We’re sitting in a café on the beachfront of Armaçao de Pera with a hot coffee. We’ve been soaked getting down here but the sun is attempting to break through the clouds. The weather yesterday was perfect and we played tennis in the morning and went back to explore another small resort called Praia da Rochas (see photos). We also called into the E.Leclerc supermarket on the way home to get Graham and Krista a carrier bag with their name on it! We will have to think of a name beginning with E for our next child.
This morning has had a purpose in that we have been seeking out a doctor to give Krista her final lot of inoculations. Having day to day jobs such as this is a great way to get to know a country and how it functions on the level of life’s necessities. It also brings you into contact with ordinary people and although we are relying a lot on people speaking English, it teaches you a tiny little more of the language every day. We will need to go back to the nurse at 5pm today to find out how we go about getting the injections we need and know that it is going to cost €7 Euros per injection. A bargain, we thought we were looking at least ₤50!
We have experienced Portugal as an expensive country which has surprised us. You don’t get much for your Euro here. We do have to take into account however that the pound is weak at the moment.
All things considered we are now impatient to move on to Spain. We had been thinking that we would wait for a dry stretch so that we didn’t have to pack up a wet awning etc – we might need to wait a long. It has been a shame about the weather as we haven’t perhaps been able to appreciate Portugal fully. Our neighbours at the campsite continue to rave about how lovely it is here under normal circumstances. There is no doubt but, we recognize that it may continue to rain for a while here and everywhere. We would rather be in the rain in Spain than Portugal as we are interested in learning the language and could be doing that whatever the weather.
Later – we went back to the nurse who recommended we didn’t get Krista immunized here at all. The Portuguese schedule is completely different than the UK’s. We need to get back in touch with our doctor in England and then plan our next move. We will see how long we have got to get them, then see what the schedule is in Spain to get or maybe even Gibraltar … If you are interested we will keep you informed!
Krista is kicking me and her kick is getting stronger, she wants to play better do as I am told.