Advertisement
Published: October 16th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Monte Nora
Relaxing by the pool Well, I feel as if this year has been one big trip away from home. We have just returned from a weeks stay in Portugal. When the boys were young, we found this fantastic villa in Silves (old Moorish Capital of Portugal). It is owned by a couple that lived in Nailsea and my sister found the advertisement posted on the staff wall at her work place.
We had never been to Portugal, so the first time was an adventure. We booked the flights independently and hired a car from the airport. We followed the directions carefully as written by Iris (the owner). The roads back then were terrible, real bone shakers and the portugese were the worse drivers ever encountered. We were on the road for about an hour and the scenery was great, the houses were getting fewer and far between and we felt that we were in the 'real' Portugal. There were lots of orange, avocado and olive trees around and very little else. The first sight of Silves was breathtaking, coming around a corner, down a hill to the view of Silves Castle is one that will always stick in my mind. (The best view
is at night when it is all lit up). We drove a further 5 or so miles down the main road and then turned off, into a lane that went up a hill, then quarter of a mile further we turned off the lane onto a dirt track!! We really thought we must be going the wrong way, past little farm/peasant properties and dodging the chickens on the road. But we re-read the instructions and it told us to keep going. So we did, bump after bump. After half a mile, we were told to turn left up a hill and we would be at our destination - the villa called Monte Nora, and this is when we looked up and said "bloody nora"!! The villa was perched on a hill and we had to drive up almost vertically to get to it. We had to reverse back a little and get into first gear to get a good run at it. You think I'm joking, but after all these years, we still have to approach the hill the same way. You almost feel that you're going to take off. The boys must have been 8 and 10 then and
Chef at work
Dave always gets a great view when cooking on the barbie. Martin - note its not gas! they are now 20 and 22 and after coming out this year with us again, absolutely love it.
We used it several years running after that and always loved it. Mum and Dad came out with us one year and have used it almost every year ever since.
Mum and Dad were already at the villa when we arrived this year as they were staying for a fortnight and we were only staying for a week. The sun was shining for us and the pool looked very welcoming. We had a great week relaxing around the pool, cooking at the villa in the evening and some of us drinking more than others! A couple of nights we went out for a meal.
Whilst we were away, Emma (Jakes girlfriend) celebrated her birthday and we went to our favourite fish restaurant in Silves that evening. A trip to Albufeira earlier in the week was a shock. It has become very commercialised and extremely noisy, although we found a fantastic restaurant right down on Fishermans Beach overlooking the beach that we will probably visit again, while avoiding the noisy square.
A little tip for those of you who
would like to hire a car in Portugal, but find it difficult to do so without a credit card (as we did). We were recommended a company called Zitautos (www.zitauto.co.uk ) who take cash payment up front and do not require a credit card. They were also much cheaper than any other company. 125 euros for the week for a Ford Fiesta. You just have to email them or book online a week or so before you travel (although I did this the night before) and they meet you inside the airport and the car is ready to collect from the car park. Their email address is zitauto@mail.telepac.pt We will definately be using them again.
Anyway, I will post a few photos for you to view and speak with you after our next trip. China? India? who knows.
Angela
Advertisement
Tot: 0.051s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 12; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0284s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
yo
non-member comment
monte nora
it is so nice here i have been here :)