Piers in the boardroom. Maybe it’s the way he calmly denied calling Vinny a fat Italian, pointing out he had called him a VERY fat Italian!! Piers was looking odds on to be fired but Vinny actually quit in the end. Piers needs to build some bridges with his team. The women’s team all loathe him also, though he did congratulate them on their win and was very gracious in defeat.
Ok so onto other matters. We got up on Thursday to another great day weather wise and sat on our veranda to have a light breakfast. We then went out for lunch to a restaurant we had found the previous night on an after dinner drive. It was right on the beach front in a very nice area although the breeze from the sea there was a little cool. Paul opted for another all day breakfast and I had a tuna sandwich and some chips. We watched kids build sandcastles and brave adults partake in water sports.
After lunch we headed to the Fiesa. This is an international festival of sand sculptures that is created each year and open from late April thru to October. It is officially considered completed in June and up to then the sculptors are still building but it was certainly pretty much finished when we looked around. It was 8 euros each to get in and I can honestly say it was amazing. It was pretty big and the sight of wall to wall sand as far as the eye can see was quite spectacular. The theme this year was animals which range from a chimp band to elephants, bugs, pigs, lions, dolphins and turtles to name but a few. Of course we took pics for you that will be online at the weekend so not long to wait now! After we looked all around, which took about an hour, we sat outside for a drink in the sunshine.
After we left the grown up sand castles we made our way to Alcantariha. We were headed for the capella dos ossos or chapel of bones. There are a few in this area. Essentially, when they built churches on the grounds of cemeteries they would build a chapel lined with the bones and skulls that were dug up. It is seen as a mark of respect to the dead. We found the sign for the chapel and parked up. As we opened the door to go in it was tiny but in no way disappointing. It was a sight to behold; walls and ceiling completely covered in bones and skulls – it was amazing. I guess morbidly fascinating is the phrase but we both agreed it was awesome. Yep, more pics of this to come….
After this we decided to amble back to the villa and sit out again but took a scenic route stopping at Algar Seco on the way. This is a pretty Coastal point with a chapel (no bones) and a great view of the cliffs and surrounding area. We did briefly consider visiting Cliff Richard’s vineyard but decided against it!
We got back to the villa after 5 and sat outside to relax. We had decided to head out for dinner at about half 6 and went to the restaurant on the strip we had enjoyed on Tuesday night; the restaurant Costa Rica. We sat and watched the world go by (well the Chavs go by anyway) and partook of our usual chicken and chips and omelette and chips. The food was good again. After dinner we went for a drive to digest our food. Some of the local roads are almost dirt tracks and after a while this is where we found ourselves. It was dusk and we were heading down a very dingy track that looked more and more dodgy as it went on. We passed a lovely homeless area with wino’s sat around and some plain but dodgy looking buildings. We kept going until we found ourselves… On the beach!! Having just about managed to turn the punto around with a few wheel spins in the sand we had to go all the way back the way we came. It was getting dark and the sat nav had no idea where we were. We were not on a road but in the middle if nowhere seemingly. There’s never a dull moment on holiday with us! We eventually got back to where we started and the sat nav picked us up and put us on the road home – phew! We got home after 9 and you already know about celeb Apprentice.
Today we did our usual lazy morning and headed out after lunch. We decided to head east (we’ve explored the west extensively) and had a couple of shopping malls and another copella dos ossos on our itinerary. The first shopping mall we stopped at was Forum shops in Faro. It was quite small with interesting brands such as United Colours of Bennetton and C&A. Plus lots of unrecognisable ones. It had a food court so we stopped for a quick burger. We left there and made our way to the centre of Faro. It’s a grotty city with more than it’s fair share of beggars, dingy derelict buildings and narrow cobbled streets. Trusty sat nav got us to our chapel and after a couple of circuits we found a parking space. The church itself was very ornate, typical of catholic I expect, and at the front there was a pathway to the bones chapel. It was bigger than yesterdays but not as good. A lot of the skulls were broken and it seemed untended which defeated it’s stated objective of respecting the dead. There were a lot of tourists there and we were glad we had found yesterday’s chapel as it was much better.
We left Faro on the motorway towards Spain. We contemplated crossing the border but decided against it in the end. Instead we made our way to Quinta do Largo. This was a really posh resort area, exactly what I expected of the Algarve. We think this is where we considered staying. We looked at two 5 star resorts online but one was very near the airport runway so we discounted it. This place was near the airport so could well have been it. If so, we made the wrong choice – this place was gorgeous. We found the shops, an outdoor very posh mall with designer labels! It was very small but I bought a DKNY bag from a boutique shop like Minnies that Sam runs in TOWIE.
After this we headed for the Algarve shopping, the mall we had been to on Monday. I want to get a ring from Pandora that matched some earrings I already have. The server struggled a little with her English but we got there and after failing to up sell me the earrings (that I already have) and he necklace, I left with my ring.
Since it was tea time and neither of us really wanted to head out again we figured we’d get some food while we were there. We were not overly hungry either so we went for a pizza hut meal deal of 2 slices plus a drink for 4 euros 50. Bargain! We ate outside before making our way back to the villa.
We are now watching Point Break as I type this. Tonight we shall watch another celeb apprentice and pack our cases. We leave at 8am in the morning and will be back in Blighty for about 1pm. After unpacking it will be the F1 Turkish qualies to watch and a relaxing weekend ahead of work on Monday. And on that slightly depressing note I will close.