Today we ventured out to Vilamoura Marine, it was another hot day – we managed to persuade pat to join us.  Everything is catered to the English tourist, with Pub meals, full english breakfasts and all the premiership games televised.

The marina itself was full with gorgeous yachts of all shapes and sizes – the plushest of them all the sun seeker with the Maserati, Porsche and Ferrari parked by.  There is still a load of money about.  Interestingly the marinas cost about €690 per month or €1,300 per year.  Not bad!

Luis Figa,  is a retired Portuguese footballer. He played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Internationally before retiring in 2009. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team a then record but later broken by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Renowned for his creativity and having the ability to get past defenders, Figo is regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation. He made 106 assists in La Liga, the second most in La Liga history, behind Lionel Messi.  You get the message – he is a legend.  Sam, his dad and his Uncle are mad football fans, Luis owns a bar on the marina – guess where we lunched.

The rubbish situation is unusual here, there are these large rubbish collection stations and you take your rubbish to the collection bins which are large – and the bin men collect from there.  Not like our lovely Aussie system. Some of the collection bins..

I am not sure where it all goes to, but under these bubbles are large tanks holding rubbish. No smells, cool looking.

Some photos from the day trip to the Marina.

Then we took Sam out for his first game of golf, he had been on the driving range – so we thought why not.  We went to the Vale Do Lobo – Ocean Course and had a Twilight round.  He was really nervous, but excited at the same time.  First shot – he hit the ball which is a lot more than most others would do.  We were playing ambrose (for those of you who do not know – ambrose is a game where you pick the best shot and then take your ball to there and hit, then pick the best.  We had a lot of fun, we played 14 holes and finishes a couple under par – including an eagle.  We even had to take one of Sams drives as John and I were in the trees.  I was super impressed with the way Sam hit the ball – see the video for your self.

We then finished with cocktails and dinner at the club, with Jack having lots of fun on the putting green – which was like his own larger version of Crazy Golf.  We have built an amazing crazy golf course in the house now, including hitting a ball from the top of the stairs into a bucket, under couches.  The best indoor crazy golf course.

Categories: Portugal

Shaz Thompson

Mad about golf, enthusiastic about life, totally in love with my husband and just having fun.