Thursday, 16 July 2009

Sunday Mass - Albufeira

Had a look at the local diocesan web site.

Looks like the best option will be:

Here we go:

Nossa Senhora da Conceição
Tv. da Igreja Matriz, 6 - 8200-183 ALBUFEIRA

Mass at:

Saturday: 18:00, 22:00 (Summer), Sunday: 09:30, 11:00, 19:00 (Summer)

See:

http://bit.ly/masstimesalbuferia

Driving Lisbon Airport to Carvoeiro, Algarve, Portugal

Driving Directions here:(you will have to copy and paste into your web browser:)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Alameda+das+Comunidades+Portuguesas,+Santa+Maria+dos+Olivais,+Lisboa,+1700,+Portugal+(LIS+-+Lisbon+International+Airport)&daddr=Carvoeiro,+Portugal&hl=en&geocode=FaOGTwIdurJ0_w%3B&mra=ls&sll=37.974515,-8.893433&sspn=2.009162,4.938354&ie=UTF8&ll=37.939865,-8.640747&spn=2.010109,4.938354&t=h&z=8


For group 1 vehicles, the current south bound toll on the A2 to Paderne is in the order of 18.60 EUR.
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Pay as you go Dongle in Portugal

Yes. I use one a back up when visit clients.

Performance is generally good but depends on location. I have had up to 5 computers running on one via a router, albeit in an area where the nearest mobile tower was only 1km away over flat ground.

See:.

http://barlaventositblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/prepaid-mobile-broadband-portugal.html


And

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/search?q=vodafone


Coverage in Mountains is patchy. The system depends in line of site and to get good performance you need a good 3G mobile phone signal. I strongly recommend potential buyers to test their signal first with a good 3G phone or computer equipped with a dongle before purchasing.

There are three basic units on sale in Portugal, Vodafone, TMN and Kanguru. They can usually be had in any Mobile phone shop, Worten, Vobis and Fnac Stores.

Prices vary but if you are in the Mountains you will probably want a powerful dongle like the Huawei E172 which runs at up to 7.2 Mbps and currently costs € 49.90. in Worten

low-cost-transfer.com / Best Day.

low-cost-transfer.com is not low-cost-transfers.com who are still operational. It is a totally different company.

The low-cost-transfer.com website is not operational.

Its whois record shows that the domain was owned by Best Day who we know from posts have gone bust.

See this link:

http://whois.domaintools.com/low-cost-transfer.com

Wednesday, 15 July 2009

Alvor or lagos

As the fly crows, Alvor is only 6kms from Lagos across the bay.

Unfortunately, flies don't crow here in the Algarve and the road route loops inland and the distance is about 30kms.

Lagos is a great place but be aware of our recent comments in this forum about our ongoing building work.

Most of the work should be finished by spring next year and the centre should be back to normal with an improved water front.

We have more bars and restaurants than Alvor and great hidden beaches.

Algarve Car Hire - Summer 2009

I am writing this in the offices of clients of mine in Lagos who deal with several car hire companies in the Algarve.

As of this morning, Luzcar reported that they had no vehicles available for the next week and Guerin are reporting that they have no vehicles left for at least the next month.

It appears that owing to the economic down turn and the need to balance short-term summer fleet needs with 10 months of low fleet usage, Algarve car hire firms have reduced their fleets to a level where demand may exceed supply this year.

I was at Faro Airport on Monday and I thought that the fleet parks for many of the car hire companies were emptier than usual. This appears now to have been confirmed.

This situation also seems to mirror reports off similar problems from Spain.

Lisbon to Sevilla

Summer 2009:

Alsa.es bus service::

Lisbon to Seville

Daily:

Lisbon Seville
09:00 17:45
21:30 05:45 next day.

Tuesday, 14 July 2009

West/Central Algarve - TV/DVD/Home Entertainment equipment

The best places in terms of range, price and quality in the West/Central Algarve, IMHO, for TV/DVD/Home Entertainment equipment are:

1) FNAC - Algarve Shopping in Guia
2) Radio Popular - Portimão Retail Park and Guia
3) The New Worten at the new Retail Park in Portimão opposite Mad Max.

All the above also have good online sites where you can check out their stock beforehand.

In Lagos, the guys at Worten in Modelo are v. helpful and if they don't have what you want in stock they will try to get it for you.

If you want to go on a day trip, El Corte Inglés in Huelva and Media Markt
in Seville are very good as well in terms of quality and often price. El Corte Ingles also offers good insurance options for expensive equipment.

Monday, 13 July 2009

Tavira to Seville

There are no trains between Tavira and Seville.

The train line terminates at the Portuguese/Spanish Frontier at Vila Real Sta. Antonio.

The line from Ayamonte to Huelva on the Spanish side was torn up about 15 years ago. Also there are only about 2 trains a day from Huelva to Seville.

Bus is the only way to get from Tavira to Seville.

There are currently four services daily.

You can find the timetables on this page at Cubsur's excellent website here:

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/001.htm

Faro Airport - Update

Am writing this at the landside mezzanine cafe above arrivals at Faro Airport.

The airport authorities appear to have recently introduced a new arrivals control system. People meeting friends or family at Faro can no longer go all the way to the exit from the baggage hall.

The Airport has placed a barrier about 50m down the concourse from the exit to the baggage hall. There are stern faced securities guards stopping the normal public from entering.

So when passengers not on package tours now arrive, on exiting the baggage hall, they have to walk 50 metres through a gauntlet of agents and tour companies before they can exit the cordon and meet friends or family meeting them.

I understand the need for controlling numbers in airports but I do feel it is not right that the general public travelling privately should be discriminated against.

If I have elderly relatives or friends, I would like to meet them outside the exit from the baggage hall not 50 metres away through a gauntlet.

There is a need for a special exit and separate hall for passenges arriving on package tours.