We stayed at the Hotel Delphim in Alvor. It was our first holiday abroad together and had a nice chilling out time down on the Algarve. The nice thing about the Algarve is that in the winter season, we went in October time, it is still very pleasant and only a few hours away. Water was still nice enough to paddle in, although going for a swim wasn't at the top of my agenda.

Alvor is a small fishing village away from the more commercial bits nearer Faro. The beaches were spotless and golden. Where we were, there was this superb bar that we stumbled across set into the cliffs, a bit like the Marsden Grotto but a lot more warmer and stylish. There was a small restaurant down on the beach as well which was handy for coffee and watching the waves. The sea was pleasant enough to go paddling in.

Down town by the port you get little restaurants selling the freshest of fish. We annoyed some air stewardesses behind us by ordering the last of the sardines. Even though I love my seafood, all those bones in sardines are a bit of a pain aren't they.

We got the bus to Lagos one day and that is worth a visit. A lot more vibrant and commercial. More places to walk and have a nose around.

One word of advice, avoid the timeshare touts. They might approach you with scratch cards and lo and behold you have won a free something or other but you need to go with them and sit through a presentation to get it. They even offered us a free lift to Albufeira as well. For some stupid reason we got in the car but soon told them to stop so we could get out. Not worth the hassle. Or pretend you don't speak English but I forgot that neat trick.

Next to the Delphim there was a really nice 5 star hotel called the Hotel Alvor Praia. Would like to stay here next time if we have the money. We popped in and had lunch on our last day. I had a fantastic plate full of slices of raw salmon drenched in lemon juice. Is this their ceviche? Anyway, it was spot on and finished off a nice week away.