Vilamoura

These photos were taken in Vilamoura, Portugal. We stayed at the Dom Pedro hotel and the first 2 pictures are of the view from our 2 balconies. We had a ridiculously nice suite with 2 bathrooms! I think that is a brilliant idea--most of our arguments while on vacation are about the time it takes to get ready. (Kevin can be showered, shaved and dressed in about 10 minutes, I am never ready in under 45 minutes, and if it only takes me 45 minutes, most likely we will have to return to the hotel room moments later because I have forgotten my purse, sunglasses, coat...etc.) But with 2 bathrooms, we were able to get ready simultaneously, and Kevin only had to wait about half an hour for me each morning, ergo coffee and breakfast weren't delayed as much as usual, ergo Kevin was considerably more cheerful than usual! Seriously, hotels should start marketing 2 bathroom rooms as "marital harmony suites"--I think couples would pay extra for the stress-free mornings that 2 bathrooms provide!

Vilamoura is a very posh resort town--there are several golf courses in the town with plans to build 3 more in the works. The Vilamoura marina is really nice with many upscale restaurants and shops lining the water. The second two pictures are of the marina. There were tons of British tourists there and lots of the restaurants advertise "English Breakfast" to lure them in. We had no problem not being able to speak Portuguese--everyone spoke English perfectly. The area seems very nice and safe, if quite a bit more expensive than the surrounding towns on the Algarve coast.

Kevin and I were driving along and noticed a new condo development advertising model homes to tour. We decided to take a look--the condos were selling for 555,000 Euros, or $720,500. Way out of our price range, but we wanted to take a tour anyway, so we invented aliases and a cover story in case the realtor asked us any questions. (Yes, we are very lame!) I was "Ashley" and Kevin was "Jeremy" and we were looking for a nice vacation home close to the beach. The realtor asked how often we had been to Portugal, and I immediately started giggling because I can't lie to save my life. Kevin came up with some story about how he has been down to the area for business several times, and why Vilamoura captured his attention. Despite Kevin's uncanny ability to deliver lie after plausible lie with a straight face, I think the realtor realized we weren't Vilamoura material, and suggested we check out some homes in a little fishing village further down the coast--more bang for the buck! I wonder what clued him in--could it have been the little VW Polo rental we were driving? Maybe it was the sweater set I was wearing, purchased from Sears? I'm guessing it was most likely Kevin's crazy coif--you can see it for yourself in the last photo. Haircuts (and everything else) are really expensive in Norway, so Kevin is holding out until he goes to China in 2 weeks to get a long overdue trim at a bargain price. He makes me laugh, but maybe, eventually, all that money we saved over the years by not paying Norwegian salon prices will buy us a condo on the beach in Portugal...