#sickywicky

[x-samdrew-x]

Day One: Manchester, UK to Faro, Portugal.

After a very very very early start to the day (4am wake up call and a 7am flight), we relaxed on a fairly smooth flight to Faro airport in Portugal. We then arrived at Faro and was picked up by our transfer to be driven privately to our 4 star hotel in Quarteira. As our room was not ready when we arrived, we decided to go for a stroll along the beach, which was a few yards from our hotel.  For lunch, we stopped off at a cute little beach cafe, struggling to understand the menu and acting a little shy (maybe a bit more than a little for Sammy, haha), we sat down and ordered food from the English menu. Sammy had a mushroom omelette served with chips and a homemade apple juice (which tasted and looked more like banana...). Andrew had a cheese and ham omelette  also served with chips, with a homemade orange juice (which was actually orange...)  As time went on (all of 15 minutes of arriving in Quarteira, including sitting down to eat) Sammy had caught the sun... a lot. Or maybe maybe thats just an understatement. Her arm and shoulder was completely red, like a tomato... Andrew’s neck was nowhere near as bad as Sammy.  After lunch, it was time to see the room we were staying in for 3 nights. First impressions we got.. the hotel lobby was very glamorous. Staff was friendly and helpful, We used the lift to our floor. We opened our room door, and saw 2 twin beds, not a double like we booked, so instead of annoying anyone, we make do by pushing them together. We looked in the bathroom, couldn't find the bath/shower at first but we found it in a very peculiar place, almost hidden from sight. Bad design!! We got changed into something a little more suited to the hot weather, and went out for another walk with our cameras, taking photos of the scenery along the way. We suddenly got caught up in the local festival all over the streets, we stood and watched in amazement with smiles on our faces, as people, all ages, dressed up in colourful and crazy outfits parading the road, throwing the sweets at the children (but adults took most of them, hahaha). After festival parade calmed down, we walked along the Portuguese sands taking photos of the beach and the sea and each other (whether we allowed in or not..) We let the sea run into our barefooted toes. We decided to sit on some rocks watching the waves flow back and forth in a peaceful motion. It had been such a long and busy day being very relaxing and soaking up the sun in the process (quite literally for Sammy) we decided to grab a drink from the beach cafe as we were very thirsty but not hungry yet. The beach cafe was literally on the beach, a few feet away from the tide which we watched while taking a sip from our very refreshingly cold beverages (just trying to be posh - that’s ‘drinks’ for those who aren't posh.. hahaha!) :)  When a few hours had passed, we fell tired and felt it was best to grab something to eat and get an early night. Due to tiredness, we both found it difficult to decided from a variety of nice restaurants along the promenade. After much debate, we decided to go to a place that seemed very popular - a italian style restaurant. Sammy had a extremely spicy pepperoni pizza - a bit too spicy for Sammy (again an understatement). Andrew had a peculiar pizza which contained cheese, pepperoni and.... fried eggs - Yes, Eggs!!! (no surprise there that he goes for something....different. We left the restaurant feeling full and shattered but also disappointed with our food as is was something neither of us had expected. We went back to the hotel, gaining some well needed fresh air to calm down from our unusual foods. During the night, Andrew was subject to severe vomiting, which we put down to either food poisoning or travel sickness or even both. Understandably, Sammy was very worried. as she had never seem him this ill before.. :( :( The rug at the bottom of the bed was covered in Andrews sick and smelt vile, which even made Sammy feel sick. We rang reception asking them to clean it up at 7:30 am, in which they said they would come up at 8 am which was the time they started, however we had to ring up a few times more, complaining, and eventually a hotel cleaner came to our room to clean it up and replace the rug (after 10 am!!!! 2 and a half hours later!!)  Once it was cleaner, it smelt a lot better, but of course Andrew was still feeling ill, and we decided to rest a while longer before trying to enjoy the day.  Andrew: Surprisingly warm, and picturesque beach. Felt like I was in a different world, so peaceful, if only I had felt 10 times better than I did that night. Overall, quite impressed with the surroundings and scenery, I just wish I could say that about the the staff for not cleaning up at the time they said they would. I deeply regret having the fried egg pizza at the Italian style restaurant on the promenade as I wonder if it would be a different outcome if we hadn't gone to that restaurant. I feel sorry for Sammy for ruining the rest of the day as I feel like it was my felt through picking that pizza.  Sammy: Such a lovely day (apart from the early wake up call of course). Leaving Manchester in the pouring rain and arriving in Portugal in the hot sunny weather. Lunch was amazing, especially Apple (Nahh, I mean banana..) juice. hahaha!! Didn't particularly enjoy being turned into a tomato after the first 15 minutes, but I guess thats the difference in climate for you. Overall I was awestruck by the peaceful surroundings and the beautiful views. I just wish we weren't as tired as we were that evening so we could have enjoyed our food a lot better and relaxed more at night, but I guess thats what travel does to you. I am very sorry for how Andrew was feeling after those awful pizzas, and gave him loads and loads of hugs and kisses to comfort him.