Weekend Getaway

Roger had been putting in a lot of hours in the first few weeks, so we decided to take a weekend and go away. Roger said he’d go anywhere, as long as he could see big boats. So, like the swallows returning to Capistrano, the Kinleys headed to the Algarve region of Portugal and to the resort seaside town of Vilamoura.

On the way we joked that we were barely getting by in Spanish, and yet we were venturing to a country where we only knew how to say a few words! Surprisingly, we were welcomed everywhere in English. After a quick walk around the huge marina with mega-sized yachts at Vilamoura with British pubs every few feet, it was clear that British people flock to the area for golf and sun and so all the service industry providers spoke English.


We returned to Valverde by traveling up the middle of Portugal to the village of Beja where Roger got his first taste of walking around a castle from the 13th century. Unfortunately the tower was closed when we were there, but it was an interesting walk around the town and we’ll return for a better look.

We definitely live in a great location as we are just 1 hour from Seville. 4 hours to Gibraltar, and 1-1/2 hours to Portugal so the world, indeed, is our oyster. Magnifico!