Bank Holiday Escape - To Vilamoura

I decided to skip the uncertainty of UK bank holiday weather and head off for some (hopefully) more guaranteed sunshine in the Algarve.

Centering around the so called 'millionaire's marina', Vilamoura is my resort of choice. It's my fifth trip to Portugal and my third visit to Vilamoura specifically, which I think says something about my feelings for the area.

While I am still a little way off becoming a millionaire (ok maybe a lot) it's a great place to sit back and admire the stunning super yachts in the marina and get yourself lost in thoughts of what it might be like to own one!


That one's mine!

I'm here with my mum for a long weekend and we find it's the perfect place to spend the days basking in the sunshine and wandering leisurely along the vast stretches of golden sandy beach; and the evenings relaxing with a cocktail at sunset and watching the world go by over a usually delicious meal around the marina.



Cocktails at sunset in the Tivoli



Vilamoura beach....now, where to sit?

 

We stayed at the Dom Pedro Golf Hotel, which is just a few minutes’ walk from the marina. It's a good hotel with simple but clean and perfectly adequate rooms, a spacious lobby and bar area, restaurant and spa facilities.  In the large gardens there are plenty of sunbeds, volleyball and tennis courts, a play area and a good size (of not still a bit chilly in May) main pool as well as a kid’s pool.  Rooms have either a garden view or, like ours, a sea view - you can't beat waking up to a sea view each morning!


Dom Pedro Golf Hotel

There is an abundance of eating and watering holes around the town in a variety of world cuisines, however we chose to mainly eat around the marina because... well why not really? 

Here are some suggestions of places we visited and liked - these are all (bar one) located around the marina:

Lamparo's

Located in the bottom right corner of the marina (based on the marina entrance being the too) the Italian food at Lamparo's is delicious.  Since our last visit the marina has added a jetty around the edge giving the bars and restaurants extra capacity and diners the opportunity to right by the water’s edge. They bring you a cover of bread, olives, mini pizzas, crostini (puff pastry sticks) and (still unidentified) battered rings of some sort so unless you're super hungry you can get away with not ordering a starter (there is a small charge of €2.50 pp for the covers). 

We had four cheese risotto and chicken alla siciliana both of which were especially tasty, followed by  Dame Blanche and Coupe Saison ice creams - beware they are fairly sizeable ice creams and while I couldn't quite finish it all I did of course give it a good go! This restaurant scored highly on both taste and presentation!  Two courses plus wine costs around €35 a head for 2 courses plus wine.




One of my five a day

Nosolo Italia

An Italian and gelateria - we made the mistake of ordering two meals here when we could probably have shared just one as the portions were all pretty sizeable! Melon and Parma ham and a garlic bread to start, followed by a pizza each then a pannacotta and another huge ice cream - although the ice cream did have fruit in it so obviously it was good for me!  Three courses and half a bottle of wine set us back around €30 a head.

Buzios Beach Club

This cute little beach bar is on the beach (as you would imagine) just near the Vila Gale hotel. All decked out in blue and white this is the ideal location for a leisurely lunch while taking in the amazing view of the golden sands and clear blue skies. We ordered Pimms a couple of sandwiches and some fries which cost around €15 each.

News Bar and Restaurant

We had brunch here on the terrace overlooking the marina and also an evening meal inside the restaurant, which cost around €30 for two salads a desert and wine.

Not a bad way to spend a Friday lunchtime

Tai Tai
This Chinese restaurant does a great set menu - only €48 for two people, includes four courses and a drink.

Sandbanks - Vale do Lobo
Another reason I like Portugal is because my friend lives there, so whenever I go I always try to meet up with her.  This time we met for lunch and she took us over to nearby Vale do Lobo, which is a very nice area and also happened to be where the England football team were on their pre World Cup training camp!  We went to a restaurant called Sandbanks and enjoyed lunch, a glass of wine and a well deserved catch up overlooking the glistening sea.   Unfortunately no footballers spotted! 


Did someone say footballers?
 

Another thing to mention is the touristic train. We picked it up from outside the Vila Gale hotel and it takes you around Vilamoura, to the old town, which didn't look so old but had some very fancy villas and hotels such as the Four Seasons. It cost €2 for a one way ticket, €3.50 for a round trip and €5 for an all-day ticket. We got off at the Lakeside Resort and strolled along the beach and then back around the marina.

Finally, we took a Dolphin Safari (€35 each).  After boarding the small rib speedboat boat we headed off with the wind in our hair (literally) along the coast towards Albuferia and the Sea Caves.  After pootling around the Sea Caves, along with a number of other boats full of holidaymakers, we turned back and sped off out to sea in search of dolphins.  After many 'is that one? oh no its just a wave' moments we eventually found a whole pod who happily swam alongside, underneath and in front of us popping in and out of the water as they went.  It's quite a sight to see dolphins out in the wild and I actually managed to get a picture or two (well as good as I'm ever going to get I think!).




Almost...

..that's the best I'm going to get!

Marrakech Top Tips

So now I am back from my Marrakech trip I thought I’d sum up some of my top tips for this fantastic city.
 
Top places to eat:
 
Al Baraka
Amazing Moroccan food with friendly waiters and traditional entertainment.  Just of Jemaa El Fna square. Reasonably priced, approx £36 per head with wine

Mmmm tagine....

The Red House
Again amazing food with a Moroccan or international a la carte menus to choose from.  Beautiful décor, similar to that of the palaces!  Traditional entertainment and excellent service.  Located in Hivernage.  A bit pricier but worth treating yourself, approx £51 per head including wine  

Hold on I think I know this tune

Le Tanjia
In the southern part of the Medina, this restaurant is tucked away near Place des Ferblantiers.  A perfect lunch stop while sightseeing.  Serves Moroccan and international dishes on a beautifully decorated four floors.  Fairly reasonably priced, approx £11 per head for pizza and a beer (Moroccan style of course!)

La Bagatelle
French cuisine – delicious.  Located in the new city area in rue de Yougoslavie.  Indoor and outdoor dining and reasonably priced, approx £22 per head for 3 courses with wine
 
Top things to do:
·        Visit Jemaa El Fna square in the day and for the Night Market – watch out for the snakes though!
·        Wander around the souks
·        Take a trip to Jardin Majorelle – beautifully in both rain and sunshine
·        Have a massage at your hotel hammam (spa) or Les Bains de Marrakech is supposed to be good too
·        Touristy places to visit (these are not very expensive to get in, around 10MAD and some you can buy a bulk ticket for)
o        Musee de Marrakech
o        Medersa Ben Youseff
o        Palais El Badii (ruins)
o        Palais de la Bahia (partly still in use)
o        Tombaeux Saadiens

Jemaa El Fna square gearing up for the Night Market

Negotiating the souks

Jardin Majorelle (in the rain)

Musee de Marrakech

Medersa Ben Youseff (and the sun is coming out!)

Palais El Badii - not too shabby for ruins

Palais de la Bahia - didn't see P Diddy

Tombaeux Saadiens

Top tips for getting around

• Petit taxis are an easy way to get around.  These are the smaller cars, such as Peugeot 205, Renault 5 and Fiats etc, and although they look a little beat up they will get you from A to B cheaply.  Agree the price with the driver before you set off though and hold on tight!
• The Bus Touristique is a useful way to get around either to hop off and see an attraction or just ride it for the both the Historique and Oasis tours.  48 hour tickets are only around £15
• Before you go email your hotel and ask them to send a taxi/driver to collect you.  They will give you the price and its apparently a cheaper way than getting a taxi at the airport

I'd definitly recommend a trip to Marrakech it is a very interesting city, the people are friendly, the food is great and I'm told the weather is really nice too!

Marrakech Day 4

Day 4 - Monday

Raining again today. I think we've managed to come during the 2 days of annual rainfall that Marrakech gets.  Least the umbrella sellers are raking it in.

Jellabahs are common outfits in Marrakech. They are hooded floor length kaftans and with the pointy hoods up you could be forgiven for thinking you were on the set of a Harry Potter movie. Usually in linen or wool, the rain has brought out the cagool Jellabah - very practical for a day like this.

We've had quite a busy day exploring today.

We got a taxi to the Musee de Marrakech.  Taxis can only go so far so after a few wrong turns on foot we finally found it. A spectacular building, the Musee holds numerous traditional Berber embroidery, jewellery and ceramics. But the building itself is the main attraction.

On to Medersa Ben Youssef. This is a 14th century Koranic school.  Again beautiful architecture with two of the hundred tiny student rooms made up as they would have been back then. Most of the student rooms (that were not reserved for the privileged students) were in fact quite pokey little cells. But in lovely surroundings.  Our ticket also allowed us entry to something else but we were not quite sure what it was. We took a picture of it though.

Next we wandered off into the direction of the souks. A maze of tiny streets and Aladdin's cave style shops.  We navigated the souks quite well (we didn't even need to use the phones compass!) and made our way back to Jemaa El Fna square, which even in the rain was still bustling.

Next stop was the Palais de la Bahia. Built by Grand Vizier Bou Ahmed, the palace was to house his four wives and two-dozen concubines. The rooms that you are able to see are unfurnished but the building itself is decorated beautifully with brightly coloured tiling and intricatly carved panels. The palace is still used as a royal residence so most of the 150 rooms are sealed off, unless of course you are P Diddy and you throw a $1 million party and invite a load of supermodels and celebs!

The next palace probably was just as grand and possibly even bigger than Bahia back in the day, however now the Palais El Badii is unfortunately just ruins. Impressive ruins though.

Making our way back to Place Des Ferblantiers we stopped off for Morroccon style pizza and beer in a fantastic cafe/restaurant called Le Tanjia.  Another little hidden gem.

The sky cleared and the sun started beating down so we whipped out the Ray Bans and got some snaps with blue skies in the background.

Final visit was to the Tombeaux Saadiens. These are the tombs of the golden king, Ahmed El Mansour. Apparently these were lost for a few hundred years behind high walls only to be found again in 1917.  It seems that we arrived at the same time as the three coach loads of French tourists.  Let's just say the Tombeaux are not that big.  At least mum managed to get rid of last nights chicken kebab (that she had hidden in her bag at dinner to make it look like she'd eaten it all) by discreetly chucking it over the tombs to the three hungry kittens. There is always one beady eyed kid around though isn't there.  Quickly exiting the tombs we headed back to the hotel. 

Final recommendation for the day.....dinner at The Red House. The decor was very much like the palaces we have been in today and it offers delicious Morrocan food with entertainment provided by the house musicians and belly dancer. Tres bon!