A Week in a Villa in Portugal

April 30, 2017

A Week in a Villa in Portugal

What's better than going on holiday to a sunny destination? Going to your own personal house with more amenities than you can shake a stick at. I'm talking a villa, baby. That's exactly where my family and I went to at the beginning of April for a week. We went to the villa, Villa Das Laranjeiras which in Portuguese translates to 'the 'Orange House' and let me tell you, there were plenty of orange trees around the house. Orange trees, kumquat trees, grapes growing and acorns a-falling. Didn't I say that there were plenty of amenities? Homegrown breakfast, y'all.

As we headed out of Faro airport towards Lagos, I had no idea what I was in store for with this villa. My mum had seen photographs of the villa on my aunt's phone (she owns the villa) and she thought it would be a very nice place to relax. Cue us rolling up to the gates in our rental car and feeling like we were in an episode of 'A Place in the Sun'.

We moved up a cobbled driveway, lined by orange trees and our breath was instantly taken away by the gorgeous villa that met us. The photographs simply do not do it justice. I was blown away by the immense staircase that lead up to the front door and the overlooking veranda.

We hung a right and followed the driveway round to the side where there was a handy-dandy car-port to keep the car cool. Off to the side of the car-port was a kennel/enclosure for dogs. Had we known that we could've brought our two dogs and they could've enjoyed the beautiful weather. I can just imagine Millie and Toby's pet passport photographs. Pets do need passports, don't they?

I didn't get a chance to take photographs of the interior because I'm useless and my Prime 50mm lens would not have captured the entirety of the rooms. Fours bedrooms, a master with en-suite, two bathrooms, a spacious living room, a dining room, a utility room with washing machine, a fully equipped kitchen and two barbeque hobs with an additional pizza oven. And that's not all! A sun terrace and a pool. A freaking pool. (Again, no photos in daylight because again, I'm useless.)

As much as I love to swim, I was only in the pool once because even at the beginning of April and 24*C heat, the water was freezing. Had we been there in July, I would've been into it head first. Alas, I didn't go in much but I did dip my legs in whenever laying in the heat got a bit much.

The views from the villa were spectacular. From the veranda you can see some of the neighbours but privacy is never hindered in any direction. In the distance is Portomao and it dazzles at night. My favourite part of the view was the night landscape. Stars were unshamedly visible and the moon lit up the ground with such pure light that I felt as if Artemis herself was watching over me. I love Greek Mythology, remember. My username does include 'Athena', my favourite of the Greek goddesses. Artemis is a very close second.

The villa was a mile or so outside of Odiaxere, a village which is a short drive from Lagos. We went into Lagos a number of times to visit the market that was along the promenade by the marina. There were plenty of little stalls selling touristy things and of course, we indulged ourselves there. I got a new dress and a couple of boho style tops which I loved. There are a good number of shops in Lagos and even more restaurants and bars to enjoy. My favourite was Caravela. I've never had Piri Piri Chicken before and I tried it one night at Caravela. All that was left on my plate was a collection of chicken bones. It was delicious.