So sorry to hear that you had to cancel your trip. I hope that things improve and that you are able to get there for Christmas and New Year.
We will not be going there at that time as we are off to Thailand to visit our son and daughter-in-law, so no worries re the stocks of tinto as there's plenty of time for them them to get the truck loads in for you and Mrs Sagres......
Pat

Thanks for the good wishes, Pat. Things are up in the air at the moment - still hoping we'll be able to carry on travelling, but by no means guaranteed at the moment. Have a great time and keep your fingers crossed for us.

On another note ; cubby looked for you at the cross country championships on Sunday in Albufeira, did'nt spot you were you there

Hi again, nobody seems to be talking tom we are out again in Feb will Floyds be open ? also do you ever get to take pics of Loulle carnival , wife won't let me go

Floyd's will be open; I was there yesterday. Hours might be slightly less than before owing to lack of tourists but open evenings except Sunday and all day Saturday. Closed all day Thursdays. Best check nearer the time.

I have never been to Loulé carnival. which don't forget is in March this year

http://carnaval2010.org/tag/loule-carnival-2011-schedule/

Don't do cross-country since schooldays, running around in mud...

what a shame usually held in Feb !! from the pics you can see why the wife won't let me go will the toll on the A22 be up and running in Feb ? if so i will be using the EN125.I see from the Res that new years eve was deemed a sucess, a hundred thousand people at fishermans beach; really !!!

See other items about tolls; due to be introduced early April if it goes through. Avoid tolls by using N125; same distance, free and only a little slower.

Carnaval is dependent on the date of Easter, which is very late year.

No way were there that many people on the beach! It was high tide at 2347 and most of the sand was covered by sea. The whole town was a lot less crowded than in past years.

Hello Tom, hope you are well, for no other reason other than there is little happening on the web site, i wonder if you have been down to sao rafael beach lately was there in Feb and to my horror the CS Hotels group had all but made this a private beach !!! private walkways to beach ,private car park with barrier, Now I know this is illegal in Algarve so I wonder what your comments might be as to how they can get away with this sort of thing.

This is really bad news. Sao Rafael is our favourite beach. The walkways were in place and in use when we were last there but the car park was the same as usual.

I was there on Wednesday. The boardwalks are still under construction - I actually cycled along a bit that has been finished.

There is nothing whatever to stop anyone getting onto the beaches. The walkways are being put in because otherwise it would be a walk of 200 or 300 metres from the resort (which by the way is absolutely hideous to look at) across soft sand and the dunes are still supposed to be protected area.

One I took on Wednesday

http://cid-6a2a1c7daaee306d.photos.live.com/self.aspx/The%20coast%20near%20Albufeira/SS100047.JPG

This picture is not as recent
http://cid-6a2a1c7daaee306d.photos.live.com/self.aspx/The%20coast%20near%20Albufeira/SS100048.JPG

There a few other photos in the same album that might be of interest which I took in February.

I will pop over to São Rafael again soon. I know the car park barrier is there on the section nearest the beach but I was on my bike.

yes do not be too alarmed,you can still park further up near the original complex which is now surrounded by the hotel, spa, gym and conference centre !!! it is the owners of these properties i feel sorry for, no view of the sea and worse still no way of selling now

Lovely photos, Tom! Can't wait to get back there.

Nosivad - the car park barriers were there when we last went but they were permanently up. I suppose the hotel owns the land but I wonder if they also own the land further up, with the other car park on it. We've been spoilt by free parking nearly everywhere so far, haven't we?!

It's a shame for the owners of those properties and it shows how important it is to think about what could happen to spoil your view or amenity. Views are particularly important to us so on every viewing we thought about how this aspect of the property could disappear if adjoining land was developed. However, those villas you're talking about still have the advantage of being within easy walking distance from one of the nicest beaches in the area. And prospective buyers won't miss what they never had!

Cool pics

I went down to São Rafael on my bike on Tuesday. The only barrier is the exit barrier and that was locked in the up position. The sign says the car park is free. All seems rather odd. Maybe it will be different during the holiday season. The 80 spaces nearest the beach are thus 'reserved' for CS customers, presumably to save them from having to walk the 250 yards or so from the hotel. There are maybe 100 - 120 spaces about 100 yards further away from the beach alongside the approach road.

Yipee !!! tolls on motorways suspended due to there being no government in portugal at present
see full report in Resident today.

A temporary respite and it only applies to the five or so motorways that don't already have tolls.

Now that the government here will be in hock to the tune of 80 billion Euros to the rest of the EU (the UK is contributing about 3 billion) you can bet your life that the tolls will be a lot higher than the 8 cents per km they would have been.

(Get real time - to drive an ordinary car from Faro airport to Albufeira would have cost about €1.30. That's one bottle of beer. If you are not willing to pay that, use the N125.)

The elections are scheduled for June 5th. It's a new game after that.

The new government will, as a part of the bail-out deal, have to raise taxes again, freeze public sector wages and pensions (Portugal has a massively bloated public sector) and privatise as much as it can plus fire thousands of them, so it is a recipe for continuing discontent on a massive scale.

Airport workers have announced strikes for later in April and into May already.

Our local council is so broke it has already stopped repairing roads and cannot afford fireworks for Freedom Day April 25th.

Have a nice day.

Hi all,
Can anyone elaborate on the airport staff strikes for April/may as we fly out on the 13th may. Also what are the prices like over there at the moment. I read in the uk last week that Portugal is the cheapest place to holiday at the moment with a coffee costing 63p and a three course meal for two including wine was £15! Is this accurate? Thanks.

can you still get to the gypsy market easily? now that it has moved out of Quarteira. vivien75

yes, it is a lot easier now, plenty of parking, but where would you be coming from ?