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Wednesday 9 July 2014

Going Loco down in Vale do Lobo...

Holidaying to the Mice is like twerking to Miley ... it comes naturally and is a guilty pleasure of ours! We have lots of them and often! So far this year, between us, we've unashamedly travelled to NYC, Barbados, Tuscany, Bangkok, Lombok, Singapore, Malaysia, the Gili Islands, Chiang Mai, Cinque Terre and Florence! Wow that's an awful lot of suncream and air miles! This obsessive habit hasn't shown any signs of slowing with HK mouse visiting us in London for two weeks. Why stop there? This was swiftly followed by a trip to Vale do Lobo in Portugal for us London Mice While HK Mouse jetted off to Italy for a friend's wedding!

So where to start on reporting back on all the fun had. For holiday post number one, we're going to bring you our Portugal adventures ... Five solid days of sun, Champagne (dubbed Champanski on our trip), partying and very little sleep. Summed up in eight little letters - F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S! So much so that we experienced post-holiday blues like we've never experienced before, when we were brought back to reality a week later - it was that amazing!

So to set the scene, our beautiful pal, Vanessa, and her equally beautiful twin, Kerrie, invited both Mini and I out to their family holiday home in Vale do Lobo. This was actually Mini's third trip out there, so she filled me in on what to expect during the weeks before, building the excitement until we were both at breaking point with steam pouring out of our ears! Supermodel legs, AKA Karina, and brunette goddess, AKA Emma, also joined the group all the way from Dublin. Childhood friends of Vanessa and Kerrie's, the girls had all landed slightly ahead of Mini and I making sure to warm up the fun for our arrival.

Wednesday rolled in - no hump day for us, only big smiles and springy steps in the knowledge that we would be up, up and away heading towards fun and frolics in no time at all! The work day whizzed by and before we knew it we were hurtling towards Stanstead doing this...

 

Checked in, and safely through security, we were slapped firmly around the face with a two hour delay - we did the only possible thing to make those 120 minutes bearable...
 

Yes, Champangski will brighten any situation and turn it into a sparkling occasion! As soon as we stepped onto the plane and planted our boozy bottoms down we were gone. Out for the count. We slept the whole way! We arrived at the apartment in the early hours of Thursday morning, so we crept into the villa like the good little Mice we are and joined our snoozy pals for a night of much needed rest ahead of the alcohol-infused storm that was about to start!

In what seemed like a second, our 9am alarm sprang into life, and we were up and out in no time at all, ready for a day of indulgent laziness by the pool... Killer views, excitable girly chatter, a steady stream of Champagne and ice-cream, oh and the obligatory selfie... The perfect start!




 
For our first night out we wanted to make it count so we started with a posh dinner at Parrilla, a firm favourite of Kerrie's and Vanessa's. We kicked off the evening with a round of Proseccco on the villa's balcony and did a spot of posing in our holiday-ready outfits whilst we still could... 
 

 
The restaurant was every bit as spectacular as the girls had promised it would be! Beautiful setting filled with sky-high trees, colour-popping flowers and an impressive herb garden, which Karina stumbled upon (!). Coupled with huge sprawling round tables with squishy chairs, a menu to die for and attentive staff, we were pretty much in heaven. 


 
The meal drew to an end and we were that close to rolling home after feeling super full and sleepy after such a lovely evening BUT no, we were in Vale do Lo, so off we headed and some of us didn't return until the early hours of the morning! Sign of a good night!
 
Other momentous moments to share have to be our afternoon at BJ's Oceanside. Owned by the friendliest of couples, Bex and J this really is top of the list in terms of guaranteed fun, delicious food and a view sent from heaven. 




We arrived to a table laden with icy cold buckets of rosé wine and Bex smiling from ear to ear (drunk on his shiny beach paradise life) ready to take our food order. Feeling a little worse for wear from the night before, we were slightly hesitant around the wine but very quickly got over this once the live band (Freddie & Michael) worked their magic and got everyone singing along! There were even a few songs dedicated to us, well one of us in particular! 


 

They even have a fancy dress chest bursting with an array of every kind of hat imaginable, which we obviously took FULL advantage of! 



 
Next up, catching a ride to Julia's beach bar, which Mini took a tad too far...
 
 
Hundreds of selfie in-car shots later...

 
...we arrived ready to continue drinking and dancing into the night! Julia's is perfect for afternoon drinking in the sun, with tonnes of atmosphere and fun at every turn, blaring music and the friendliest of staff.

 
 


It was at Julia's where Mini found her calling in life - a barmaid for the young and drunk! Check her out owning the bar and night whilst pouring out oh-so-lethal measures! BEST JOB EVER!


 
And we did the same the next day all over again but this time with a watergun in tow purchased by naughty Kerrie, who went onto causing beautiful havoc all around with her accomplice, Karina! We gained a new friend that night too - 9 year old Oscar who thought the watergun girls were Charlie's Angels in disguise!
 
 



 






 
And here's Mini again working the afternoon shift with our new found friend and beauty, Karena...

 
And last but by no means least, let me introduce you to the wonderful Izzy's Bar & restaurant! Renowned within the resort for it's fun-filled Sunday sessions, we rocked up early afternoon ready to take full advantage. Freddie and Michael, the same live band from BJ's were in full swing when we arrived with a picture perfect beach backdrop!  
 






We tucked into plates of tasty piri piri chicken and the biggest prawns I've ever laid eyes on, all washed down with copious amounts of white wine and of course, Champanski! The perfect afternoon, followed with another party go-go session at Julia's, our new favourite spot...




 
A rip-roaring holiday had by all and one we were all seriously sad to leave behind. Every cloud has a silver lining though, and ours is that we're only bloody going back in just over 10 weeks for Kerrie and Vanessa's birthday - bring on round II Lobo ladies! 
 

1 comment

  1. Well you look like you had an absolute blast great pictures. Looks like a superb holiday, beach and good food yummy Lucy x

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