Thursday 5 May 2016

A late start to the day. The weather reports for the next few days did not bode well and today was no exception. As we were eating breakfast, we listened to the rain pounding onto the balcony outside. Also, as we watched it, the view from the window towards the beach and the sea disappeared into the mist in front of our eyes.

After breakfast and a bit of unpacking we headed off into Lagos where we had business to do at the bank and council offices. With good reason we set aside the day for all this. Previous experience had taught us that the Portuguese love paperwork, in particular the idea of making relatively straight forward administrative processes as complicated and paper-intensive as possible. Forms to fill, offices in different parts of the town to be visited, hoops to jump through etc.

Those of us not directly involved in all this effort, wandered around Lagos trying to avoid the tourist shops full of dross. Admittedly we started out late in the morning, but we didn’t finish the work until after 15.00. Exhausted and hungry, we found a water-front cafe and relaxed. There we had a rather touristy meal – it was OK but we all had the feeling we had was that we were robbed. A place to avoid next time we were looking for somewhere to eat in Lagos.

Back in the car, we headed home via the local Intermarche where we stocked up on bits (bread, booze etc). At home we had a quick turnaround before we went out for an evening meal at ? in ?. The journey was notable for a storm - heavy rain, lightning and thunder.

Every Thursday the bar serves a fixed price meal - an excellent value for money one dish menu with very much a local feel. We met old friends, Elvera and Greg, Heather and Alan. Lots of chat and red wine. By the time we left about midnight the rain had stopped and the drive home along deserted roads was much easier.