1) The day before I was the only guest in the dining room for breakfast. This day, the tropically elegant room was a babble of voices. Turns out that large party of women I saw cycling off 24 hours earlier were still staying here, and all breakfasting together at the tops of their voices. That added a happy note to my departure arrangements.
1a) Later, someone on the staff told me all those women were part of someone’s 50th birthday. “50!” I exclaimed. “None of them are older than 32!”Well, I was wrong, and they are indomitable.
1b) Those two sassy women from California were also there, seated at the table next to mine, and we had a friendly greeting.
Praia da Rocha.
2) Departure mornings sometimes leave me restless. There’s really nothing left to do, but . . . am I missing anything? So I checked out of my room (so the housekeeping staff didn’t have to wait) and camped in the hotel library (really a map room) until Nelson, today’s Nice Man with a Car, came to collect me at noon.
2a) Adeus Vila Real di Santo Antonio! It may be some time before we see each other again.
3) The eastern Algarve passed more quickly than scheduled, and before I knew it I was being admitted to the Bela Vista in Portimao, once a majestic home, now an up-to-date hotel blending Old World Charm with Modern Design. Their “relaxed check-in” involved me sitting down in the lounge with a staffer for a glass of sparkling wine and the usual exchange of passports and credit cards. I was then given the “historical tour” of the property, which includes two additional buildings and a lovely pool.
4) That madcap Dorothy Draper must have had something to do with designing my room, one of only three with a balcony overlooking the expansive beach. It’s all white, blue, and red. The 14-foot ceiling was centered by a red glass chandelier, the armoire was painted white with wide navy blue stripes, the carpet is white and blue herringbone, and the enormous bed uses all the same colors. I could feel my mood lift as soon as I walked in.
5) And it lifted even more when the complimentary bottle of sparkling wine arrived, with a tiny box of sweet treats, too.
6) After unpacking, the bed was calling me for a nap. But somehow I resisted and went to investigate the enormous Praia da Rocha. Deep and wide, I circumnavigated the whole beach — brisk and beautiful in the late afternoon sun, and populated with vacationers from all over the world with the full range of figures and swimwear.
Smoked lavender cocktail.
7) But then I did have a nap for an hour, and then put on some fresh clothes and headed to the hotel bistro for a light dinner. The smoked lavender cocktail was a risk, but it paid off — sharply succulent. And then a burger, because I had no imagination. The buns in Europe are not big and fluffy like American buns.
8) I ended up closing the day with Friday Facetime with the boys, since I was still awake at 10:30. And there was much talk of Dame Maggie Smith, may she rest in peace.
