125. São Bartolomeu de Messines - Portugal - House and Pet Sitting - Episode 42


I was relieved when we finally got to our pet sit at São Bartolomeu de Messines. The freeways were generally good but had to be wary of the potholes in the slow lane due to the use by the larger trucks I would say. Some potholes were up to 25cm deep and large in size which, if one took their eyes off the road and copped one, would have caused significant damage to the wheel. So I spent more time in the faster lane watching out for drivers coming up behind me doing a 'little more' than the speed limit of 130kph.

The owners greeted us with glasses of wine and a meal and the cat, Mushtie, made himself known very quickly.


We all had an early night; we had a huge day, and the owners were leaving at 5am the next morning. The sit was for 7 days so we wanted to make the most of the time exploring the Algarve. The house was just on the outskirts of a little village called São Bartolomeu de Messines. It was tidy enough, but having no insulation, as soon as the temperature dropped, we had to turn the heaters on. The construction seemed to be to the minimum spec and not built to suit local conditions. This seemed to be common with many dwellings as mould was prevalent on the north walls of many of the surrounding dwellings that don't see the sun in the winter/spring months. We had to run a dehumidifier constantly to keep moisture levels down.

≈We were literally surrounded by orchards of oranges.

The sandstone used in walls and construction has a distinct reddish colour 

Highlights from the coastal villages

Wicked hot chocolates!


Contemplating life, the universe and everything...


Views across to Lagos.








And now, we make our way to Seville airport to catch a plane to Palma, Majorca to meet up with Daniel, Ellen and her sister, Meredith. We'll be there for a week and hopefully, the weather will be suitable to take a flight with the newly graduated pilot!

Comments

  1. Mary Lawrence March 30, 2025 at 2:08 AM

    Fabulous! What an amazing adventure thus far. I look forward to the next instalment.

    ReplyDelete
  2. NataliaMarch 31, 2025 at 3:26 AM

    😍

    ReplyDelete

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