ThursdayIt was overcast. We decided to walk to the Supermarket, the trip that a bout of laziness postponed the day before. Why is it that foreign supermarkets are so much more interesting than the supermarkets at home? The fruit and vegetables looked huge, the fish counter twice the size of anything we are use to and Heinz Baked Beans are over £1 a tin.
We had coffee in a small café by the river and then walked back to the hotel. Apparently there is a Castle somewhere in the town and we made a note that it might be somewhere to visit if the weather did change. By the time we got back to the hotel it was 2pm and getting quite hot again, so we decided to spend an hour by the pool and cool down. Suddenly it was 6pm again and nearly dinner time.
Dinner was tuna salad (again), a squid kebab that didn’t have any squid in it, and something that looked and tasted like lemon flavoured shaving foam.
Thursday night is Bingo Night at the Porta Nova. You have to be impressed by a woman that can call bingo numbers and remember all of the catch phrases ‘two fat ladies – 88’ and ‘number 90 – top of the shop’ in English and Portuguese. To give you an idea of the last time I played bingo I think it was ‘number 10 – Maggie’s Den’. Gone are the days of canvas bags containing plastic tiles or those vacuum machines that sent balls hurtling along a plastic tube – bingo has been computerised. A big screen displays random numbers, no rattling, no strange whoosing noises, just something resembling the deli counter at Tescos. To compensate, our very enthusiastic entertainment co-ordinator shouted “shaky, shaky, shaky, ping!” each time a new number flashed up. I’m going to blame the two Black Russians; I don’t think I have ever laughed so much watching people play bingo.
Friday
We really, REALLY, meant to go out for the day. The weather forecast said rain, so we decided to sit by the pool for a bit. It turned out to be the hottest day of the holiday and we stayed there all day – AGAIN.
I finished another book, Sharon Osbourne’s EXTREME. She is an amazing woman, and I admire her honesty, but the second book did seem like an excuse to tell more stories about the outrageous things she has done. However, she also talked about her father’s death and how she came to terms with loosing him twice in her life, which almost reduced me to tears. Luckily I had big sunglasses on, so it was easier to hide the blubby eyes! If you like her, read the book, and make sure you have a box of kleenex handy.
Kx
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