Iberian Bird

This winter seems to have been endless. The rain never seemed to stop and the wind never seemed to stop blowing up a storm. Everybody seemed to be getting down and fed up, waiting for the Algarve sun to finally show its face and for the summer season to begin. After all, we're not far off May!
Yesterday evening was spent in a stunning location - arguably the Algarve's best marina, Vilamoura. Friends invited us to join them at a favourite Chinese restaurant of theirs for a sumptuous meal. We certainly were not disappointed with the surroundings, or the food - it was, without doubt, the best Chinese meal we have ever eaten in Portugal! The only drawback was the weather. It didn't just rain a little - it poured and poured! We had intended to arrive early and meander around the marina to soak up the atmosphere but with weather like that... the ambience was certainly missing.
Nevertheless, a fantastic evening was had by the four of us and culminated in the bar at the Tivoli Hotel, where we had a (rather pricey) drink, whilst enjoying the live music by a fantastic musician, who serenaded us with his guitar, his trumpet and rather impressive vocals.
This morning, much to our delight, the sun was shining. We're hoping that the summer might finally have arrived but I'm not going to get my hopes up just yet.
We've had a great morning with the same friends down in Praia da Rocha. Starting off at the marina where we embarrassed ourselves with our lack of talent on our roller skates (hubby on roller blades, however, knows what he is doing), we then proceeded to the local cafe, overlooking the beach. We ate breakfast and drank coffee while slowly my white wintery (practically translucent) skin became red and burnt, indicating a good time to leave. Arriving home, we noticed that the rain might have gone for the time being, but the wind certainly hasn't. It sounds like it's blowing a gale out there. Oh well... we can't have it all, can we?