Italy - take it or leave it...

I have been thinking that perhaps I will not leave Italy after all... I was contemplating moving to Cyprus, Greece, the Canary Islands... but bel ragazzo and I were talking last night and maybe we will stay in Italy.

Who knows? I am so confused and that silly old sign that I've been waiting for still has not shown its face! Come on....I need some help here with my decision making. Just a teeny little sign would be enough.

Those who know me will be laughing as they read this as I change my mind one million times a day. I always have many thoughts going through my head (the same as everyone else) except I voice all my million thoughts.


Bel ragazzo does not care where in the world we go just as long as there is a beach - no more city living in the summer time. So now we are contemplating Sorrento. I have been there before and it is a beautiful town, just down the (cliff hanging)road from the glitzy resorts of Positano and Amalfi, a short boat trip away from Ischia and Capri, and if I crave city life I can hop over to Napoli in no time at all.



Why am I thinking of staying in Italy you ask? Was I not saying I wanted to experience new cultures and life? Yes, I was saying that. However I am scared of foreign countries a bit. After living in Portugal. The areas that I saw were literally overrun with tourist - mostly British. There were Irish pubs and English breakfasts signs as far as the eye could see...the town of Albufeira WAS PRACTICALLY ENGLAND only with better weather. Seriously it was that bad.

I am worried that the Canary Islands and Greece will be just the same and I cannot bare the thought of living in a new place for 8 months if the place has given it's soul to the tourist market. I have been to many of the Greek Islands and I do love them, but the parts in which I would be working would cater very heavily for the British market...perhaps the islands are best saved for a holiday where I can chose which parts to go.

I know I work for a British travel company so I am going to always be surrounded by Brits, but at least here in Italy I can be certain that Italy will never, ever in a million years let the tourist market take over and change what already was. Italy is an arrogantly proud country with a 'take it or leave it attitude.' You see that especially in Rome: the streets are dirty, the metro is a joke, and prices are astronomical...yet the tourists come. The tourists will always come as Rome is the Eternal City - the Colosseo is not going anywhere, nor is the Vatican or the Trevi Fountain. You will struggle to find an Italian bar serving English breakfast, you will struggle to understand the people, you will get fed up with the poor customer service, you will bitch and moan about the heat, the pollution, the cost, the dirt, the beggars the...the list goes on.

The bottom line is you will come to Italy because Italy is simply Italy.

You will come to Italy because all those things you don't like are secretly those things you love: the chaos, the passion, the craziness, the confidence, the food, the beauty, the language, the history, the people, the attitude, the country, the life.

I cannot deny it - I am one of these people. I often complain, yet I don't want to leave. Italy has cast it's magical spell upon me and I think a lot of you reading this will understand me completely. Once you are here it is hard to find a more beautiful place to live and work. Once you are here you want to stay.

Leanne is leaving Portugal!

The date has been set in stone – on Monday 14th of January I will be catching a flight out of Portugal, standing by in London Stanstead for a few hours before catching another flight to Italy, and flying directly into Calabria….and I cannot wait.

To be honest Portugal is not a place I will return to in a hurry, and I mean no offence to anyone reading this that may be Portuguese or hold special sentiments for the place. One of the main reasons that I have not had the best 3 months working here was the work itself. Working in Italy was totally different, and I did a different job – I actually did something! Here it has been so quiet that a lot of the times I have been driven mad with the fact that there are so few customers and nothing to do. Imagine that – complaining that I wanted to work! Time does tick by ever so slowly when you have nothing to do and you are wanting to be some place else.

I also never really fell ‘in love’ with Portugal as I have with other places before. The Algarve, where I have been based is so over run with tourists that I feel the area has lost any original charm it may have once had. Even the smallest of towns are slowly getting built up and that then is not saying anything for the already built up towns which just seem to be getting higher and higher as more hotels and holiday apartments are made. Many parts of the Algarve that I have seen are virtually man made tourist resorts – aimed predominately at the British market…In my life I have never seen so many restaurants advertising English breakfasts! Every where you go, when people hear you speaking English they automatically assume you are British and I feel like yelling at them that there are more of us out there then just the Brit’s who speak English. I have also never been to a non-English speaking country where most of the signs are written in English…

Enough of the negatives however and on to the positives! I must admit that I have not really experienced winter thus far – the temperature here has not fallen much below 15 degrees in the day, and for the first few months we even had lovely, sunny days in the 20s. So I will miss the wonderful mild Portuguese winter. I will also miss living in a hotel as I have not cooked or cleaned for 3 months – that is the life! Hmm…there are surely other things I will miss and when I think of them I will let you know  In the mean time the count down is on and I cannot wait to get back to Italy and my bel ragazzo.

Oh and finally, when I am about to leave I have found an internet café that lets me down load pics (25 minute drive away but I found it) so better late then never:

The lovely beaches of the Algarve. I have not seen such fantastic beaches since leaving Australia:



When the bel ragazzo came to visit


As you can see it has not been so cold over here. This picture is from middle of December.




Carvoeiro...a lovely little seaside town located over in the west of the Algarve



A visit to the capital of Portugal; Lisbon







A trip to the old capital from Moorish times, Silves





Alvor where I have been living. A very small fishing village.



And good old Albufeira where everything is man made and British

Time is ticking

Well I hope time is ticking. It has not been 100% confirmed but I am hoping that in 2 weeks I will be leaving here and heading back to Italian shores - and to tell you the truth I cannot wait!

Happy New Year all xxx

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Just getting in a day early with the blog but my Christmas is not going to be so exciting over here in Portugal but I'll make the most of it.

Today being Christmas Eve we have a special trip for the customers to go and see the Christmas lights in the Capital of the Algarve, Faro so I will be guiding a bus load of 47 people and all in all we are taking 4 bus loads down so should be a nice start to the Christmas festivities.

Tomorrow on Christmas day a colleague and I have booked into a lovely little restaurant for a special meal which I am quite looking forward too and then we will see what the night holds...

Best wishes to you all and hope you have a Merry Christmas where ever in the world you may be xxx

Catch up Time from Portugal

I have been very slack on the blogging but I have many good excuses:

1) My 'wireless' lap top will not bring up the internet which is very, very annoying as I have no internet/I.T friends over here to help

2) There is one internet cafe around so I must rely on that and it does not let me use the memory stick thus the reason there will be photos from Portugal once I am back in Italy

3) My most important distraction was that my bel ragazzo has been and gone

4) My birthday has been and gone too (A BIG AND BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY TWIN SISTER MELANIE WHO CELEBRATED HER BIRTHDAY BEFORE MINE AS AUSTRALIA IS AHEAD OF PORTUGAL...11 HOURS I THINK IT IS NOW)

So you can see I have been busy and have good excuses for my lack of writing. As I mentioned my bel ragazzo has been and gone and we spent a lovely 10 days together travelling around a lot of the Algarve. We drove up to Lisbon the capital which was beautiful once you got over the dodgy men who approach you trying to sell you hash (in broad daylight.) With all of them coming up to us I was a little scared at first and to make matters worse there was a street off the main square with prositutes hanging around, thankfully not trying to sell their wares to us! Then I remember that all capital and big cities have their 'seedy' parts, and once we moved on we were delighted by all we saw and wished we had more time to exlpore.

Now however my bel ragazzo is back in Italy and I cannot wait to finish here and head back there myself. It is still so quiet here and boring but I cannot complain as the weather (up until yesterday) has been very warm and sunny all the time. I am a little sick of the food here however and crave a decent meal...have told the bel ragazzo that it would be so lovely to have a bowl of home made pasta waiting for me when I get back to his village...

Bingo in Portugal

Yes...as the title suggests things are getting a little quiet here in Portugal. I have no customers coming in, just the 'long term' gangs of pensioners who come to stay here 6 weeks - 4 months depending on what takes their fancy. The holidays here in Portugal are very, very cheap and a lot of pensioners come as it is cheaper to have a holiday here then to pay the heating bills in the UK for the winter.

At first I thought this was strange, but the more I think about it, and the more I speak to my long termers it makes perfect sense. Why would you chose to freeze in the UK over winter, when you could come and sit on the beach here for next to nothing?

And to top it all off I have now resorted to organising Bingo games in the hotels to keep the old dears entertained!

P.S This time next week my bel ragazzo will be here!

Raining in Portugal

There is not much news to report from my temporary home of Portugal. It is raining which I believe they much needed (as do many countries) so I cannot complain, and although it is raining it is not cold.

One month has already passed here, and another 8 weeks left before I can return to Italy and my bel ragazzo. We are booking a flight today for him to come and visit me, but it is quite pricey for a flight direct from Rome to Faro. It is cheaper for him to go Rome London - London Faro which although cheaper is more annoying as it means chopping and changing and staying over night at the airprot unless he wants to pay for a hotel room for a few hours which will then make it that same price as coming direct from Rome! Che palle!

I think we will just pay more to come direct so he can be here quicker!

No smoking - not in Portugal

Most countries have imposed a smoking ban, meaning no smoking in restaurants, bars, nightclubs, supermarkets etc... Well most countries except Portugal that is. Let me start this blog entry by admitting that I do smoke cigarettes, but that these free for all smokers over here are driving me to distraction! You can smoke pretty much anywhere you want here, in hotels, there are ash trays by all the lifts. You can smoke in the shopping centres, in the food courts and in the supermarkets although you are not meant to smoke in the store itself, this is not stopping them. Car parks, petrol stations, bars, restaurants and toilets, you can smoke anywhere you want.. In most of the public toilets I've seen, there are little cigarette holders so you can put your cigarette down while you have a pee! 

What makes me angry is when people smoke in my face at the hotel where I live and work. I have set 'visiting times' where  guests can come and see me in reception. I doll up as best I can in my horrid uniform which it is bright pink polyester, horrific! I'm working for a different branch of the company which has this disgusting bright pink suit and pastel floral shirt... There are a few lounges in the lobby, and the other travel reps and I set the same visiting times, so we can chat when often no clients visit us. Without fail, non-client people will come and sit by me, sit practically on top of me and light up a cigarette, blowing smoke in my face. These rude people are not my guests, they can see I am working and there are plenty of other chairs, but no, they have to sit and blow smoke all over my bright pink suit. The number of times I am waiting for a lift down from my floor to reception and there are people chain smoking as they wait...quickly stubbing out the cigarette when the lift comes, and then exhaling their smoke once the door seals shut behind us. Can they not smoke in their room? Or wait till they have finished with the lift? Are they that desperate for a cigarette they cannot wait 2 more minutes. Apparently next year the cigarette ban is coming and I cannot wait. I am well aware I won't be here and that I am a smoker, but it's really putting me off. That and the distance I have to drive to actually by cigarettes!

Driving around...Portugese style.

Another week in my temporary home of Portugal and all is going well. I now have a car and am driving!

This may not sound so exciting but for me it's a big deal as have never really driven on the 'other' side of the road before. In Australia we drive like they do in the UK - left hand drive and on the left hand side. Here it's all different (dare I say backwards?).  I was so scared picking up the car as, although I have lived in Italy for almost 2 years, I have never really driven there. 

The first time I properly drove in Italy was a few weeks before leaving when I went to visit bel ragazzo. He took me out in his families ancient Fiat Panda, and let me drive around the deserted mountain roads for a while. I was so scared and drove so slowly, my left hand kept reaching for the gears when in fact I was touching the door! A few weeks later I am happy to report that not only can I drive (manual car of course!) I am a now a fantastic driver. Well fantastic driver here in the sleepy west of Portugal. The roads are wide, spacious, new, well signposted and there are hardly any other drivers. It is better for me to take the freeway as there is less traffic on it, like no one wants to drive at high speed. So you see, I am well aware my fantastic driving is reserved for Portugal as the thought of driving back in Italy terrifies me.

At last a bit of the 'real' stuff...

OLA one and all. I would like to begin this blog to announce that my blog should be coming to you live and clear from my new small village of Alvor on the Algarve about once a week (not more, most probably less.) I may also not be able to post photos as throughout my explorations of this tiny town I have found only this one internet place which does not let you download anything so I will try and be more artistic with my words and paint you a verbal picture of my temporary life on the Algarve. 

The sun is shining strong, with winter temperature's in the mid 20s and still plenty of time to tan and go to the beach. I have not officially started work as such, and have been getting to know this little town and doing a few more excursions. I've also been settling into my four star home - oh, did I not mention that I am living in a hotel? 

I am only in Portugal for half the winter (probably until mid-January) and therefor have been put up in a very nice 4 star hotel on full board basis. No cleaning, no cooking, no anything really! There are also a few other British travel reps living here so I won't be alone. Living in a hotel came as a pleasant surprise! If I were to live in a hotel for the whole summer I would probably go mad, but for half of a very warm winter...I cannot complain at all.  After taking a leisurely stroll through the old town this morning, I realised it really is very beautiful and 'real' here. Tourism has not yet ruined this small place. Sure it is touristy with bars and restaurants all catering to us foreign lot however, due to the size of the town which is 2 main 'tourist' streets and a small marina, once you step back from these tourist spots you are smack bang in the middle of a Portuguese village which reminds me a lot of Italy. 

This morning the little old ladies dressed in the obligatory black were hanging  washing to dry on home made clothes lines, strung in front of their houses. The scent of onion and garlic wafted out of open front doors as lunch is prepared. From balcony to balcony they called out to one another, surely gossiping, if only I could understand. By the church, an old man was sitting in peace and tranquillity before shaking his head in disbelief as a family of half naked tourists came making noise, and taking photos. 

It is almost November, and while the locals are wrapped up in their winter gear, the tourists are walking around near naked. I might add that the majority of winter tourists are old British people. 

My new (temporary) home

After spending almost one week in the frightfully English resort of Albufeira, I have finally been moved to the west of Portugal to a tiny fishing village called Alvor, my base for the next few months. I arrived an hour or so ago and can already tell that I like it more than Albufeira. 

It is a strange sensation being in Portugal. I visited Portugal 5 years ago when I was back packing around Europe with my twin sister and her husband. We only stopped for a few nights in Lagos and I remember loving the place, the character, and the feel of the area. Life in Albufeira was different. I did not get any positive feelings from being in this man made, purpose built holiday resort. There was no atmosphere, no sense of culture and there was nothing at all except British tourists. I spent the week doing all our excursions and was beginning to lose hope that there were 'natural' parts of this country. Yesterday, on a cruise down the river that divides Spain and Portugal my faith was restored and  I saw a beautiful little town with not one sign of tourist invasion. 

I realised how lucky we are in Italy. I always thought Taormina was over run by tourists, and it was but the big difference being that the town was always the same, it had not been changed or modernised for the tourists. From what I have seen of Portugal and Albufeira in particular, nothing of the old Portugal is left. High rise after high rise spoil the landscape and it is a real shame. I understand that it is good for the country, bringing in a lot of money etc... but all can I ask is at what price? 

Thankfully I'm now based in the west, which is touristy, but already after getting lost on my stroll, I feel that I will enjoy my few months here.

OLA

Ola from the sunny and hot Portugal, or I should really say England as I have not yet met one Portuguese person! Everyone seems to be English, but not to worry...I will find a local so that I can use my recently purchased phrase book. I am currently in Albufeira on the Algarve and will be spending the week out and about discovering the place and taking part on many excursions. Photos and the like will come.