Christmas 1999 and the Millennnium

After many months of planning, 10 of us set off for a two week holiday in a rented villa in the Portuguese Algarve, where we planned to celebrate Christmas 1999 and to welcome in the New Millennium. Nearly everybody contributed to this account of our holiday including Claire- Marie who is only seven.

At 02.30 Susan and Ian wake up in Brighton. A taxis and train ride later they arrive at Gatwick airport.

At 03.30 George and Valerie arise in Bexhill-on-Sea and drive to Kevin and June’s house in Crawley. With Claire-Marie and Robbie they take two taxis to the airport

When I woke up, I got dressed and then helped mummy get things ready. Because that day we were going to Portugal and then grandpa and grandma arrived, to come with us. So I waited with them for the taxis to come. When the taxis came we got in the taxis. I went in the taxis which was the biggest, it was bluish-purple, and it took us to the airport. Then we put the luggage into the check-in and mummy put the trolleys away and just then we saw Susan and Ian. So we decided to have breakfast. I had Coca Cola with eggs on toast. And before I ate something, Susan and Ian had to go to the gate, to get their aeroplane

After a delayed departure and a 2.5 hour flight the Garner party arrive at Portugal’s Faro airport. Rental cars are quickly collected and a drive in temperatures of 16C (61F) past many fields filled with orange and lemon trees, to the rented villa in Alcantariha near Silves.

Shortly after arriving and roughly unpacking, the need for food sent us all out again in search of a cafe/restaurant and then for a supermarket which proved a little harder to find than we first thought, as many stores were cash and carry (bulk buying)

Back to the villa with food cupboards filled, a pizza and salad supper with a few bottles of red wine went down very nicely. Later over gin and tonics, vodka with red bull, the conversation was about the plans we have for the next two weeks and ending with Kevin, George, Ian and Susan talking about property purchases and stocks and shares before finally retiring for the night.

04.50 After a very short night we managed to roll out the bed. Alan is always very slow, so he went downstairs first to wake up some more. In the meanwhile I got ready and then the waiting was of course for Alan, and we said goodbye to our cat Gys

05.30 We got on the road to Schiphol airport and it took us 45 minutes and it was nice and quiet.

06.35 We had to walk to the bus stop and we had to wait about 5 minutes for the bus to arrive. Then the bus took us to the departure lounge where we had to wait a long time to check in.

07.30 We arrived at the plane just in time and we took off at 07.45 After a long and painful journey (for Claudia) we landed at Faro airport at 10.50 local time and when we got out there was somebody waiting for us to take us to a bus that took us to our rental car and half an hour later we were on the road to the villa. And it was a good think we only got lost once. So we then arrived at the villa at about 12.00 and here we are waiting for Santa to arrive, and we are going to enjoy 11 days with the whole family. And when we get home again it will be the next millennium. Can you believe it ???

Oh well, electric blankets what would we do without them. Most people laid in till 9 - 10 a.m. and then Kevin, June and Valerie went off to do some more shopping at the local convenience store, as the option of us being able to have Christmas dinner booked at a local restaurant was looking very unlikely - and we had already run out of red wine!"

Susan spent the morning wrapping all her Christmas presents while George and Ian were being entertained by the kids playing Uno and Frisbee. At this point Alan and Claudia arrived and the others returned from shopping. An inflatable moon ball (that glows in the dark) was kicked about for an hour or so keeping Robbie thoroughly amused whilst Kevin attempted to lower his body into the 16C swimming pool with the idea that Ian at least would follow. Upon realising he was alone he chickened out. George, Valerie, Claudia and Susan popped out to the local shop again (Valerie’s third trip in one day)

The evening was spent playing Uno (adult version/brag style), Rumikub and Scrabble and it was then realised nobody had brought a regular pack of cards with them, although we very nearly did. The real fire proved extremely easy and pleasant as the evening draw closer, the logs being supplied by the elderly gentleman who tends the garden. Idle talk after the children went to bed revealed that Dad had broken a rib once playing basket ball and that traditionally, ghost stories were told on Christmas eve - but nobody knew any. With the children fast asleep awaiting the arrival of Father Christmas, it allowed the adults the opportunity to blow up the many balloons, dig out the many presents and decorate the front room. A few more games of adult Uno and it was time to go to bed

Well here we are Christmas day! Of course the day starts off with "Where’s the water" - certainly not here. In the kitchen there is a large pink sign "Have we run out of gas" - there’s certainly no shortage of that - in one form or another! Mr Fix-it (Kevin) is dragged out of bed and without a screwdriver in sight we have water. With turkey in the oven, showers and baths are taken and we sit around the swimming pool in the sun singing Christmas Carols to Ian’s accompaniment - what a hard life this is.

Christmas dinner around the pool. Melon in port starter. Turkey, roast spuds, stuffing, carrots, peas and sweet corn. Leek and mushroom bake followed by Christmas pudding and brandy butter. With Susan and Ian being vegetarians (although Ian eats fish) a cashew nut roast with spicy vege burgers and garlic mushrooms replaced the traditional turkey. Bucks fizz made with orange juice squeezed from fruit grown in our own orange grove. Red and white wine, coffee and whiskey cream liquor - who can complain about that?

The rest of the day was spent in true post - Christmas dinner style - lazing around and playing with our new toys. Hot water aplenty, for tonight at least, which was dam good news for Susie who decided to go for a swim. The temperature is another story, but take it from Susan that it was "refreshing!"

Claire-Marie and Robbie’s present list
My Christmas presents was a Gameboy, 2 CD steps and Sclub 7, a friendship bracelet, a stickers boomerang, glitter stickers, a sticker book, a travel book, a s club 7 calendar, an action fun pad, a water gun and a dressing up fairy wings with a wand. My brother got a hot rocker car with remote control, sticker pret book, sticker pad, sketch pad, my first copy colour and dot to dot and sam parrotts with sum thing to paint .

We woke to find that the temperature of the pool had risen another 1C to 19C. Lots of talk followed about whether to take a pre-breakfast plunge but the consensus was reached to wait a bit longer, largely due to the weather being a little overcast and drizzly.

Breakfast was eaten and then everyone took to the cars for another shopping run into Albufeira. Beers, wines and spirits were high on the list of priorities as well as some trout for the BBQ planned for Tuesday. Kevin and Susie spent quite a while in the supermarket planning and buying food and other mysterious surprises for Kevin’s Murder Game, to be played this evening. After shopping had been completed it was back to the villa for a late lunch and further contemplation about donning swimming garb! And we went in -well Ian and Kevin braved the 19C temperature although Susan did go in the day before when is was 17C. Verdict refreshing/ bloody cold.

George forced himself to stay in bed until 09.45 on the pretext it would be unkind to disturb Kevin who was still sleeping in the lounge! Our plan for lunch soon fell apart when it started to drizzle, so rather than sardines and vino verde on the beach, we ended up with bake beans on toast! During an afternoon walk, George found himself surrounded by men carrying double barrelled shots guns. Fortunately they were more interested in the rabbits than the stranger in their midst.

	At 20.00 we discovered that Pepi had been murdered and that the murderer was still in our midst! We were all gathered together in the famous New York Italian restaurant to commiserate with Mama Rosa (Valerie) all in black, and to enjoy the evening with our Italian relatives. Father (Kevin) served up a wonderful meal but Claire Voyant (Susan) kept forecasting bad news.
The whole family were specially dressed for the occasion, Rocco (George) complete with black hat, Marco (Ian) as a weird footballer, BO (Alan) had red fingers from years of grape picking, Tara (June) in an flirtatious outfit. Angel (Claudia) seemed intent on pinning the murder on Rocco but by midnight most believed Bo was guilty and were proved correct.

An excellent evening, first class food and wine and the photos will provide pleasant memories.

An overcast day with the promise of rain but we still felt is was worth the risk going to the beach. By the time we reached the sandy beach the drizzle had stopped so we set off to explore the rocks and cliffs. The local fisherman did not seem to be having much luck, so we decided to try our luck at the local fish restaurant. We only wanted a snack so we chose the meal of the day, being fish. We were initially served sardines which were absolutely delicious, they was followed by huge plates of a larger (unknown) fish, then more dishes and yet more. In fact we had so much fish served we were unable to even start eating some of the dishes. An excellent sea food meal, all for less than £5 each including drinks.

We then visited the local pharmacy as Susan seems to have developed a toothache and flu! To help work off all the fish, potatoes and salad (tomatoes) and chips for the children and Susan, we strolled around the old town of Albufeira (very nice indeed) where postcards were purchased. Later whilst passing the waters edge the waves lapped the shore quicker that expected hence Valerie followed by George and Claire-Marie and then Alan ended up with wet feet. Upon returning to the villa the very mention of the word fish was turning stomachs, so Susan and Ian knocked up a large saucepan full of their home cooked vegetable soup. Together with locally purchased bead rolls supper was served.

Rumikub and Scrabble were followed by the introduction to many by Alan to the game of "Pea-knuckle" a game with a similar basis to brag but with a twist. When a "7" is laid the value of every following card increases by one, therefore "6" played now = "7" and therefore all cards are up two!. When a six is laid (or a card that would equal it’s value) all face values move down one. Mental arithmetic in a game late at night is certainly challenging to the brain cells especially when the face value is seven up!

Ian went for the healthy start to the day by opting for a 1.7 mile jog. The sky was patchy and the pool temperature had reached 20C. (George had said he would have a dip if it reached this point but with 2 out of 10 people not well, I think the idea of catching a chill put him off)

Yet more shopping in the morning, this time Valerie drove to the local shop, which albeit small seems to have most of our needs.

Chops were barbecued for lunch as many sat in the sunshine around the pool reading their books. The remains of the soup was eaten by the veggies with salad and rice, followed by left over Christmas pudding, mince pies and ice cream. Grilled trout for tea with Ian’s vegetable stir fry.

At 13.00 I tried flying my Barbie kite. It worked the first time but it came down and landed in the swimming pool. At the third time it did not go up because it was not windy enough

In the evening Claudia introduced us to the "Drinking Game" which set us up badly for the mind stretching game of Pea-knuckle, which June found so testing she spent most of a sleepless night working out the rules.

The fact that nothing seems to dry properly in the villa meant June, Susan and Claudia thought a trip to the launderette would be a good idea, however all the laundry’s seem to offer a service with none being self service, so for only 1,100 Esc each it was hard to resist.

Neither Valerie or Susan had been feeling very well for the past few days, so we set off to visit the local doctor. Upon arrival they were both immediately welcomed and informed they would be seen in a few moments - no appointments or waiting here! Biscuits and coffee as well as TV made the short wait almost pleasant. After a thorough check-up which lasted about 45 minutes, pills and potions were dispensed direct from the doctors surgery. However when presented with the bill, Susan suddenly felt much worse when she realised the visit had cost over £50. Her flu and toothache was actually a virus and with the anti-biotic prescribed it meant no alcohol for 5 days! What a downer when on holiday.

In the meanwhile Kevin with the other four had taken a wrong turn and were half way to Spain before they were able to turn around on the motorway. This resulted in a very late lunch in the Pizza restaurant, next to the much frequented Modelo supermarket. Yet more shopping, then back to the villa for the evening entertainment. This the girls thought to be a very male chauvinist pig quiz, however the girls still managed to win. The novel quiz had been constructed by Kevin from many humorous and often sexist jokes that had been travelling around the Internet during the past year, of particular amusement were the Chinese proverbs.

When I woke up I went down stairs and played on my Gameboy. I played Star Wars when mummy called me to have breakfast, I turned off my Gameboy and told my mummy what I wanted to have to eat, then I went on my Gameboy again. Then mummy told me to wake daddy up so I did that and then I to get dressed and then we went out to Zoomarine. When I got there I had a foto taken Susan had a label that side when the play are on and it side one was on in 5 minitt So we went to see it was all about seeall it was good and then we went to have same thing eat after tat n we saw a show all that parrots it was good after that we went on the big wheel we went around 5 times then we went on a boat me and my brother went on a helicopter after that we went on the roundabout my brother hit he head when we went round we rott again that we went in the aquarium and we saw sam fish after that we went on the rollor coaster it was fun there we saw the west seal story it was fun then I had some candy floss I like it after that we saw sum dolphins after that we went to the shop I bought a key ring for grandpa and a fan for grandma and then we went home to the villa

Yes we managed to get up and out the villa by 10.00. As Valerie was not feeling too good George remained with her in the villa, whilst everybody else drove virtually all the way into Albufeira in search of the Zoomarine, only to be directed most of the way back to the villa.

Six hours of virtually clear skies watching seals, sea lions, sharks and many fish. A few rides on the Ferris wheel and swing boat, candy floss (which CM and R absolutely loved) and a 180 degree cinema almost made our lunch come back up. Finally we were entertained by about six beautiful Dolphins.

Claudia, Alan, Ian and Susan went to collect the laundry, clean and folded, whilst Kevin, June and the children drove through Silves and the old town with a castle, well worth a visit another day. Claudia prepared a large bowl of pasta salad for all, a few games of Scrabble with Claire-Marie and the girls had an early night.

Kevin, Ian, Alan and George decided to check out the local bars with the admirable intention of seeing if any entertainment was on offer for New years Eve. A short walk was taken to the bar near the local station and some Sagres lagers were drunk. Not a very exiting bar but it did seem to have a nice restaurant attached to it - maybe good for a visit later on in the holiday.

It was decide we should head back and go to the bar just 10 yards from the villa. This was a much better choice. There was a friendly atmosphere with a group of Portuguese men playing cards and dominoes. Having secured some more so called Kronenburg lager, although Kevin assured us it did not taste like Kronenburg, we headed for the rather good pool table and started a doubles competition. Kevin and Alan vs. George and Ian. After a slow start George & Ian won the first match 5 - 3. Needless to say the lager was flowing freely at this stage. A further match ended at 3 - 2 to Kevin and Alan which was judged by all to be a grotesque stroke of good luck, especially as bets had been laid and George’s and Ian’s previous form had been consistently impressive. We finally left the bar at around 02.00 and then managed to wake up the entire neighbourhood with Kevin’s mimicking of the barking dogs that all the locals seem to keep to ward off strangers. Susie kindly got up to let us into the villa where it was then decided to move the dining room table into the kitchen (so as not to disturb June who was trying to sleep in the lounge) in order to continue the evenings entertainment with several rounds of five card brag and Alan’s and Claudia’s Gold Snaps. All asleep at 05.00

A bit of a slow start to the day (especially for the boys). After some breakfast by the pool in the warm sunshine, Claudia and I decided to go and see the castle at Silves. The castle is built on top of a large hill and dominating much of the town. It’s original dwellings date back to the 12th and 13th century, but most of the castle was built much later by the Arabs.

Inside the castle there are many turrets which offer excellent views of the surrounding countryside and town. Also the castle has a few exhibitions depicting further history on some of it’s inhabitants and their lives. One of these is the "witches cellar" which descends deep into the ground and has several displays on witchcraft and magic though out time. Among these exhibits were lots of strange things in jars, some of which were claimed to be goblins and fairies. Other things on show were aphrodisiac potions, mythical creatures (which was usually something like a giant spider with a snake stuck on top) and other bizarre sexual devices! We walked further around the castle wall and found another exhibit inside one of the turrets. This one showed some quite gruesome looking torture and execution devices which were mainly used on suspected witches.

Walking further around we found some sections of the castle were cordoned off as they had lots of large fireworks set-up ready for tonight’s New Years display. As we went further round Claudia spotted Dad, Valerie, June, Robert and Susan in the street below and after a few attempts we managed to get their attention. Susan took the opportunity to snap a quick picture of us.

We then left the castle and paid a quick visit to the local souvenir shop where Claudia brought some gifts. A quick drink at the local cafe in the still warm sunshine and it was back to the villa to prepare for tonight’s festivities.

Two drivers volunteered to abstain which enabled two cars to safely depart for the medieval town of Silves, where we found a magnificent view of the floodlight castle.

Today it was a nice day again. Alan and myself had a bit of a slow start, and we decided that we were not going with the rest, who were going down to the beach, but we were going to meet them later. We then sat in the garden a bit longer and then decided we were going to drive around a bit and see where we ended up. Well, we ended up in a very smelly place called Portimao, we then drove through the town to get back onto the main road and then decided to head for Albufeira’s old town and the beach where we were going to meet the others, but we couldn’t find them anywhere. So we had a little walk on the beach before we sat down on the quay. We sat there for about an hour before getting hungry, then we walked to the square and had some lunch. After that we went back to the car and headed back to the villa which took about another hour because we took the scenic route

Kevin, June, Robbie & Claire-Marie and George, Valerie, Susie and Ian headed to Albufeira’s old town to do a quick bit of shopping and to make a visit to the beach, it being a bright, warm sunny day. Ideal for shorts and sun-tan lotion. Kevin and family set up prime location on the beach, whilst Susie and Ian went shopping. Valerie and George had a coffee in the old town square. Sunday papers, cold drinks and cakes were brought for the beach and Susie brought some very fashionable shorts so that she could expose some flesh on the beach and fully soak up the suns rays.

Hot golden sand and blue seas were the background to a Frisbee forum made up of Valerie, George, Susie, Ian, Kevin and June, with Robbie and Claire-Marie joining in and kicking the beach ball about. The accuracy of the Frisbee throwing was certainly impressive, although some of us did get a little wet retrieving some wayward throws from the sea.

By now everybody was getting hungry so it was off to a nearby open air terrace restaurant, with panoramic views. Sangria, sardines, pizza and clams in garlic sauce were eagerly par taken of as the sun slowly dropped. This has probably been one of the hottest days so far!! On our return to the cars, Susie brought a very lovely jumper as it was by now getting a bit chilly. It was then back to the villa for supper and the now infamous pea-knuckle.

When I went to Silves castle my dad paid and we went forward and we saw a statue of a knight my mum took a photo and we carried on the next thing we saw a witch cave. It was scary there were lots of thing after that we saw a view it was beautiful after that we saw a cave in there was thing used to kill people we then we went to have some thing

We are now down to eight people as Alan and Claudia flew back to Holland yesterday.

Today we managed to be ready to leave the villa by 11.00 and headed west towards Portimao and the beach at Praia de Rocha. We were travelling between yet more orange groves and wondered when they were going to be picked. Passed a couple of shepherds - one tending sheep, the other goats. All very rural. Had not realised what a large town Portimao turned out to be - approached by an impressive bridge. After a coffee break (breakfast for Kevin) we decided to give the town a miss and head straight for the beach. This proved to be a very long, wide sandy beach, almost deserted, with a rocky promontory at one end and restaurants at the back. A game of Frisbee was enjoyed by Kevin, George and Ian. Claire-Marie flew her Barbie kite and Robert was building a sand castle.

However the clouds were building up and the wind was a little chilly so we walked to one of the beach side restaurants that was open. Salmon, Mullet, Spaghetti bolognese (for the children) and salad and chips for Susan was the order of the day. During lunch it was decided that we would continue driving west to Cape St Vincent - the most south westerly point of Europe. This was quite a long drive through a couple of towns - Lagos being the most attractive. Arriving at the cape, along with several tourist buses and other cars we were attracted to several stalls selling sweaters and blankets. Ian got himself a nice navy sweeter. There is a light house which can be visited and a lot of people were waiting to see the sun set into the Atlantic.

George was fascinated watching the fisherman who were fishing from the top of cliffs about three hundred feet above the sea level. It took them a long while to reel in and out. On the way back we drove to see the fort of Sagres. This is a massive building which was a school of navigation run by Henry the Navigator, Portugal’s famous explorer. We did not pay to go in as darkness was falling rapidly.

Well here we are on the penultimate day and the weather appears to be matching some of "us". George, Ian, Susan and Kevin didn’t retire until 04.30 last night. Despite many conversations yesterday about 18 holes of golf, driving ranges etc. there were once again many conversations today, this time more along the lines of shall we/shan’t we? and in the end they did not. Evening entertainment was provided by Valerie, which was a pub quiz, being questions on a range of specialist and general subjects. At the end of the evening everybody felt that the result was a draw.

Strange how some things will stick in the mind, like for example the "Ye of Fleece" label which became attached to many of the group, as by coincidence many of us wore fleece jackets extensively. Then there is the pool heating or more accurately the lack off heating. We paid an extra £195 to have the pool heated but with only three swims, the cost per swim works out at £65 each!

Looking back over the journal one major event of this holiday seems to have been barely mentioned - our own "Millennium Bug" One by one all of us have succumbed one way or another to the sore throats, coughs - some of us (Valerie and Susan) suffering more than others. Lets hope this "bug" "bugs off" pretty rapidly! Still on the subject of The Bug - should our aircraft fail to arrive to take us home tomorrow, we’ve all eaten so much fish this holiday I’m sure we could swim home - no problemo (Susan excluded)

Departure day. Susan and Ian were deemed to be fortunate, albeit needing to be up early, since they would be home by mid afternoon, where as the remaining 6 would be lucky to be home by midnight. Departing at 08.00 George drove Susan and Ian to the airport via the motorway which turned out to be a excellent road, saving some 15 minutes. Upon return, the villa looked decidedly empty and bare since all the decorations had been taken down, cupboards emptied and packing done. With six hours to spare before we needed to be at the airport and with it now raining, the question was how to best pass the time. Kevin made the first move by stoking up the fire and George played lots of games with Clare-Marie.

At 13.00 we finally left the villa to find a local restaurant as we wanted to try chicken piri piri which is a Portuguese speciality dish. It was excellent and having made the meal last 2 hours we set off very slowly for the airport, both drivers unsure if they had enough petrol for the remaining 30 miles. After a few stops at pottery shops along the way, cars were dropped off at the rental station and we were then relieved to find the plane was on schedule. In fact after what seems a fairly short flight we landed at Gatwick airport some 15 minute early. As always the worse part of the journey was the last leg, with George and Valerie finally getting home at 00.15

In was nearly two years ago when Kevin and George first started to discuss how to best celebrate the millennium. With the vast range of options available, it was generally felt that turning Christmas and the Millennium into a family holiday in Portugal had worked well. The weather was better than back home, lots of original entertainment was enjoyed by all and we will no doubt remember the scenes of the fireworks over the old castle in Silves for years to come.

After this vigorous exercise, Susie, Robbie and Claire-Marie set about making a super sand castle, with Robbie taking some time out to do a streak along the beach having with Kevin's help got very wet.


	Casa Dos Leoes Malhao Alcantariha Portugal

Our Christmas 1999 and the Millennium