Sir Harry’s is interesting. OK it’s very British(ish) at least you have a couple of flags and people speak English (and Portuguese) (very well, I may add….considering that they were from Romania (see separate post), Bulgaria, etc…. During the day (and from very early) they serve breakfast, coffee’s, drinks, whatever you need…..

It’s South facing, so there is always lots of sun around to feel warm…..in the winter, this must be particularly nice.

So it’s a quiet life in daylight hours but Harry’s is always buzy.

In the evening, things are much different. Excellent entertainment by Brian Christopher who is really very good, although I don’t thing recommended 14 nights in a row…..which goes on until about 3AM in the morning. Loads of people and very friendly. I particularly liked the different nationalities Harry’s attract. While predominately British, (on the two nights I was there, there were lots of Dutch, German, Americans, even Portuguese. And Brian knows how to get the crowd going.

I think there is lots that can be done to improve Harry’s (they should be speaking to me as soon as possible). Two things for free….The toilets…..please do they always have to smell like toilets…..and no, the smell does not disappear by adding those Napthalene Balls type thingies….)(the though always crosses one’s mind that if the toilet is like that, what must the kitchen be like….

I would also take a serious look at the day time front office staff…..people just don’t like to be treated like idiots…..we have Governments that’s doing that to us already….. which is in total contrast to the excellent night time staff…..

But you will always have a good time at Harry’s…..

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There are not many places you go into and immediately form a lasting affinity with. OK I admit I may have been under the influence, but really The Rock Café Albufeira, is such a “typically Portuguese” place, it’s frightening…..a good frightening I hasten to add.

“Typically” because they manage to concentrate on what is most important…..the sound…..décor adequate but never going to win prizes…..which, I quite liked because you feel comfortable: and Portuguese, cause it’s not too big, the musicians all had day jobs (though for the life of me, I really don’t understand how the hell they wake up for it…..) and finally because they are not pretentious and the quality of the music is great.

In the first place, you won’t start to recognise what I am talking about until after 11PM…that’s about the time the music in the public Square (see separate article) finishes and the more sensible ones in our society do the right thing…… go to bed.

The fact that this is The Rock Café don’t expect anything else…..ok it’s not totally heavy (thankfully) and even better, the bands played a selection of new stuff Coolplay (is this rockish), White Stripes, etc, with the majority coming from the older classics….which actually range from Led Zeppelin, Guns, Purple….

I saw two bands, one on Saturday and the other on Tuesday & Wednesday. Quite different, the two, though equal in quality but you are not gonna hear much better live cover versions than this.

The lead guitarists in both bands were really great. I play guitar and I would give my right hand to play like that…..sic

Bass Guitarist great…..one better that the other but still……particularly his rendition of Deep Purple and White Stripes…..

Drummer out of this world…..he just played the place down and never…..I mean never, missed a beat…..

The Singers were never gonna be the Robert Plant…..but they did enough to keep the whole performance blown.

I didn’t get the names of any of them…..apart from Luis, who works in the bar and who was the one that initially told me to come have a listen. But the Bass and Lead guitarist I spoke to said that they had day jobs (one a designer and the other works in Mechanics…..) and that they really enjoyed doing the gigs for fun.

Fek…..Fantastic…..everyone there, young and oldish….hahaha…..had a great time…..if YOU go there and don’t, get a pension……better still, get a life…..haha

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Salvation…..when all else fails, you just die on the beach…..and it’s never far away from wherever you are in Albufeira. Sure they are crowded in the high summer and if you are lucky you will find a spare square metre to just collapse.

Perfect water temperature, perfect waves, perfect breeze…..every day seems to be another day in Paradise.

My only criticism would be that the beach chairs that are provided are brutally expensive. In Albufeira it is 15 Euros a day. This compares with other parts of Portugal, where the prices are 5 Euros a day. Now considering a family (independent of nationality) coming to the beach everyday for two weeks, ie 14 days, that’s a budget of 210 Euros…..

I would prefer (even suggest) to see the chairs and umbrellas  provided at a more realistic price (yes 5 Euros) and have people serving drinks, ice cream, food, etc on the beach….. the thought of leaving all the things, tracking up to the bar and bringing it all back…..here you can charge an added value for the service and people understand.

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Albufeira functions over very long hours of the day – from early morning until very early morning – it’s not 24 hours but quite close to it. There are several types of people :

ELDERLY

I noticed many, many elderly couples (mainly British) in the early morning and early evening on the street of Albufeira. They are around until early evening but seem to generally rest in the afternoon.

The ones I actually spoke to seem to like Albufeira because it’s safe; they like the Portuguese people and obviously the weather. The cost factor was also important.

One couple I spoke to said that they had been coming to the Algarve for the last 20 years and the only reason that they could not continue to come is that they are now at the age where their health issues were a concern and needed to be closer to better facilities.

Seems to me that there is an opportunity in the making here…..

I must confess that there was something very nice about seeing older people on the streets in Albufeira…..very human.

YOUNG FAMILY

And I also very much liked seeing the quantity of young families here. Again it indicated that the place is safe (although you MUST read my note on “Being Careful in Albufeira”) and that young families are very welcomed.

Having lived in Portugal for the last 18 years, I know that the Portuguese people love children. In restaurants, children are given lots of leaway. It’s not like Britain, where a child running about the restaurant would be immediately stopped. Kids are kids and they find it very difficulty to sit down at a table for the best part of an hour….so they move. Portuguese people don’t have a problem with this.

I saw many young family couples, one or two children between the ages of 2 and 12ish…..They spend time on the beach and I was really particularly pleased to see many fathers making sand castles on the beach with the kids. The kids were so active and wanting to just be with Dad and do things.

These do not tend to be out late, although they seem to use all of the available activity and entertainment around; restaurants, pubs (the men particularly, when there was a football match on) (actually for one match it was like lotus…..exactly at the startime of the match, they simply appear…..it was a Scotland match….) and street commerce essentially.

I noticed couples from particularly England, although there were also a lot from various parts of Northern Europe and many from Spain….

Even young couples and their family, with mother accompanying….I noticed one lovely screen of daughter, mother and grandmother….really lovely….

YOUNG COUPLES

Lots of young couples (newly weds, lovers, etc…..) I spoke to a young couple from Dublin, Ireland, who were just perfect.

Apart from the fact that she was so beautiful (he ok…….sorry, just being jealous….), they both spoke about issues which I don’t believe I started to consider until much later. Foreign workers in Dublin, the environment, price of houses in Dublin, politics….. but they were having so much fun being in Albufeira and being together….. Great…..

On the issue of immigrant workers, their opinion differed so completely to the girl (30ish), I spoke to from Northern England, who was convinced that the problem with England was the Romanians. This was like mass invasion proportions. When I questioned her ancestry, her parents were Irish. I did ask how her parents must have felt in the 50’s emigrating to a similar attitude. She was having a great time with her friends, so hopefully my fellow countrymen will start to understand the importance in being part of Europe and the movement of young Europeans looking for work.

THE NICE WILD BUNCH

Life starts at about 11PM for this lot…..that’s when the public entertainment in the Square starts and sensible people go home.

But I have to tell you, it’s great. The youngsters were have a ball and everywhere you went (even as late as September) there were loads everywhere.

The noise and fun is concentrated in the strip and the Square. The younger ones went to the Tecno and more modern dance stuff and the older to Harry’s and the Rock Café for great live entertainment.

Life finishes between 3AM and 4AM…..thankfully…..

Then I guess work starts in cleaning up the mess before the first shift starts a about 8AM……the day starts all over again….

It’s probably because we were all on holiday, but the feeling I got around the town was that everyone was having a great time, were very happy to be there, we very welcomed there and it doesn’t come much better that that…..

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I have been travelling down (from Lisbon) to the Algarve quite a lot since the summer (of 2006) and I am always shocked how a nice people can be transformed into literally terrorist (in the true sense of the word) by the simple act of sitting in front of a steering wheel.

Now, we know that the statistics of accidents on the Portuguese make scary reading in any case. We actually top every list possible. And you can understand why, if you pick a good day to drive down…..or up from the Algarve.

We have to bear in mind that the speed limit is 120km per hour (which I have to admit is nonsense on parts of the trip) and the distance is approximately 250km from Lisbon, we should be counting on an average journey time is about 2 hours.

What actually happens is: this does not relate to Mercedes, Audi and BMW drivers. They have to attain a journey time of more like 1 hour and 15 minutes. Which means that if you are on the road at the same time as they are, you are literally forces (and I mean literally terrorised) to get out of their way, because speed limits do not include these drivers. And if you are unable to move over quick enough, they won’t mind overtaking on the inside lane. In fact, I have seen one Mercedes driver overtake on the inside of a three lane stretch.

But if, heavens forbid, these actually have an accident at these high speeds, which can very easily be 200km, they have a very good chance of walking away. Not the case with the cars they are trying to overtake…..the likes of Fords, Fiat, Renault, etc, which are not as “safe” as the super terrorists’ car.

However, you do get the suicide terrorist that try to drive their Ford, Fiat, Renault, etc, at the same speed as the super cars and this is really scary, as there is no way of survival should they have an accident.

My advice…..just get the hell out of their way…..or they are liable to kill the father of your son…..

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