Tag Archives: portugal
Portugal – Popular holiday destination for good reasons
Portugal is such a popular tourist destination for many reasons
One of the main reasons why Portugal is such a popular holiday destination is its absolutely wonderful climate. The average summer temperature hovers around thirty degrees Centigrade and while that may not sound like anything special since in the summertime it’s hot in most temperate zones and most of Europe.
Praia da Rocha – Great beach and wonderful scenery at the second-largest Algarve resort
The Portuguese resort town of Praia da Rocha is located on the west side of the Algarve, at about a fifty minute drive from Faro Airport and situated rather nicely between Alvor and Portimao.
What started as a quiet and very elegant resort back in the 1930s only started to develop at a major rate once cheaper flights started to be offered in the 1970s, which in turn spurred on a boom in apartments being built, and steadily and surely Praia da Rocha became the region’s second-largest resort town.
There are basically two types of travelers in the world: those who haven’t been to the Algarve yet, and those who return there year after year, but what exactly makes the latter do this?
The Silves Medieval Festival 9-11 August 2011
Around the second week of August, the town of Silves in Portugal plays host to a Medieval Festival and it is an ideal place for this type of even as the town’s cobbled and narrow streets lead up to a medieval castle and during the Festival these streets turn into what they used to be centuries ago: a medieval market place.
Step back in time a few hundred years back to sometime between the 12th and 14th century and enjoy the particular atmosphere offered by the wandering troubadours, jugglers and barbecues and spit roasts at every couple of meters one from each other.
The Silves Medieval Festival takes place between the 9th and 15th of August in 2011 and is amongst the most popular festivals that the Algarve sees during the summer period and everybody can get into the action by hiring period costumes so as to better fit in with the rest of the medieval folk.
Silves Medieval Festival
Most of the activities that take place are free except for the jousting tournament and the wicked Black Knight which your children will surely want to see but there is only one show per night so make sure that you’re there when it happens. Talking of free, while in the Festival ground you will have to exchange your modern day Euros for the medieval currency of Xelbs; this can be done under the main gates and it’s all meant to add to the fun and immersion of the event.
Ideally you will want to grab dinner sometime around 7 PM as it will surely get really crowded after 9, despite the large number of places where you can eat rest assured that they will rapidly fill up at around that hour.
One could hardly find a better setting for such an event in the Algarve than the Moorish city of Silves its preserved old town and the castle play a huge role in taking you back in time.
