So much so that we have been
invaded by dragonflies who have appeared in their thousands and who are enjoying the hot weather.
As my good friend Bob has gone back to the UK for a few days, I decided to take his 2 dogs for a wa
lk along the cliff tops today, it was glorious. We managed to get down to the water’s edge in one part and got soaked when a sneaky little wave caught us unawares, mind you it cooled us down a bit which was very welcome.
As you can see by the last 2 photo's, these are the reasons why the authorities are telling you not to sunbathe close to the cliff edge as if frequently crumbles away and has always has caught some sun worshippers this year by falling on top of them, killing some and injuring many.
You have been warned, ............again.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
We are well into October now and the Bee-eaters have long gone back to Africa, the tourists have gone home, well most of them anyway, now is the favourite time for wrinklies and golfers and they have been very fortunate, the weather for the past few weeks has been absolutely fantastic, its still 30 degrees yet again today, needless to say the heating is still not switched on, even in our house.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Re; Another memorable day out,
Thank you for those that have informed me of the misdemeanour with the last blog entry; Another memorable day out, at least I know that someone is reading them.
While I was creating this entry, the Brog Prog, kept insisting on crashing, rather like the Blackberry phone software, I know not if it was the software or my PC throwing a wobbler.
The strange thing is, it looks fine on my screen, I have tried many times to re-create it and starting over but for some reason it still insists on being difficult, although the last entry at least looks readable.
Another memorable day out.......
Played golf on Saturday at Parque da Floresta Golf resort in the Western Algarve, the one that reckons it’s a 5 star resort.
A sensible tee off time at 10:30, even though I was missing the rugby, although it didn't matter too much as we (England)were getting stuffed and it looked as though we were on our way home.We paid our fees at the golf reception and were allocated buggy number 48 which we soon found outt had little or no brakes. I have played this course many times previously but today the course seemed in very poor order.
A number of the tees were as flat as a hog's back and to make matters worse, the second tee was placed on the far left hand side behind a row of trees only 20 metres in front which was then forcing you to aim right towards the "Out of Bounds".
Some greens had large areas that were balder than my head, which is quite bald, especially when I have just had a number zero cut with the hairdressing shears and the holes on the greens looking as if they had been cut with a baked bean can.
From my previous experience at Parque da Floresta I already knew that buggies must be kept to the paths at all times, that is of course unless the buggy paths had crumbled away and then you had to follow the deep furrowed tracks that were left in their place.
Finally we reached the 18th tee, we were greeted by the dulcet cries and moans, groans and frivolity coming from the golfers who had already finished their round and who cared little less about anyone else still playing on the golf course as they enjoyed their après golf at the 19th hole some 400 metres away.
The cost of this memorable experience was an earth shattering €130 for 2 including buggy, which I am assured is a better deal than paying the full price less my 40% discount for being a Vigia property owner.
Played golf on Monday at the Amendoeira Golf Resort near Portimao on the Algarve in Portugal.
It was a bit of an early start as we were teeing off at 8:40am which is round about the time I am usually taking her highness’s morning tea whilst she is still in bed.
There are two 18 hole golf course at Amendoeira one designed by Christie O’Connor and the other by Sir Nick Faldo, we were playing the Faldo course which I had not experienced previously.
As some of us were not used to being up and around at that time of day, we were a little late and we didn’t have time to take advantage of the complimentary basket of balls at the driving range like all good pro’s do before doing battle.
No matter, we were greeted at the reception by a member of staff who took the golf clubs from the car and ferried them to our allocated buggy while we did our bits and had coffee. When we arrived at the buggy park some little time later the clubs were ready on our buggy along with the complimentary water nicely chilled in the cooler box, scorecard and pencil and a few wooden tee pegs.
We were escorted to the first tee by the starter who explained that the buggies were allowed anywhere on the course except for the par three holes when they should be kept to the buggy paths, he saw my first ball enter the trees and said, enjoy your day and he was off to collect the next party.
The course was in excellent condition even though a number of the bunkers were as large as Omaha, Juno & Sword. The greens were true, holes cut sharp with little trace of the previous days hole which are often left proud of the rest of the playing surface. The standard of golf was something else and best not being remembered as part of this otherwise memeberable experience.
As we finished and returned our buggy, a nice young lady came forward with a clean fresh ice cool towel for us to freshen up with and while we did so, she promptly set about cleaning our clubs before returning them to the car park ready to be returned safely to the car.
It was a shame to close the day without refreshment so we took in the ambiance and enjoyed some refreshments of the Amendoeira Spike Bar, which was more like Simon Cowell’s Caribbean sun terrace. We were spoilt for choice as we entered the terrace which was set with comfortable settee’s and easy chairs and elegant rattan glass top tables and upright chairs without any trace of broken legs, shielded from the heat of the sun by some of the largest sturdy sunshades you have ever seen .
As we sat down, my attention was drawn to this little gizmo on the table top, which had 4 buttons on it. The first button had an engraving of a waiter and was asking to be pressed, so I did and along came Luisa who took our order for drinks. I love a good gadget, I’m thinking of getting one of these when I need the channel on the TV changing and can’t find the remote, press the button and along comes my dearest at my command to change the channel, yeah right.
Oh yes, I’m losing the plot, another memorable experience, and the cost of this truly remarkable day out, €70 for 2 people including the buggy, clean clubs, valet service, fresh cool towels and not forgetting Luisa, on demand……………truly priceless.
A sensible tee off time at 10:30, even though I was missing the rugby, although it didn't matter too much as we (England)were getting stuffed and it looked as though we were on our way home.We paid our fees at the golf reception and were allocated buggy number 48 which we soon found outt had little or no brakes. I have played this course many times previously but today the course seemed in very poor order.
A number of the tees were as flat as a hog's back and to make matters worse, the second tee was placed on the far left hand side behind a row of trees only 20 metres in front which was then forcing you to aim right towards the "Out of Bounds".
Some greens had large areas that were balder than my head, which is quite bald, especially when I have just had a number zero cut with the hairdressing shears and the holes on the greens looking as if they had been cut with a baked bean can.
From my previous experience at Parque da Floresta I already knew that buggies must be kept to the paths at all times, that is of course unless the buggy paths had crumbled away and then you had to follow the deep furrowed tracks that were left in their place.
Finally we reached the 18th tee, we were greeted by the dulcet cries and moans, groans and frivolity coming from the golfers who had already finished their round and who cared little less about anyone else still playing on the golf course as they enjoyed their après golf at the 19th hole some 400 metres away.
The cost of this memorable experience was an earth shattering €130 for 2 including buggy, which I am assured is a better deal than paying the full price less my 40% discount for being a Vigia property owner.
Played golf on Monday at the Amendoeira Golf Resort near Portimao on the Algarve in Portugal.
It was a bit of an early start as we were teeing off at 8:40am which is round about the time I am usually taking her highness’s morning tea whilst she is still in bed.
There are two 18 hole golf course at Amendoeira one designed by Christie O’Connor and the other by Sir Nick Faldo, we were playing the Faldo course which I had not experienced previously.
As some of us were not used to being up and around at that time of day, we were a little late and we didn’t have time to take advantage of the complimentary basket of balls at the driving range like all good pro’s do before doing battle.
No matter, we were greeted at the reception by a member of staff who took the golf clubs from the car and ferried them to our allocated buggy while we did our bits and had coffee. When we arrived at the buggy park some little time later the clubs were ready on our buggy along with the complimentary water nicely chilled in the cooler box, scorecard and pencil and a few wooden tee pegs.
We were escorted to the first tee by the starter who explained that the buggies were allowed anywhere on the course except for the par three holes when they should be kept to the buggy paths, he saw my first ball enter the trees and said, enjoy your day and he was off to collect the next party.
The course was in excellent condition even though a number of the bunkers were as large as Omaha, Juno & Sword. The greens were true, holes cut sharp with little trace of the previous days hole which are often left proud of the rest of the playing surface. The standard of golf was something else and best not being remembered as part of this otherwise memeberable experience.
As we finished and returned our buggy, a nice young lady came forward with a clean fresh ice cool towel for us to freshen up with and while we did so, she promptly set about cleaning our clubs before returning them to the car park ready to be returned safely to the car.
It was a shame to close the day without refreshment so we took in the ambiance and enjoyed some refreshments of the Amendoeira Spike Bar, which was more like Simon Cowell’s Caribbean sun terrace. We were spoilt for choice as we entered the terrace which was set with comfortable settee’s and easy chairs and elegant rattan glass top tables and upright chairs without any trace of broken legs, shielded from the heat of the sun by some of the largest sturdy sunshades you have ever seen .
As we sat down, my attention was drawn to this little gizmo on the table top, which had 4 buttons on it. The first button had an engraving of a waiter and was asking to be pressed, so I did and along came Luisa who took our order for drinks. I love a good gadget, I’m thinking of getting one of these when I need the channel on the TV changing and can’t find the remote, press the button and along comes my dearest at my command to change the channel, yeah right.
Oh yes, I’m losing the plot, another memorable experience, and the cost of this truly remarkable day out, €70 for 2 people including the buggy, clean clubs, valet service, fresh cool towels and not forgetting Luisa, on demand……………truly priceless.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)