Adeus a Portugal
Hi folks 💕
The outstanding issue we had with the fridge in our van has now been resolved, hooray! We needed the fridge fixed before we could undertake the drive to Greece. So, now that that is sorted, we now feel as though the next stage of the journey is beginning, even though we are still in Portugal.
We took a last swim down at Albandeira beach yesterday afternoon, returned our trusty hire car to Santos and spent one final night at our lockdown site in Silves, for old times’ sake and to say goodbye to Sian.
A last clip of the storks in Silves:
From Silves, we drove to Tavira, where we first began our trip in Portugal, exactly eight months ago today! We had no idea when we popped over the border from Spain at the end of last January what the coming months had in store for us, any more than any of you did… What a year it has been.
Our lovely lockdown friends, John and Kate from Cornwall, have just bought a home near Tavira in order to further their application for Portuguese residency – thank you, Brexit 🤦♀️
We visited them in their new home and had a swim in the huge pool at their site this afternoon and then we all ate like kings thanks to their generosity and kindness!
We are staying overnight tonight in the site at Tavira, before crossing the border into Spain tomorrow morning and making our way north and then east to Barcelona port. It’s much quieter on the site this time, compared to early February. Everyone’s talking about Covid and Brexit and speculating on how different this winter season will be in the Algarve compared to a typical year.
Tavira – Algarve Motorhome Park
We hope to sail from Barcelona across to Italy on Thursday night; as yet, we are unsure about whether we will require Covid tests all round (possibly not, as we will be transiting through Italy in under 36 hours). But, if that all goes to plan, we hope to sail to Greece perhaps on Saturday night or Sunday.
Except that we will be sailing from point B to point C on that map, this here is what our trip ahead looks like. We will cut 2,000km from the drive by catching the two ferries.
Under normal circumstances, we would prefer the drive – we are on this trip to see things and visit places, after all. But, with things as they are, we need to get to Greece as quickly and as directly as possible.
We will let you know how our journey is going!