Following the recent visit from our daughter and her partner, we took a short break away from the house.
It was only a couple of days but thoroughly enjoyable.
Because we had to return Rachel and Steve to Lisbon for their flight back to Manchester, Janet thought it would be good to have some time at the beach.
She booked us a two nights stay at a hotel in Tróia, just south of Lisbon.
The journey took us over the famous Vasco da Gama bridge which, at a little over 12km, was Europe's longest bridge until 2018.
Following the sat-nav directions, we were unexpectedly routed to the car ferry between Setúbal and Tróia, another new experience.
The crossing was very pleasant and easy.
Upon arrival at the hotel, we experienced the longest wait ever for a simple check-in. Once at the desk, the process was equally slow, and the clerk had not included the half-board option as requested. Even after adding the service on the computer, he forgot to change the figure on the card machine. Janet's honesty eventually got us the correct bill.
The view from our 11th floor room easily made up for all the delays and frustration.
Even looking back inland toward Setúbal was impressive.
The room was a comfortable suite with plenty of space and a West facing balcony, perfect for the evening sun.
As Tróia is situated on a peninsula it is almost completely surrounded by the sea which should, in theory, make it a little cooler.
Dinner in the hotel restaurant was a typical self-service buffet with plenty of choice and everything included, we ate well.
Next, we took a steady walk around the complex and bought some (expensive) provisions at the mini-market before returning to the hotel to relax.
Breakfast was easy because we got up early enough to beat the crowds, lots of choice and fresh coffee.
We had planned a beach day and set off to walk down the coast while the sun was not too hot. The walk was very pleasant, though the sea was quite cool.
After around an hour we turned inland and found our way through the streets, past some impressive residences, to the hotel. Then we packed the beach bag and headed back to the sea where we selected one of the parasols on the beach and settled into the loungers for a spot of sunbathing.
We ordered a late lunch via the on-line service and it was eventually delivered directly to us which was very convenient.
We did brave a dip in the sea, but it was really too cold to swim properly and by 4pm we were back in the hotel, sunbathing on the balcony instead.
After another good feed and an evening walk, we settled down for the second night.
Again, we arose early to get an early breakfast. This was our final day at the resort and we planned a walk along the other side of the peninsula where there is a large mud flat area to see wild birds. We had limited time because we had to check out of the hotel before mid-day.
The were a number of (unidentified) birds to be seen some distance from the viewing hide.
From the viewing hide, we made our way to the main road to walk back to the hotel complex.
Even the checkout process was slow, presumably someone had to verify the state of the room before we were allowed to leave.
The short drive to the ferry dock was uneventful and we joined the queue just as the ferry was coming into dock, perfect timing.
A little more than four hours later we were home.
The short break had been very welcome and Janet still had a few days of holiday before returning to work.