John and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay from 16-23 April 2014 in this terrific apartment. We were met at the airport by Brid’s friend Rui who chatted about Portugal and football and life in general as he drove us to the apartment and showed us around.
This friendly welcome was much appreciated. We felt very comfortable in the apartment and it was really great to have all the added extras and homely touches that you wouldn’t expect in a holiday rental, including books and DVDs and all the essentials for easy living!
Our aim was clear and simple – do almost nothing but walk, read, eat and drink well for a week. We didn’t plan to take in the sights or make the most of the easy access to multiple attractions. We saved that for another visit. We achieved our aim with no difficulty – lazy mornings with breakfast on the balcony, long daily walks along the beach (averaging about 16,000 steps per day on a pedometer), hours of reading, and simple lunches. We were very fortunate with the weather – warm and sunny every day.
We had brought our own good books (mainly the trilogy by Karl Ove Knusgaard) but while I waited for John to finish the second book, I also fitted in one of Brid’s books called ‘The First Global Vilage: How Portugal Changed The World’. This gave me a great overview of Portuguese history over the past two millennia.
We ate out in a different place each evening – all the meals were good and very reasonably priced. (We’ve made the same mistake as other guests in not making note of the restaurants we particularly enjoyed but they included a couple on the beach and the fish restaurant on the corner in the Square near the apartment.) We took a longer than planned walk one evening and ended up in a smallish but very popular local restaurant in Sao Pedro do Estoril.
Our two minor excursions included an afternoon in Caicais which included a trip to the Paula Rego exhibition and a walk to the
Poet’s Park in Oireas, near to the Shopping Centre. It’s a lovely green space with statues of Portuguese poets and writers. There is no doubt that if we are feeling more energetic on our next visit, we will take in the attractions of Sintra and Lisbon. However, this location offers the opportunity to do it all or to do next to nothing – best of all worlds!
Patricia & John.
