The Algarve, Portugal

Where is that you ask? It is the southernmost region of Portugal and is where we were last week on holiday. To give you a better idea as to how southern it was here is an aerial shot (not taken by me) - the red circle is where we stayed. Martinhal Beach Resort & Hotel.  It was a week full of sun, fun and wind. This area of Portugal is windier than most other areas for reasons unbeknownst to me.  Although we did not expect it, we worked around it!

We stayed from Saturday to Sunday. Lots of beach time and pool time - but we were able to take a few off site excursions.  When we arrived on Saturday it was almost 5pm by the time we settled in.  We decided to quickly eat and then enjoy some downtime. The kids didn't have their swimming suits on but they jumped in the pool anyway. They didn't care....

And neither did we! 

They had cocktails too. Nothing says vacation like dinosaur shaped slushies.

This was the view from our living room. The kids called it an upside-down house.  The bedrooms were on the ground floor and the kitchen and living area were on the first floor for your viewing pleasure.  

Cuddles with Daddy. 

Henry having "coffee" with Dad. 

Ok, so here is our first excursion. Dolphin watching!  It was awesome. The captain warned us that we may not see any dolphins, it is never a guarantee but we kept our hopes up.

Our trusty boat. 

Luckily we came upon on a school of dolphins during their feeding time.  There were about 40-50 swimming all around us. They were also mating so they were quite playful. Some were rolling over so you could see their bellies and others were coming up 3 or 4 at a time.  It was like our own private show.  They are so graceful and fun to watch. They can only hold their breath from 5-7 minutes so they were constantly coming up for air. As usual the pictures don't do it justice but you can imagine how cool it was.  Mark, nice work with the camera!! 

Our views on the way back to the marina. 

The beach next to the resort. Nice and calm. 

Tough life?

This picture is proof that no matter how big the couch is they still have to be on top of each other. 

Our second excursion was to the Forteleza de Sagres or Fortress of Sagres.  

Prince Henry the Navigator came here to pursue his obsession for seamanship.  Henry, single-handedly, set Portugal on a course which was to make her one of the foremost maritime powers of Europe.  His school, symbolically set on a promontory that looked out from the extremity of Continental Europe to what was the vast unknown of the Atlantic Ocean, attracted the best people in Europe concerned with the nautical sciences of astronomy, naval engineering and navigation. Under Henry's patronage, they came here to teach and to study.  Coordination of all the known nautical information was undertaken and continually added to as more knowledge became available.  Henry funded the Voyages of Discovery and the invention of the Caravel, a small, light and extremely manoeuvrable ship eventually enabled explorers and merchants to reach the Far East, India and the Americas and open up trade and cultural links. (web)

The compass rose

Cape St. Vincent in the distance

The Cape takes it's name from a Spanish priest, martyred at the beginning of the 4th century.  Many sea battles have been fought off Cape St. Vincent.  Sir Francis Drake was very active here harrying the Spanish returning from the Caribbean laden with treasure: Portugal was under Spanish rule at the time.  The French fleet defeated the British fleet here in 1693 and the British defeated the Spanish in 1790.  The Battle of Cape St. Vincent took place on the 14th February 1797 between the Spanish fleet and the British fleet under the command of Sir John Jervis. All the shipping from and through the Mediterranean to the west coast of Europe and much of the eastern seaboard of North America passes this way. 

We didn't get a chance to visit but the history is pretty cool. 

Henry photo bomb!!!!!

Ok, be pirates! 

Now be...sharks?

Jazz hands?

Done.

And back to the resort....where we resume our regularly scheduled programming of crazy pirates. 

Pirates love smoothies of course. 

They had a circus act in the market square of the resort.  Good thing because Mark really needed to brush up on his plate spinning. 

Hammock!! 

Also for fun, we took a paddle boat out in the ocean! You know what was so awesome about it?  They were finally old enough to do it. 

And no, no one went down the slide. The ocean was freezing. 

We covered them up at least 10 times...at one point they were both starfish.

Our dinner on the beach.  If you are ever in the Algarve, you have to try the local dish cataplana.  It's like a fish stew. Delicious. 

The boys got really brave in the pool this holiday.  Henry absolutely loved getting thrown around by Mark. He loved going underwater- no problems. 

                This one also loved it BUT would almost swallow the entire pool every time he went under.  He                                          took it like a champ but we need to work on his technique. 

This was our last dinner in Portugal.  Highlight of the resort: every restaurant had a supervised kids area (see below)  for them to play or draw. So they would play until the food came and then they could go back while we finished our wine, I mean food. 

Peace out Portugal...it's been a lot of fun! We swam, we explored, we ate, we drank and we slept like babies. Thank you!