This was my 1st full week here in Tavira and the aim was to get a routine going with work, exercise, play, etc (and I ended up watching all season 1 of 24 again). Surprisingly life here in Portugal is expensive .... especially when it comes to gyms, internet, mobile package, etc ... because there isn't much competition. For example, there are only 3 mobile phone companies. Tavira is broken up into many towns ... the main town where I live is Santa Maria. For yesterday's mission I decided to go exploring to another nearby Tavira town called 'Conceicao' as I'll be starting Zumba classes there next week. Next to this is 'Cabanas' which has it's own island, 'Ilha de Cabanas' (7km long) right next to 'Ilha de Tavira' (14 km long). I decide to park ... read more

The illogic of Portugal begins. Ok so the main road connecting me to Spain, Faro and further afield is the A22 which became a toll road earlier in the year (unmanned, electronic only). People have different ways to pay: either wait 48 hours after and go to a post office to pay the toll since the license plate photos will be in the system by then (failure to pay within 5 working days leads to a large fine), or get a transponder device for the car connected to your 'portuguese' bank account which talks to the toll signals. All is well for Portuguese vehicles, but what about foreign vehicles? Well, we can't post-pay the fee (so me crossing over from Spain last week means I'm now expecting a large fine to be sent to my UK ... read more