1 year, 301 since the start of the 1st lock down in March 2020
Oh. My. Goodness. My alarm was set for 4.20am but I got up at 4.15am. That was hideous but I managed to have a shower to wake me up… a bit. A final goodbye to Pingado who ate all the snacks I put in to last him for the day in just a few minutes. The taxi turned up a few minutes early which was good for our nerves and unlike my last two trips, the driver found his way easily to terminal 5.
As we had all our paperwork printed out and had uploaded certificates we could do an automated bag drop which was quick although I always have a slight worry that I have sent our suitcases to Timbuktu rather than Faro in this case! Unlike our last visit to the airport last September, there were a lot more places open and we had breakfast in our favourite Giraffe although I couldn’t face a 'Full English' like Colin and so went for eggs Benedict instead.
The flight took off about 20 minutes late namely because despite the fact we had all uploaded our cover certificates, they needed to be checked again before we boarded. We queue jumped as we were in Group 7 but as they staff are so pleased we had the correct paperwork they never noticed. I was very surprised that despite the plane seating plan indicating the window seat was occupied, we were one of only a few rows in the entire plane that had a spare seat - somewhere for Gulliver to sit.
The flight was good and we flew into land directly over the little town of Olhao where we are staying and I could actually see our apartment.
It was a quick exit through passport control and the car hire shuttle was waiting when we came out with no other passengers. In fact, despite vowing that we’d never hire a car abroad again, it went very smoothly and we have a Renault Captur. I was driving as Colin’s shoulder is still bad and it is the first time I have ever been the first person to drive the car - and from the airport! I had checked the route in advance and to be honest it was very easy - straight on the N125 and then all the way to Olhao with no wrong turns and hardly any crunching of gears - in fact it is quite a nice car to drive.
The cleaner was still in our apartment as we were early but we were able to leave our suitcases and I then drove to the local Pingo Doce supermarket that I had already located before we had left the UK. We lunched there and stocked up on supplies including the amazing prawns we enjoyed last September. Back to our apartment to explore - it’s massive with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
We were flagging now so we went out for a walk on the estuary opposite the house which is a haven for birds and we saw flamingoes, storks and black winged stilts which I have never seen before and lots of other waders but I have no idea what they are.
Back for a very good dinner and we were in bed at an unbelievable 8.00pm - shattered!
One footnote and one I had not forgotten is that today marks the 18th anniversary of Dad passing away back in 2004 - it doesn’t feel that many years - Miss you Dad x.
