I know Carnival was in February but I just have not had the time to post before, things have been a bit hectic besides having a new litter of kittens.  Even though there was a bit of fog in the morning and at night by ten in the morning until dark the weather could not have been better, not only sunny but warm enough to go without a sweater.

Sunday we watched the parade in Quarteria; there were many locals out and about showing off their unusual customs and dance steps, although there were many spectators, I did not feel overwhelmed by crowds.  Mostly we were a friendly bunch soaking up the sunshine, beer and great music.

This carnival is held on the promenade (calçadão) only meters from our apartment but instead of visiting the carnival again on Fat Tuesday we went to see friends and get the
Mt. Gordo’s carnival experience; we were not disappointed!

Next year we will visit the City of Loulé for Carnival.

My favorite part of the parade was seeing the adorable children dressed up!

Monday we knocked down the rest of the wall. 

The view now is amazing from the moment you open the front door.  Shoring up the archway will be a must besides needing to finish off the rough edges.

Maybe we will need to call in a pro for that…..

What I am really looking forward to is starting on the tile work.

We have decided to place special glue on top of the existing tiles instead of removing the old tile, sanding and preparing for the new, just sounds like so much work and mess.

Also made the all important choices of color and size but I will keep you guessing until they are put up.  After checking the costs locally we would like to comparison shop a bit in Algarve too.

Have a great Easter and for those who travel a safe one.  

We were not disappointed with the passing of our first New Year’s Eve in the apartment.  After a lovely dinner we took a long walk on the boarwalk (calcadao) listen to a bit of live music and then opened our bottle of champagne along with the others around us watching the wonderful fireworks. 

The weather was damp with lots of fog especially in the morning but I must admit it was fun to be there and even though we did not do any work on the apartment it was great just to relax and unwind.

Each day after breakfast we waited for the sky to clear not only of fog but also the rain showers.  When we thought we would be able to walk the beach, out we went and each time after walking a mile or two we noticed the sky clouded over again and won’t you know we arrived home soaked but happy!

Just recently we found a site offering a program for floor plans, after playing with it for a few days we were able to make up a mock floor plan of our apartment. 
I think it looks great and believe it is very close to our end results…….

Once again have a Happy New Year full of health, happiness and peace.

My first project was to take down the wall separating the kitchen from the living room. This enlarges the living area enabling the gentle ocean breeze to reach into the kitchen and lots more natural sunlight.  I think we will be able to set up the dinning table where the wall is at the moment…….or should I say was. 
 

work in progress
As you will notice it was well worth the effort and considering it did not cost a dime except for the long hot baths after the days’ work and the celebratory pizza when the job was finished.  More photos can be found in my photo album link located on the Blogroll.

The plan is to return during the Christmas Holidays to knock down the kitchen and living room doorways leaving us with an open plan living area.  We also replaced the textured glass in the kitchen window to clear (smoked) giving us an amazing view.

Lots of other work was going on in the neighborhood; I noticed the parking lot across the street from our building has new trees and grass, sprinkler system and all cement work repaired.  Leaving me with the feeling of confidence the lot will not turn into a building. 

The city’s Christmas lights were also put up but by the end of the evening I had no desire to take photos.  Talking about Christmas…………we will have family and loved ones close at hand and if all goes well we will be celebrating New Year’s Eve sipping champagne under the stars and fireworks of Algarve.

Our family would like to wish you and your family Happy Holidays and a safe entry to the year 2009!    

After the appliances, supplies and temporary furniture was arranged in the apartment it was time to enjoy our vacation home.  Since Gaby’s kittens were so young they came with my husband and I for a couple of weeks in August.

We found a great supermarket only a half a block away that offered everything we needed at reasonable prices, a laundry service and self-service laundry store close by giving us an option as to whether or not we wanted to use our time doing this chore or hiring out.  The bus terminal is only a few blocks away giving us an option of driving or relaxing while being driven to the apartment, the post office, medical center, fire department, local police and even
Western Union is well within walking distance.

The peak of the season had lots to offer such as free beach exercise classes, a Medieval Fair which included a book fair, all the shopping from low end products to high end designer ware, sports galore and the last night of August Loule sponsored a Summer Night/ White Night Gala where 95% of the people dressed it white summer clothes.

They had fire eaters, dancers, teenagers walking around on stilts, music, food and again lots of shopping; most shops offering a discount to customers wearing white.

I must admit it was difficult leaving the apartment at the end of the summer but knowing we can return whenever the opportunity presents itself eased the pain. 

photo of right view
Since the summer we have returned twice for weekend stays and the last one gave us such a pleasant surprise, we can see the sun setting from our apartment!  There a lots of new photos including two with the sunset, hope you enjoy them.
*Gaby’s kittens are doing fantastic, they are almost three months of age.       

The waiting has been so hard!

We packed some boxes with sheets, towels, some clothes and of course a bathing suit…….or two.  We also went to Makro and found a wonderful refrigerator/freezer, a toaster and even a micro-wave.  Unfortunately Makro does not deliver so we will need to rent a truck to bring these things besides the table with double chair, the two bikes and a bit of odds and ends, but this can only be done after the closing.

Finally on the tenth of July, we met with the representative of the seller and did the closing.  It would have been so much more exciting if Gaby did not go into labor four hours before the closing time, thank goodness we were having the closing less than five minutes from our home, everyone else involved in the closing were late and Gaby delivered all three of her kittens; leaving us plenty of time to make the closing.

photo of left view
Our real estate agency in Vilamoura/Quarteira, ERA helped us immensely.  They contacted the electric, water and gas company, even though the gas is not yet connected the other two are and the last should be soon after this weekend.  I would like to send out a big hug and kiss to Sra. Fatima and Sra. Maria Joao for working so hard towards making our experience an easy one, they truly do ERA proud.

As soon as we can arrange a truck we will bring the stuff to the apartment but because of the kittens, we will only stay over night and return home to guaranty they are well cared for including Gaby, who has been such a loving mama cat to her babies.

* I included one photo of Gaby and her babies since they were such a big part of the day’s celebrations.  

Our first attempt on searching for furniture was a large store in the Cascais area.  They had lovely things including the kitchen furniture but we thought they were quite expensive not to mention they charge extra for delivery and set-up besides the manager being quite rude when we requested information.
 

The next stop was Dekora Mobiliario, located at EN 207 in Pacos De Ferreira.  This is a large shopping center with only furniture stores famous for quality, making specialty pieces and great prices.  
About fifteen years ago we purchased most of the furniture for our home there and were very pleased.  We looked around the stores for about three hours and then went for lunch.

We found the park in the center of town with an amazing oak tree offering much needed shade.  After choosing a bench, we enjoyed our picnic and some good conversation with the locals returning for a few more hours of looking…………

Almost all the furniture in Dekora Mobiliaro is upscale (not suitable for a vacation/rental home) and the prices were basically similar to other stores no doubt it is great to have free delivery and the ability to size the furniture to order but as a whole we were quite disappointed considering we drove over four hours to get there.
 

Even though unsure exactly what we are going to place in the apartment, we do need quality furniture that can take a beating, simple lines for easy cleaning and easy on the eyes besides not swallowing up all the space.  We did find twin beds that held another bed underneath and could easily be pulled out also to my surprise Murphy beds which are beds that fold away into their closet space.  One of the most important purchases will be the kitchen and although we have found a few choices it is going to take something special for me to say; Oh yeah……

Afterwards we went to Feira (near Porto ) to enjoy Francesinhas for dinner at the most famous place to eat this delicious sandwich which is Amândios.  This is a family run spot where the two slices of bread are filled with a pork or beef steak (your choice) a slice of ham, slice of hot dog and small Portuguese sausage called linguiça, melted cheese is placed on top with spicy tomato based sauce and a fried egg finishes the perfect sandwich that can be enjoyed to perfection with an order of French fries and a cold beer, costing 7 euros and café is included.
 

If you would like to see some of our choices I have placed photos at;

Sea Breeze Studio Photos.

The kitchen is spacious; our plan is to remove the wall that separates it from the living room and the wonderful view.  We also will need to put in new cabinets and appliances such as washer machine, stove top, refrigerator/freezer and of course a table with chairs besides adding some comfort appliances such as coffee maker, toaster and micro-wave.

The living room has large glass sliding doors opening onto the balcony.  Offering not only tons of natural light but also a stunning view.  Even though a television will be in the apartment we are looking forward to dinners by candlelight on the balcony with some soft music, especially after a day full of sightseeing and sports oriented activities including the beach.  High quality furniture is a must!  Definitely a sofa bed for guests and a couple of comfortable chairs for relaxing while reading.

The one bedroom will have two twin beds or a full sized bed and an area to place our clothes during the visit.  What is fantastic is when I wake up it is not necessary for me to get out of bed to see the ocean!  Since this room also contains large glass sliding doors leading us on to the same balcony as the living room totaling no less than ten square meters.

The apartment is a T0 + 1 studio penthouse located on the tenth floor.  Thank goodness the building has two elevators available.  Outside there is an abundance of parking areas besides having a garage space for each apartment enabling us to maintain the car cool during the hot summer months and dry in the wet winter besides a bit of space for our two bicycles.
 

When we were choosing an apartment we had three musts on our list;

#1 Ocean view #2 Walking distance to the beach #3 Private parking.  We are pleased to say this apartment far surpasses our expectations and we can not wait to have an opportunity to enjoy holidays in this friendly and activity packed vacation paradise whether we choose to pass the days golfing on some of the worlds’ most famous golf courses, staying up all evening in one of the abundant nightclubs and restaurants, shopping or just relaxing on one of the top rated beaches in Europe. 
 

local golf course
Hopefully you will enjoy learning about this area of Portugal through my blog and photos.
Sea Breeze Studio Photos (Blogoll). 

Sea Breeze is a penthouse apartment with stunning views of the beach and ocean not only from the living room balcony but also the bedroom balcony. 
 
It is located in Quarteira/ Algarve, Portugal. 
We will be posting updates of the progress from purchase to the renting of this dream second home.
photo of center view
More photos can be found located within our Blogroll: 
Sea Breeze Studio Photos

If you love cats as much as we do perhaps you will enjoy visiting my cattery website also found located within our Blogroll: 

Diane’s Pride Ragdoll Cattery