Don’t get me wrong! We are not leaving Portugal during the summer willingly! But even a person like me, used to do only what she wants whenever she wants it, has to concede to good judgement: in spite of everything my gut tells me, it makes more sense for us to leave Portugal and spend the summer in our country. And here is why.
We have tickets to leave the sunny Algarve Portugal at the end of May. We will make a short pit stop in Lisbon. We are taking the train from Faro and spend, hopefully approximately 3 wonderful hours in the Alfa Pendular, in first class. They also say they have a bar, but we will see about that.
After spending 2 days in Lisbon Portugal we will fly home, making like 4 hours until Bucharest Romania. We will be flying at impossible hours (during the night time) but we had no choice.
But why are we subjecting ourselves to this ordeal, leaving what is for sure the safest country in EU to be right now? We have several reasons, of course all personal, but maybe some of the reasons will apply to you too.
We rent our apartment during the summer time
From the start we treated this apartment like an investment because we knew there will be years before we will be able to fully move to Portugal. And also the mortgage amount is a little much for our taste so we seek to pay this as soon as possible.
Last year we couldn’t rent the apartment because we were there but this year we said we have to. Besides the fact that Algarve is much expensive during the high season, so we would have spent a lot more these months, also we would have lost the renting money also.
This is pretty much the most important reason we decided to spend the summer back home.
The amount of things that fly during the summer
I have a lot of phobias but one of the big ones is the one with everything that flies. I mean plain and simple insects. And in the Algarve you have a lot of them, especially during the summer. You also had the enormous pleasure to see bats flying so close to you that you think they received a private invitation to your dinner! Also everywhere you have lizards crawling. And snakes.
So, Bucharest, here I come!
The crowds
The crowds in Algarve Portugal are bigger than the crowds in an European capital like Bucharest. Actually, Bucharest is pretty empty during the summer because everybody is leaving for vacations in other countries. So for us is better actually being here than there. It’s hard to get your head around it, but for us it works.
Reconnecting
The events of the last year changed us all in a way or another. We all realized, even for a short period what is important in life. I say for a short period because I think most people will all forget this experience and not act on it seeking to improve their lives, and they would rather fall back on old habits and routines – just my opinion, I would be happy to discover I am wrong.
Us also, being so isolated discovered that there is meaning in friendship and having relationships with other people, even if we still feel a little anti-social.
So we hope to do just that, both reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones.
If you liked the stroll trough the Vale de Lobo Resort, read this next! – Vale de Lobo Luxury Resort Algarve Portugal