August in Guia
Our time in Guia is coming to an end and we have had a lovely time here in the apartment (although Saul and I do really miss vanlife… we nearly feel disloyal to the Krystal!).
The temperatures remain in the mid- to high-30s; a blast of hot air hits you as soon as you walk out the door! The children have had loads of fun playing with our neighbour, Darcie, a gorgeous girl the same age as Olwen whose very warm and welcoming family moved to the Algarve from England a few years back. Plenty of swims have been had, along with lots of Roblox and chat. We have also met up with Simon, Emma, Ffion and Oscar several times this month. It has been great for Morgan and Olwen to have friends to play with, as they both really miss their pals from home.
So here are some pics of things we have been up to during August.
The water and funparks were closed until June or so. When they reopened, it was for reduced numbers and with spaces marked out for where customers should stand/queue. So, in August, we have had a few days out to ZooMarine which is just up the road from us in Guia and also Slide ‘n’ Splash. Saul clocked up over 300 flights of stairs on his FitBit one of the days – suffice to say he was suffering with his knees the following day!
Olwen needed to get two fillings replaced. Dentists are a lot cheaper here – but there was no anaesthetic!! Brave girl did very well.
More incredible sunsets/nightfall; spectacular light combined with chimneys, a magical combination!
We got to meet up again with our friends Shaun and Caroline! We last saw them in Castell de Ferro in Spain at the start of the year.
Shaun and Caroline have now sold their motorhome after a good bit of travelling around Europe and they have set their hearts on remaining in Portugal (yes, Brexit). It was great fun to catch up with them again 💜
We also got to see our lockdown buddies, John and Kate, once again. They’re now back in Portugal after a bit of a spin around the Netherlands, Belgium and France! John and Kate are now also in the process of finding themselves a new home base here in the Algarve. Brexit has turned the world upside down for so many…
And we can’t stay away from Silves for long! This café near the river Arade serves amazing icecream, a favourite being the sorbet made from Silves oranges. It’s a must each time we return! The internal walls of this café are tiled in local cork as cork is such a good insulating material – it keeps the place warm in winter and cool in summer.
Cork is a large industry across Portugal; in fact, around half of the world’s cork comes from here. Trees need to be 25 years old before cork can be stripped and, from then on, it is removed every nine years, between the months of May and August. The trees live for around 300 years. There is a cork processing factory just outside Silves and all sorts of cork items are for sale in the region – belts, shoes, jewelry, hats, bags, and lots more.
It took us a couple of days to discover what these small cabins on stilts were for, which we saw for sale in a hardware suppliers near Guia:
It turns out that they are hunting cabins for hunting wild boar 😮 As far as we understand it, the hunting season begins at the start of September and wild boar may be hunted on Sundays and Thursdays.
More evening swims:
And lots of pool swims, by day and by night:
sporting a new snorkeling mask, we all got one 
Caitríona: Putting my academic hat on for a moment! I was asked to record a podcast interview in August with Cuan Ó Seireadáin, curator of the papers and publications of Conradh na Gaeilge ( the Gaelic League) about the book I wrote a number of years back called Cruthú na Gaeltachta. In that piece of work, I examined how the concept of the Gaeltacht, the Irish speaking areas of Ireland, came into existence around the time of the Irish language revival at the start of the 20th century.
Here’s a link for anyone who would be interested in this chat between Cuan and me about the Irish language revival, the development of the Gaeltacht and how this impacted on life in Ireland in the 20th century 😊
And we are still exploring new local beaches! This is Praia do Castelo, a stunning beach that looks out towards Ponta do Castelo:
Coordinates: 37.073317854636535, -8.298872721953222
This is the view from outside our apartment. We are on the second floor and we look up the hill away from the village. The field next to our block has almond, fig, olive and citrus trees.
