d2 in Portugal

posted by Luke - 12:29 09/12/11

As in previous years the d2 team were treated to a weekend away, and this year the chosen destination was Faro located on the South coast of Portugal.

The build up to the holiday had started long before the airplane left the tarmac at Manchester Airport, with regular updates on the weather report ranging from storms on Saturday to a weekend of sunshine with little chance of showers, so for most the big coats were on.

We arrived in Faro (after an advanced physics lesson thanks to Luke), to see the sun shining, so those  of us who had packed shorts were feeling rather smug that we now had the chance to tan our whiter than white legs.

We pulled up to where we were staying and found a beautiful hotel with the harbour right on its doorstep. The early afternoon was spent wandering around the town centre and enjoying some local dishes such as authentic Peri Peri chicken and Arroz de Mariscos –delicious!  The afternoon continued with a pool tournament which saw Nicola crowned champion. Pouring rain forced us to head back to the hotel in taxis so we could prepare ourselves for the big night ahead.  However the place was dead! We couldn’t believe it was Saturday night! Not to worry, come midnight and the locals flooded out and the bars came alive. Some of us were lucky enough to witness two men playing live music from The Beatles, before going on to discover several bars and nightclubs. We had a brilliant night (from what I can remember!), and we even discovered some new dance moves (most notably myself and Lee).

Sunday morning there were a few sore heads after the night before but that didn’t stop us from making full use of the hotels sauna and wet room, and then it was off to see the old town or as the locals say 'Cidade Velha'. It was a classic walled town with narrow cobbled streets and plenty of amazing architecture in which we found another tourist site. A 16th Century Convent which is now used as an art museum and hosts some fantastic pieces including a Roman mosaic floor. After all this sightseeing it was time to try out a restaurant which had been talked about since we stepped foot in Faro, Restaurante de Ganova, whose speciality included steak on the stone, which went down a treat with the team.

It was with heavy hearts (and full stomachs) that we decided to retire to bed in preparation for an early morning flight back to Manchester.

It was a great trip for the team and opportunity to learn amazing facts about each other such as;

• We are all now aware of the reasons a ball thrown upwards on an airplane doesn’t hit the back of the plane
• Some peoples inabilities to grasp basic Portuguese grammar
• And finally wearing shorts in Faro in late November is rather chilly, regardless of how good we thought we looked!

I will end this with a saying we picked up on our travels from the locals,

'Cheers mate' or as we would say 'obrigado'.