As soon as we moved to Portugal in January 2019, we scheduled a visit to the SEF (Foreigners and Borders Service) in Tavira, Algarve, to sort out our residence visa for the country. Since the first available date was May 30, 2019, almost summer, we thought it would be a good idea to extend our stay to get to know a little more of the Algarve, the southern region of Portugal, and Isla Canela, in Spain.

The Hotel

We chose a hotel facing the sea with good facilities for our baby, Eurotel Height, and we had a great stay there. The hotel's facade leaves something to be desired – just look at the photos below lol – but it has been renovated inside and the rooms are very spacious and, in our case, had a spectacular view of the sea!

You can hear the waves and birds from inside the room and it is impossible not to relax and enjoy the place. The pool is wonderful, but it is not heated – in fact, I think few pools in Portugal are –, there is a large green area to relax, a tennis court, a spa, the restaurant has great and affordable dishes for dinner and a super complete breakfast, with great service in general. It was worth checking out!

Ah, here is some information related to baby:

• We had just finished sleep training and our consultant reinforced the importance of maintaining the same meal and nap times so that he could sleep fully and properly at night. Knowing this, I decided to bring him ready-made Nestlé jars so he could have lunch at 11 am and dinner at 5 pm, which were very early times for us, as well as fruit sachets, my breasts (lol, yes, he breastfed!) and healthy cookies and fruit from the hotel itself. He had breakfast with us, eating everything – eggs, bread, cheese, milk, yogurt, etc. – and then ate what I brought.
• My mother-in-law stayed in the room with him for a few days after he fell asleep so we could have dinner in the hotel restaurant in peace. If she weren't with us, we would probably put him to sleep in the stroller and go down to the restaurant with him, praying that no one would make too much noise and wake him up. It's always a tense moment, right? 
• He only rides in the car in the car seat and even if he gets irritated, we don't take him out of it. We play, read books, sing, talk and, as a last resort, we resort to some mesmerizing YouTube video... lol.

Let's go to the usual diary! <3

Day 1- 05/29/2019 (Wednesday)

We left Cascais (Home Sweet Home for now!) close to lunch time, as the idea was to give the little one lunch in the car and then take a 2-hour nap while we traveled the almost 3-hour drive to the hotel. We stopped halfway for a snack and just before we arrived, the baby woke up and was in a great mood. I love it when our strategies with him work!

We did check-in, We went up to the room and were pleasantly surprised by the view. We got ready and went straight to the pool to enjoy the sun. We just had snacks by the pool and left dinner for later at the hotel restaurant, with grandma as his babysitter. Delicious!

Day 2- 05/30/2019 (Thursday)

Residence visa appointment day at SEF!

We woke up early, had a great breakfast at the hotel and drove 15 minutes to Tavira. We parked the car in a little square near the SEF and walked there, seeing the cute little streets full of flowers. Even though we had an appointment, it took a long time to be seen, but my mother-in-law was with us and walked with Patrick so we could sort out our stay. Success! Visa granted after a few hours and a lot of tension on our part. 🙂

We went for a walk around the city and chose the restaurant The Arches for having a good rating on TripAdvisor and a view of the river. Oh, it's important to mention that I gave Patrick his ready-made lunch on the way and we only sat down at the restaurant when he was already asleep. We really appreciate a peaceful meal when we can! The food was delicious and the service was fair, but I think there are better options in the city...

When he woke up, we paid the bill and went for a walk with him. We passed by Tavira Roman Bridge and we took the opportunity to go and visit the Tavira Castle and the churches of Santa Maria do Castelo and of Mercy, attractions very close by and mentioned in our Portugal guide to the city.

When fatigue began to set in, both for the baby As for us, we went back to the hotel and had dinner there again.

Day 3 - 05/31/2019 (Friday)

We woke up early with our diaper alarm clock, had a great breakfast and spent the whole day enjoying the beach in front of the hotel – delicious, but with cold water –, the cold pool too, the playground, the grass, etc… It was a delicious and well-deserved relaxing day! We enjoyed the hotel's tents on the beach and had lunch and dinner there. 

Day 4- 01/06/2019 (Saturday)

We decided to travel around Spain, so after breakfast, we got ready and hit the road. Halfway there, I realized that I hadn't taken a spoon to give him lunch in the car. (it happens, right?), so we stopped at a snack bar and, with a bit of nerve, I got one...lol. We had lunch in the car and when we got to the indicated place Cinnamon Island, We loved what we saw and parked the car right there.

We thought Patrick would fall asleep easily after lunch and the rocking of the car, but he took ages! We sat at a kiosk that was relatively full (we always think this is a great sign for restaurants), Tucuyo, and we asked for tapas to nibble on while we took turns putting him to sleep in the stroller. Phew, he slept!

We walked along the super pleasant shore and found a really cool restaurant on the sand with a table available called Chiringuito. Good service, delicious food and a view of the beach that made us excited to go for a swim while the little one slept. We then walked along the shore a little more, letting the little one walk a lot to get tired and then we hit the road back to the hotel without much trouble. stress.

02/06/2019 (Sunday)

Same morning routine as always and then we went to enjoy the rest of the hours at the beach! We were surprised with the hotel staff charging us 10 euros (I think!) for using the tent with the justification that JUNE IS HIGH SEASON! I thought it was bizarre and refused to pay, so we spent most of the time playing in the sand near the sea and when it was time for his lunch, we went back to do it. checkout and travel during your nap. Everything is meticulously thought out so that we stress as little as possible. 🙂