Off I go.....

 I was awoken by my phone alarm, that is a first in a hotel at an airport, I think it made me realise how much I needed this break.

So I wearily got myself over to the airport and should have been through security super quick except that my hand luggage wouldn't xray..........  3 times. So it was searched manually and everything was taken out and scrutinised  thoroughly. My heart tablets caused a sensation and I thought I was going to need them sooner than their allotted time.

I bypassed any duty free purchases and headed straight for champagne, well it is the law. I had 3  rather than 2 and didn't give a tinkers cuss.

We left a dark and dingy Newcastle on time and I was on the prosecco, (yuk) but I could not possibly have had a whole bottle of champers to myself and walked off the plane, and at thirty five thousand feet the metallic taste of prosecco was nearly palatable.

Unfortunately I was sat next to halitosis Harry which was very unfortunate as he kept talking to me whilst his wife went to sleep. 

We landed in Faro to rain, but I for one was not bothered, three glasses of champers and two bottles of prosecco can do that to you., I was in a mini bus with Carl and Carol from Liverpool in a jiffy, and was getting up close and  quite person with Carl even quicker, thanks to a huge amount of roundabouts and some serious stunt driving by our 'chauffeur. We were at our hotel in less than 25 minutes  and my holiday was beginning in earnest.

A quick trip to the supermarket (I am self catering) and I was in foodie heaven, why don't we have  plastic ham the colour of germalene with slices of olives in it in the UK? 

However just to get tomatoes which smell like tomatoes, actually which smell, is amazing.

You can see that you will be getting all the food details over the next week.

After having to lug my 20kg case up 2 flights of stairs, thanks to being moved to another area of the hotel with no lifts, due to lifts being fixed in the main part, I needed to have a lie down and had 40 winks.

Once I was back in the land of the living I unpacked and put up my cards and Christmas decoration!

I decided that I would have  dinner out and went to the next door hotel to eat, it was Ok nothing to write home about.

By this time I was seriously flagging so headed off to bed after watching 'Conclave'

And today I am heading down to the harbour and getting ready for Christmas.