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Old 24 Sep 16, 04:11 PM  
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smithlane
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I thought this was meant to be a cheap holiday?! Portugal 2016 - Day 1

Saturday 20th August
Had a lovely lie in this morning I woke around 9.30. The kids had been awake for an hour or so and were happily reading in bed (I've trained them well &#128521
We soon got dressed in our swim stuff and headed down to the pool. There's 3 pools in the complex, a quiet one, a main circular one that looked quite busy and a rectangular one with only 1 child in it so headed in that direction.
View of the pools from our balcony

This is the one we went to

Plenty of sun beds on offer which is a relief as I hate that get up at 5 to reserve one kind of behaviour. The kids were loving it in the pool and so was I laid back reading my book. The Girl on the Train is a must read for those that haven't yet!
It started getting busier around lunchtime and the pool was largely dominated by a group of kids who were all on holiday together, must have been part of 4 or 5 families. They were obviously having a great time which is fine we're all on holiday but you know the type that are incredibly loud and inconsiderate of others! I'll leave it there but I'm sure others will sympathise.
Starting to feel peckish we headed to the pool bar to get lunch. I had a cheese panini, Jim a club sandwich, Sam a BLT baguette and Hope a ham and cheese panini. Sorry no photos but the food was nice.
Back to the pool for some more swimming and sunbathing. Jim went back to the apartment for a snooze but the kids and I stayed for a bit. We lasted until the same group of kids from earlier literally overtook the pool making Sam feel really uncomfortable in there as they were older than him. They even drove out a father and his young son 😡
We are all hoping they are coming to the end of their holiday!
We all chilled out in the apartment for a few hours, reading some more until we all got showered and changed to go out for dinner. Tonight we were going to Vilamoura marina to Il Lamparo's. Got parked in our usual spot which is literally across the road from one of the entrances to the marina. Had a nice slow walk round admiring all the lovely big boats thinking how lovely it would be to take one out for the day. A bit out of our price range though 😳
Got a table right by the water which was lovely and ordered some drinks. The kids got a freshly squeezed orange juice that they prepared with no bits and Jim and I Diet Coke. I knew what I was having to eat even before we got there!
I ordered the pesto linguini, Jim linguini with bacon and chicken in a creamy tomato sauce, Hope spaghetti bolognese again and Sam burger and fries. We also got a garlic bread with mozarella and bacon bits.

Food was amazing as usual
Dinner came to €87, not cheap but totally worth it.
We took a slow wander around the marina to walk off our dinner. We popped into the Portuguese sports shop to get a couple of footballs for the kids. On the way back to the car Jim and the kids got an ice cream from a stall set up on the side, I was still too stuffed from dinner!
Hope wanted a couple of friendship bracelets for friends back home so we quickly went to get those whilst passing.
It really is stunning around the marina when the sun is setting

We hadn't been to a supermarket yet and needed supplies for the apartment so stopped in at Pingo Doce which is not far from Vila Sol. It was absolutely rammed which was surprising as it was about 9.30 at night! This must be when the locals do their shopping 😳
We bought some bottled water, Diet Coke, bread, butter and yoghurts.
We were soon home, had a few games of Uno before retiring to bed
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Old 24 Sep 16, 04:42 PM  
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Wow...what a fab holiday... looks beautiful. Shame about the pool incidentally, hopefully like you say they are leaving soon. Reading along 😊
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Old 24 Sep 16, 04:50 PM  
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Cream Soda
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Love Vilamoura. We ate in that restaurant last Easter, had a lovely steak.
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Old 25 Sep 16, 04:49 AM  
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Melbatb
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It looks lovely - beautiful sunset!

Hope the large group don't impinge too much on your pool enjoyment.
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Index of my trip reports
2016 Quebec - Kuala Lumpar - New York City 2017 Dubai - Eurocamps France - Ontario and Quebec - So-Cal 2018 Montreal - Bangkok - New England 2019 Argentina - Quebec City - Hong Kong - 2020 Switzerland 2022 Arizona - Costa Med Cruise - Oslo 2023 Hong Kong - Gothenburg
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Old 19 Oct 16, 11:17 AM  
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2littleboys
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Vilamoura looks lovely, Im seriously considering looking at somewhere like this for our next "non-Florida" year. I like the idea of somewhere to relax, out for meal at night etc and have some space in an apartment/villa, however we don't drive when on holiday which is the only stumbling block.
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Old 19 Oct 16, 04:10 PM  
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smithlane
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Originally Posted by Ali Hart View Post
Wow...what a fab holiday... looks beautiful. Shame about the pool incidentally, hopefully like you say they are leaving soon. Reading along 😊
Portugal is really beautiful in parts. Thankfully we didn't have any more encounters with that family again!
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Old 19 Oct 16, 04:15 PM  
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Originally Posted by Cream Soda View Post
Love Vilamoura. We ate in that restaurant last Easter, had a lovely steak.
It's definitely our favourite restaurant in Vilamoura, we've never had a bad meal there. Never tried the steak though, maybe next time
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Old 19 Oct 16, 04:28 PM  
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Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
It looks lovely - beautiful sunset!

Hope the large group don't impinge too much on your pool enjoyment.
They have beautiful sunsets we were very lucky to see a few.
I think they left a few days later thank god
Unfortunately we encountered a few more irritating families over the two weeks :angry:
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Old 19 Oct 16, 04:34 PM  
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Originally Posted by 2littleboys View Post
Vilamoura looks lovely, Im seriously considering looking at somewhere like this for our next "non-Florida" year. I like the idea of somewhere to relax, out for meal at night etc and have some space in an apartment/villa, however we don't drive when on holiday which is the only stumbling block.
The whole Vilamoura area is beautiful it would tick all of your boxes. Don't worry about not driving, there are plenty of places near the town centre/marina/beach to stay so you wouldn't need a car. We booked our accommodation through Owners Direct, loads and loads of choice on there
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