For those of you not up on your British verbiage, “proper” is the word of choice for describing the correct way of doing something. This past weekend, Tara and I met our great friends Andy and Michelle (who is British) in Portugal and tagged along on their British family holiday (vacation) …. hence the title of this blog post.
South Coast of Portugal
This trip was the opposite of every trip we have taken so far. We had no agenda or sights to check off the list. What you see on the map above is the extent of our travels around Portugal. We had a pretty consistent agenda involving the pool and the dinner table. It was really nice to just kick back and relax with some really cool people. Therefore, this post will be a lot shorter than most.
We arrived Thursday afternoon and Andy and Michelle took us to lunch in a nice little seaside restaurant. We hadn’t all been together since February so it was great to catch up.
Me and Mr. Pool
Tara and soon to be Mrs. Pool
Great View
Next up on the agenda was to check out the B&B where Tara and I were staying. Since we arrived late to the party, there wasn’t room for us to sleep at the Elliott household. Our cheap B&B turned out to be really nice, even though we didn’t spend much time there.
Aurora Sol B&B: 2 Thumbs Up
Nice pool at the Aurora Sol
The one touristy thing we did do was Cape St. Vincent (the flag on the map above). At the time of the visit, we were led to believe that this was the most western point in Europe. However after further investigation, I realized that it is not even the most western point in Portugal. And you can get further south by traveling to Spain or Italy. So that leaves us with the title of the most southwestern point in Portugal. This stat isn’t that impressive, but the views were really nice and I was able to get a Bratwurst and a legit spoon-rest so it was worth the trip.
Group picture at the most southwestern point in Portugal
Nice view of some cliffs
Some Nice Pottery
Last Bratwurst Before America
With the famous lighthouse out of the way, we made our way back to the Elliott swimming pool, which turned out to be the gathering point of the whole trip. Michelle’s entire family is really awesome. I can’t say enough nice things about them.
Tony and Jasmine snorkeling
The whole crew sitting down for lunch
Michelle hit the big 3-0 while we were there. Her family took everyone out to celebrate. Once again, a good time was had by all.
Happy Birthday Michelle
Between sitting by the pool, going out to dinner, and chatting with the family, there really isn’t much to blog about. One big accomplishment that I am proud of is that baby Jasmine let me hold her toward the end of the trip. She has a pecking order of people that she would allow to hold her. I think Michelle was at the bottom and Tony/Antonia were at the top. Everyone else was somewhere in the middle. I must have got lucky because I was able to take her away from Antonia (top of the pecking order)
Cute Baby
Here’s a good happy family pic.
Michelle, Antonia, and Jasmine
That’s really all there is to it. It was a great 4 day weekend with friends in Portugal. It was the first trip we’ve taken where we didn’t feel exhausted when we got home. We felt great and well rested. Thanks again Elliott family!
One more interesting fact: we were on the last ever BMI Baby flight on the way back to England.
Last BMI Baby Flight Ever
This is pretty sad because BMI Baby was our favorite low cost airline. You didn’t have to pay for an assigned seat and you were allowed to check in online. I know those sound like normal things, but Monarch charges US citizens $9 to check in online, which forces you stand in a huge line with people checking their bags. Ryan Air on the other hand, charges you some crazy amount if you forget to check in online, but their seating is a complete free for all…. which again causes you to wait in huge lines. BMI Baby seemed to be most sane low cost airline. And now they are gone.
Schetzels in the UK 