portugal - part two

the beach at vale do lobo is up there as one of the most beautiful beaches i have visited so far. the sand is smooth the colours are stunning especially on a clear, sunny day. the blue sky, tourquoise water, white sand and the terracotta coloured cliffs makes a pretty spectacular backdrop. don't you think?i couldn't help but take notice and admire the chimneys on most of the homes found throughout the algarve. they are an intricate part of the design of the villas but at the same time are an architectural element all on its own.of course, as you do on holiday we ate very well!! their speciality was piri piri or peri peri grilled chicken. piri piri is a hot chile pepper marinade that is applied to the chicken before grilling. quite delicious although it can be quite HOT depending on your threshold. click here for the complete recipe.

while visiting the small village of alvor, we learned that octopus is also a portugese delicacy which is prepared by cooking it directly on the coals as shown below. although smoked danish bacon is not considered a portugese delicacy, for me it was right up there with the peri peri chicken! because pork is illegal in most muslim states, including qatar i was on a mission to consume as much bacon as possible in the duration of the trip. i was never a huge fan of bacon until i moved to the uk where english bacon is a delicious cross between canadian streaky bacon and peameal bacon. so, it all started with a bacon baguette during our stop over at london gatwick airport. completed with brown sauce it was the best i have had in yep, 10 weeks!!!

how could i forget the most important 'specialty in portugal' - 'super bock' beer. matt, brian, kevin and mel especially took a liking to the bock - they thought it was pretty super, hehe.me, i preferred the fruity cocktails...

and so did mom...!!!well, it all came to an end at about the same time we recovered from the seasickness from the catamaran ride. i was looking forward to returning to the land of the sand however, it never gets easier leaving your family. it was the first family vacation in our *adult* lives and something that we have talked about doing for years - i think that is why it was so special to all of us. i hope it is the first of many more to come!

thanks mom and dad. xoxo.