This week started a bit differently. I got hardly any sleep on Saturday night as we needed to be up at 3.30am to head to the airport and catch a flight to Portugal for our annual summer holiday. It had been stressful in the lead up, due to working the three days before and late the night before we headed off. I just had to make sure that I was all packed and ready to go before I went to work on Saturday night. Even then, I didn't get to sleep until 1.30am, so I was shattered when I had to get up at 3.30am.
We got to the airport okay, but both mine and LB's hand luggage got searched and our toiletries put through a machine to check the contents, which took a while. I struggle to travel without my familiar products and despite decanting them, I probably still had too many. We eventually got through and got on the flight which was full. The school summer holidays had started, so the airport was particularly busy. Our flight set off at 6.30am ish, but luckily it wasn't a long flight to Portugal, probably 2 and a half hours, which is bearable. I was glad to get off at the other end though.
It was a bit cloudy when we landed, but the cloud soon dispersed and it started to warm up. It was only in the 20's (centigrade) thankfully. (It can get super hot in Portugal) We had to get a minibus shuttle to pick up our hire car, but once we'd got it we were off to make our way to our rented villa. We stopped off in a town called Tomar, half an hour from our villa to have lunch and a wander around. It was a lovely historic town with lots of lovely independent shops. We had tapas for lunch and then headed to a supermarket to stock up before arriving at our villa around 4pm.
Our host was there to greet us and offered us a glass of wine and showed us around his villa. It was lovely, with a lovely pool and hot tub. I think we really lucked out this holiday. It was probably the best place we've stayed in yet. It was a lovely large villa in the countryside. Here is a picture of the lovely pool area:
We had a quiet night at the villa on arrival. We unpacked, had a swim in the pool, had a picky tea and then started watching The Bear series on Disney+, which was really good. After two episodes we were all falling asleep on account of our early start and so headed to bed.
On Monday morning, after a great night's sleep, we had a bit of a lie in and then got up and got some breakfast. We spent the day by the pool, only leaving the villa to get a few provisions to put on the BBQ later for supper. We bought these from a great little store that was a 10 minute drive away. It was like a combined hardware/grocery/mom and pop type store. It was great and had virtually anything you could want in it. It was nice to spend money with a small local store instead of a big supermarket. We then headed home and OH sparked up the BBQ for supper.
We had another day around the pool at the villa on Tuesday. It was a bit hotter though, so not as comfortable to sit out. OH and I did walk into a local village to go to the Post Office, but it was closed. It got us moving anyway. He needed to pay some tolls from our journey to the villa.
I don't usually want to go anywhere when we first get to our holiday villa. I like to relax around the pool and decompress, but by day three we are usually ready to get out and about and this holiday was no different.
On Wednesday, we got up and ready and headed out to a market in the town of Coimbra. It takes place on the 7th and 23rd of each month and reviews online sounded great. It was a super busy market about 3km out of town. There were lots of stores selling local produce, so we stocked up on salad and fruit. There were also homeware stalls and even livestock for sale, which was a bit of a culture shock. We had lunch at the market where you could get a plate of chicken and fries with salad and a drink for a very reasonable price. It was very busy with lots of local families eating there. We had a lovely time.
We then ventured into the town itself ,which had a very historic university at the top of a hill, with a Unesco World Heritage baroque library. We walked up to the university, but didn't go into the library. It was a super hot day, but the town was beautiful and full of cobbled streets, small shops, bars and restaurants. It was tiring, but well worth a visit. We stopped off at a bar and tried an new to us Portugese pastry called a quejada, which was a kind of sweet tart made with cheese and eggs. It was lovely. Later, OH found a Post Office to pay the tolls and we were happy to hear that we didn't owe anything, as the technology wasn't yet switched on and working.
On Thursday, we stayed by the pool again for the day. We had such a lovely pool and villa, that we didn't feel inclined to go out too much. It was nice to just relax and enjoy doing very little.
Friday, we did venture out again and returned to the town of Tomar, where OH visited a historic convent at the top of the hill. LB and I decided not to go and instead walked down into the town to have a wander around the small independent shops. We had a very nice morning, topped up on a few food items and then headed home to chill by the pool in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, I got attacked by many mosquitos and ended up with lots of bites, as a consequence of sitting out a little later. Something I was not happy to repeat.
Saturday, was our last full day at the villa. In the morning, OH and I ventured to a local nature park, which had a lovely pool and beach for swimming. It was situated on the edge of a river where you could swim in the river itself if you wished. It was super busy with local families picnicing for the day. The Portuguese really know how to enjoy a good life, that's all I can say. We stopped to dangle our feet in the river. The water was super cold. Then we had a drink at the bar and headed back to the villa to spend our last afternoon there relaxing by the pool. We had had such a lovely relaxing stay, we were all feeling a bit sad to leave the villa, but Lisbon was calling, as we'd booked an apartment in the city for our final night, before flying back to the UK.
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