Yesterday, following breakfast, and a few chores around our hotel, and on the Strip, we set off for the beach and the hotel there, commonly known as the CPO. They offer very good apartment accommmodation, and bowling hotel breaks at a very reasonable rate. We are considering this hotel for next winter, but I digress. The reason for this visit was the bowling match between us and our Welsh friends. They and Bill all bowl in their home clubs, but I haven’t bowled for over 20 years. After a friendly coffee, it was England vs Wales, and the competition was hot. We took rink 4, and had a very enjoyable game. We started winning 3 ends a-piece, for the first 6 ends, and I must confess that I played very badly. Most of my woods ended in the ditch, as I bowled much too fast, and when it was my turn to place the Jack I couldn’t even manage to get that the correct length. Still I persevered and my accuracy and weight improved. By the end of the match, 2 hours later, England won 10 ends to 8. We were able to do our own bit of crowing for the rest of the day.

After lunch Bill and I took the road train to the Modelo, supermarket complex, and then as we just missed the next one back, we decided to walk. We were both very tired, but thought we could beat the road train, and have time for a rest before dinner. Taking a short cut, we suddenly realised we were lost. At an intersection with the choice of left or right, we wrongly turned right, and walked what felt like miles out of our way. We eventually arrived at a place we recognised, and then could return to our hotel. By now it was almost 5.30 and we had arranged to meet our friends for dinner at 6.15, so forget the rest! I bathed, and dressed, and then it was time to go for dinner. We chose a newly opened Australian restaurant a short walk away, the Koala. The food and service were very good, but only Terry had the courage to try the Kangaroo and Alligator kebab, which he said was very enjoyable. The restaurant was quite expensive but offered a 20% discount before 7 p.m. so we made good use of that. We then walked to another hotel, the Tropical Sol, for an evening of music and karaoke. The entertainer there was very good, and then at 10 p.m. it was time for Karaoke. We tried to get Terry up to sing, it is expected of Welshmen, after all, that they are born singing. We knew he had a strong voice, but he wouldn’t be coerced. Still, there were no shortage of volunteers, and we really enjoyed sitting there in the lovely lounge listening to them all. Before we knew it, the time was 11.30, so we made our way back to our beds.

It is very sad, but Terry and Jan are leaving this afternoon. We will probably meet them for one last lunch, and then see them off. We will certainly miss them, but we have now got to know a lot of other guests, although we don’t spend so much time with them, and I know there are other people arriving all the time. Still, it will be sad for us this afternoon. I am pretty sure we will stay in touch, back home.

The weather today is bright and sunny, but we still have the strong wind, and it makes it quite cool at present. So maybe we won’t venture far, and just sonbathe on our balcony today.

Although Friday started out as a very bright sunny day, by the afternoon we had cloudy skies and a definite cooling of temperature. The forecast is cloudy and dull for the weekend which is a shame as this is the first fiesta weekend of the year, with carnival parades in most towns for the next 4 or 5 days. Hopefully, we won’t get a return of the rain, and not spoil the whole event.

For us, it was the day of another excursion. This time we have a half day trip planned to Alte in the mountains. We are touring the mountain villages in the range that separates Algarve from the rest of Portugal, so travelling only 12-15 miles away from Albufeira.

When we caught the coach it was warm and sunny, and our first stop was Almancil. Here we visited the Church of St. Lourenço, (St. Lawrence in English). He was a martyr of the 3rd century, and it is a very sad story, which is worthwhile telling. He was with the Pope when Caesar sent guards to arrest the Pope. As he was being taken away the Pope told St. Lawrence to take care of the richness of the church. One of the guards heard this and told the Caesar. So the Caesar sent for St. Lawrence and questioned him about the “richness of the church”, to which St. Lawrence responded that the church is poor and there are no valuables. Caesar didn’t believe him and sent him away for 3 days to reconsider his response. When he returned St. Lawrence took with him the devout followers of the church, men, women and children, explaining that the richness of the church was in it’s followers. This angered Caesar, and he sent the people away, and ordered that St. Lawrence should be detained and forced to reveal the truth about the “richness of the church”. He was stripped and prodded with large forks and laid on a grill over a fire. After a while the guard came and demanded the information to which St. Lawrence replied “please turn me over I am already done on one side”. He died at the hands of his tormentors on August 10th 259 AD, and was eventually martyred. The church was built in the village of Almancil but by the early 18th century it was too small for the growing congregation, and was rebuilt away from the town. The wealthy inhabitants donated gold to cover the carved altar screen , which is very beautiful, and one very wealthy man donated the money for the entire inside of the church to be tiled. The blue and white tiles had to be hand made and cover the walls and domed ceiling of the interior of the church. They fit so perfectly, and they depict the story of St. Laurenço, in panels fitted into the arches of the walls of the church.  Soon after the tiling was completed, in 1755, there was an earthquake which flattened most of the Algarve, but only 5 tiles fell from the walls and were damaged. They were replaced, and are visible as the colour could not be matched exactly. Set into the altar screen is a statue of John the Baptist, because the original Almancil church was dedicated to him, and was changed to St. Laurenço when it was rebuilt, however, in front of the altar there is also a statue of St. Laurenço and in his hand he holds a grill!

We then continued our tour and visited a typical mountain village from the past. We should have gone to Barranco do Velho, but this is not now possible. apparently, about 18 months ago the authorities decided to modernise the village and install water and electricity, and rebuild the roads, a job forecast to take 6 months to complete. However, it is still not finished and the roads are now impassable by large vehicles and the houses are still awaiting modern facilities.  So the village we visited includes a small distillery of Firewater. This is very strong brandy, and we saw how it was made, and had a tasting afterwards. Firewater is so strong that the first distillation of any batch is 98º proof, and has to be destroyed. It is also so strong, that they give honey to eat with it, to calm the throat.

Our next stop was Salir, which is a charming village, and is the site of an ancient Moorish fort. Only a small part of the walls remain, but the foundations of some of the houses within it have been preserved in the museum built over them. We walked over glass floors, to look down into the original foundations, and they have some relics of pottery there. It was a very pleasant walk around the village, and the scenery was lovely across the mountains and valleys. Our final destination was the town of Alte, which is the largest town in the mountains, with a number of shops and cafes, and the river running through. By this time the weather had deteriorated a bit, and I was regretting my decision to wear shorts and sun top, with just a cardigan for any warmth. It didn’t take a lot of encouragement to return to the warmth of the coach after a coffee and cake in one of the cafes.

We arrived back at the hotel shortly before 8, and had enjoyed a very pleasant tour. We had missed the parade of the children this afternoon in Albufeira, but there appears to be a parade of some sort every day, and we are planning to go to Loule carnival on Monday with some friends.

It looks as though we may be hauled in to watch the Rugby this afternoon with our Welsh friends – England vs Wales! I am not sure what we have let ourselves in for!

Tuesday and Wednesday were both good days for us. The good weather certainly appears to have come to stay, with temperatures in the 20s celsius, and even in the shade the air seems warmer. Although we were still taking things easy on Tuesday, and din’t stray from the hotel, on Wednesday we decided to be a little more adventurous and see how Bill’s chest reacted. We took the buses to the Marina, and stopped for coffee. Then we walked all the way back to the Old Town, up a couple of hills, and walking through areas we had not seen before. It was a lovely walk even though it can no longer be done along the beach. There is so much building going on, that most of the beach route is closed off. Still, we had lovely views from higher up, so it was not disappointing. After lunch we walked up to the bus station, and took the ride back to our hotel, stopping off at the supermarket en route. It was the longest day out we have had locally, and were none the worse for wear when we got back.

Most of our evenings, now, are spent with a lovely couple from Wales, Jan and Terry, and we play cards or sit and chat with them, and with other guests, so the evenings are much more pleasant now.

Yesterday was a very long day, as we had an excursion to Fatima. The story goes that in 1917 three young shepherds saw a vision. They were brother and sister, Francisco (aged 8) and Jacinta Marto (aged 6), and their cousin Lucia Santos (aged 10) who every day went out to the  Cova da Iria, in the parish of Fatima. At mid-day on 13th May 1917, they saw a cloud descend on to the oak tree, and saw a brilliant light, which they thought was lightning. Then an apparition of “a Lady more brilliant than the sun” appeared, holding a white rosary. She told the children that it was necessary to pray the Rosary much, and encourage others to do the same. She asked them to return for the next 5 months on the same date and at the same hour. The children did as they were bid, but in August the apparition was delayed until 19th, as the children had been carried off by the local administrator and imprisoned for dishonesty, because he claimed they were all lying. They were released after 3 days, and the vision occurred again. At the last apparition on October 13th, about 70000 people were present, as word had spread, and she told them she was the Lady of the Rosary, and that a chapel was to be built there in her honour. The children had been promised a miracle, and all present witnessed the sun, resembling a silver disc, could be gazed at without difficulty and, whirling on itself like a wheel of fire, appeared to be falling towards the earth, and then retreated. The vision told them the date of the end of WWI, the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, many years later. Her message was for the people to pray the Rosary, meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary, confess and receive Holy Communion, in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She also showed the children a vision of Heaven and Hell, and told them that 2 of them would join her very soon in Heaven, but the third had a greater mission on Earth and would live a long life. The brother and sister both died of Spanish flu’ within 3 years but cousin, Lucia eventually became a nun, and died at the age of 96. She had spent her whole life in religious orders. This is just a brief summary, as there is a great deal more to the story, but the chapel was built where the apparition took place, and is now a place of Sanctuary. Fatima is an Arabic name of the prince who established the area originally. The town is now thriving and modern, although the little houses where the children were born and lived are preserved and we were able to visit them. We then went to the Sanctuary where we could visit for nearly 3 hours. There is a Basilica which was built 50 years ago, and another much more modern Basilica built in the last few years. Pope Paul VI visited in 1967 on May 13th, and Pope John Paul II visited 3 times. Every year on May 13th as many as 150,000 pilgrims visit the Basilicas, and many make pilgrimages in between times. Many come to pay homage, pray the Rosary or give thanks at the Chapel of Perpetual Adoration. Many come to fufill promises by crawling or kneeling all the way along the path to the chapel, around it and back again. We saw some of these people, presumably they made a promise at a bad time of their life, and as they have improved, felt the need to fulfill that promise. The whole area resembles St. Peters Square in Rome, but is very quiet and peaceful, even when there are many people there. A good place for meditation. The new Basilica is very like a concert hall, ultra modern inside, and not at all like a church. The children are all buried now in the older Basilica, the two girls in a chapel at one side of the altar, and the boy in another chapel on the opposite side.

I would love to be able to relate the whole story here, but there is not the time or space. We bought a book on the subject, and picked up explanatory leaflets. It is now very commercialised, with many shops selling religious artifacts, and we visited a factory, which has a lovely self service restaurant and enormous shop, full of everything imaginable. It is a long way, over 4 hours driving each way, but we enjoyed the trip, the weather was very good and hot, and we travelled safely.

Well, here we are at the end of this wonderful trip. Having covered over 2000 miles by car, and over 7000 by train, and seen so many places, people and events, it is hard to believe we are actually at the end. This is our final day, Sunday 9th December 2007, and tomorrow we fly out of here and back home. The last 78 days has flown by, and yet we feel as though we have been here for years. We even direct visitors around Las Vegas, and on the buses.

Yesterday we shopped till we dropped, finished off most of the Christmas shopping, and bought an enormous new suitcase to take it all back in.

Las Vegas is full of Cowboys and Brits this weekend. The Rodeo is on for 10 days, and the Brits are here for last night’s boxing match and the Spice Girls! Both of these events are totally sold out, otherwise we would have gone to see the Spice Girls before we leave.

Then a little gambling rounded off the day. We couldn’t believe our luck when we visited an arcade called “Slots of Fun”, and every machine we visited paid us out between $10 and $40 within 2 goes. The only downside was it was all in 5 cent coins, and we made 4 visits to the cashier with tubs full of cash.

We celebrated with a bottle of wine back at our room, and half an hour on the casino floor.

Having wrapped most of the presents, and packed the new suitcase to bursting point we are almost ready to leave tomorrow.

If we have time today we plan to ride to the top of the Stratosphere for the first time, and also make use of the pool and jacuzzi. So much to do and so little time to do it!

It has been fun keeping a blog, and I hope anyone who signed in enjoyed it too.  It would be nice to think maybe we are taking a rest when we get back, but there are many things to organise before we head to Paul and Sonia’s for Christmas and New Year with them and the children. So we will defer our rest and relaxation until January and our trip to Portugal. Then it will be feet up by the pool and serious reading of all the books we bought out here.

‘Bye for now, and wishing everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, or as it is often said over here Happy Holidays.

It is difficult to believe we only have 2 full days left of this mammoth trip before we head for the airport and fly back home. Now, it seems to have gone so fast.

The past two days we have spent travelling around searching out other casinos which we either haven’t visited before, or wanted to revisit.

On Wednesday we had discovered that a shuttle goes from the Riviera to Sam’s Town. We know that Sam’s Town is unique and wanted to revisit, so we set off to catch the shuttle and travelled the 45 minute ride out to Sam’s Town. From the outside this hotel looks almost shabby, but when you go through the doors it is like another world. Mystic Falls Park at Sam’s Town is fantastic, and you could be forgiven for thinking you have walked outside, but the wonder of this place is that it is all under a glass roof, and the hotel rooms overlook the gardens. The place is filled with animated models of all kinds of animals, from beavers to mountain lions, bears to wolves. At this time of year there is the addition of snow creatures, such as polar bears and snowmen. Every single animal moves. Then 4 times a day the whole area comes alive with fountains and a re-enactment of a wild life scene. The eagle flaps his wings, the wolf comes out of his cave and howls, the bear becomes more animated, and the whole thing is set to music.

Aside from this specatacular it is a well designed casino, and enjoyable to walk around, with pleasant eating areas to suit all pockets. We spent an excellent 3 hours there before taking the shuttle back to the Strip.

Thursday, saw us heading out towards Texas Station by bus. This is a casino we had never visited before so fancied taking a look. It makes a change to look around a few different ones, and we had a successful time on the slot machines there, and then walked away. We took the bus back Downtown, and the Deuce down to the Bellagio, as I wanted to take a few pictures of the Conservatory there, which has now opened with it’s Christmas scene. All the animals depicted here are made from flowers, and include penguins and leaping deer, plus a lovely Chirstmas Card greeting. There are shooting water arches, and a bridge to walk through the middle of the lakes. They make a very good job of it all. Then it was back on the Deuce to the Luxor, where we had dinner in the catacombs beneath the hotel. The Luxor is a pyramid shaped building with an Egyptian theme, so quite an interesting one to visit, which I am happy to say we enjoyed more success on the slot machines. I am happy if we can spend a couple of hours playing machines, and leave with a little more than we spent.

We caught the Deuce all the way to Fremont Street, which because of traffic took 90 minutes to travel 5 miles! However, there were a humorous batch of passengers on this trip, and it made the time go faster, listening to and joining in the banter. We enjoyed the Fremont Street Experience which was one we had not seen before, walked along, soaking up the wonderful atmosphere, visited a couple of Casinos and then returned to the Stratosphere.

I am including a few photographs here from the past two days.

Since my last blog we have just been spending our time travelling around Las Vegas, visiting Hotels and Casinos away from the Strip. We went to the Red Rock, which is a very beautifully decorated hotel and casino. It takes over an hour on the bus, which pulls right up to the door. Filled with glass chandeliers, and very ornate decorations, the beauty is increased at this time of year by the Christmas paraphernalia, which is very tastefully done. Added to the fact that the entrance doors are made of ruby red glass, the whole place gives the feeling of luxury.

When we left there we caught several buses to reach another of the Station Casinos. The Red Rock, and others are all part of the Station Casino group, which we though would be interesting to visit. This was the furthest away from Downtown and we enjoyed the trip. By the time we had finished we were too worn out and hungry to do any more so, we just took the bus back to the DTC and then the Deuce back to the Stratosphere, for dinner and a quiet evening in.

In Las Vegas on 2nd December it is Marathon day. The race starts at 6 a.m. and the course passes our hotel at the 4 & 1/2 mile mark. I was awake at 6.02 a.m. and watched the lead runners pass by on the Strip below our window. It was another 1/2 hour before we started to see the bulk of the runners passing by, there were thousands of them. We also watched live on TV, and apparently this is the third and biggest for Las Vegas so far, with 19000 runners taking part this year. The Strip southbound has been closed to traffic since 1 a.m. this morning, and by 9.30 traffic is back and running, but the Deuce is not running until 12.30, so we can’t get a bus down the strip to see the Virgin rep again. Instead we walk to the Sahara for breakfast and then take the monorail to Ceasar’s Palace and arrive in time to see the Virgin rep just before she starts her daily meeting. She is very helpful, but other than the telephone card, she cannot help us as we really need to go to the airport to sort it out. Off we went to the airport, and eventually find our way to the Virgin helpdesk. A very nice young man made some phone calls, told us that the ticket had been cancelled before we even flew out here, and then took our problem to his manager. Eventually, the puzzle was solved. It appears, we have 2 reference numbers, and everyone was using the wrong one. As soon as they punched in the correct numbers, our flight was confirmed, we have our seat numbers, and everything is hunkydorey! Much relieved, we left the airport with lighter spirits than we had arrived with, and decided it was a good time to visit the Las Vegas Outlet Mall, for a little retail therapy. More Christmas shopping achieved we returned to the Strip on the Deuce. We met a very pleasant couple from North Dakota on a 5 day trip, and chatted with them all the way back to the Stratosphere. As we have a show booked for tonight, we dined early and decided that the Roxy was worth another visit. Dinner was good, and several of the waiters and waitresses sang to the customers. They were a very talented group of individuals, with extremely good voices. After dinner it was time to change for the show.

We went to see the American Superstars show in the Stratosphere. We were shown to our table by the stage, and it was an extremely good show. Tribute shows are always a bit worrying, as very often the stars they are paying tribute to are nothing like those portraying them. This was certainly the exception to the rule. We started with “Elvis” and it was obvious that the artiste had studied his subject well, and although not identical to Elvis (no-one could be) he was very like him, with voice and the look of Elvis at about 35-40. He was a little overweight, but not bloated and his act was excellent. He was followed by Britney Spears lookalike, and her voice when singing those special Britney songs was very similar. She was accompanied by showgirls, who looked lovely and danced well. Next on the bill was country and western star, Tim McGraw. He was exceptionally good, and we could almost believe it was him, the look and the voice were so convincing. He was followed by Christina Aguilera, and from the little I have seen of the original this one seemed very authentic, and she too was accompanied by back-up dancers. She and Britney got together for some very raunchy numbers with their dancers, and soon had the audience eating out of their hands. The finale of the show was Michael Jackson, and I was a little concerned about this act to start with. The real one has been out of the limelight for quite a while, and his reputation has been tainted, but I used to enjoy all his unique videos, and very soon this artiste almost became the real Michael Jackson. He did an excellent act, and the audience which had started out giving a rather cool reception, were soon won over by him. A really good highlight was when he spotted a small boy in the audience who was dressed as Michael Jackson. He hauled him up on stage, and the little lad put on an excellent rendition of Norma Jean, with the moonwalking and all the characteristic actions of the real one. The little lad was just 7 years old.

All the artistes joined in the finale, and then were waiting outside the theatre to sign autographs and for a photo session. All in all it was a very good show, and certainly one of the best tribute shows I have ever seen.

We need to get up really early this morning to spend a last 1/2 hour with our friends Joan and Mike before they fly back to England. Their shuttle is at 7.45 a.m. so we meet up with them at Starbucks for coffee and then go and see them off in the shuttle.

Our next action is to decide what to do with the rest of our day. Over breakfast we decided it would be a good opportunity to try and find the Virgin Rep. on the Strip. We phoned the Virgin hotline, but they couldn’t help us find where she is at present, but in the course of the call the operator checked our flight details and told us that we are not booked on any flight back to England on 10th December. Panic time!! We decided to try the last known venue for the rep and did find her at Ceasar’s Palace in the Planet Holloywood Restaurant. She then checked out our flight details, and discovered it had been cancelled in July!! More panic!! She suggested we return tomorrow morning to see her supervisor and pcik up an international phone card to call our travel agent on Monday.

As we have been unable to access the internet in our hotel we decided to take the laptop to the Hilton where they have an internet cafe. It is in their coffee shop and over a couple of cappuchinos I was able to get on line for as long as I wanted.  When we returned to the Stratosphere we dined in the restaurant Joan and Mike had told us about, The Roxy. There the waiting staff all sing. It is just like a fifties diner, and made for a very entertaining meal. It was fun.

Joan and Mike should have been flying out today, but she is still in hospital in the morning, and we are awaiting news that she is being released, and their travel news. Bill and I take a cab over to the Hilton to collect my ticket for tonight’s Barry Manilow Show, and I am very pleased to find I have 2nd Row centre. Did I say pleased, ecstatic would be a more accurate description.

We couldn’t settle to do much else until we had news of Jown, and she was eventually released and returned to the hotel at about 3 p.m. We spent an hour together while she rested before I had to go and get ready for my big night out. They didn’t feel like joining us for dinner before I went to the show, so Bill and I took a cab to the Hilton again, (it has been teeming with rain all day) and dined in their buffet, which was excellent and included wine and beer in the price. I went off to the theatre and left Bill on the slot machines for a couple of hours of freedom.

I spent some time chatting to a group of women who had Platinum tickets. They had paid $1250 for the privilege of going in early, to meet Barry one to one, chat with him and have photos taken, then they were escorted to their front row centre seats, directly in front of me, so I saw them all again then. They were all of the opinion that it was worth every penny, and the extra cash goes to charity, so it can’t be bad.

The show was superb. Barry has been sick with bronchitis this week and cancelled shows, but this one was lengthened to make up for that, so I got the benefit of a full 2 hour show with additional material. I managed to get some really good photos of him, and everything was superb. I made friends with a young Japanese woman sitting next to me, and after the show she took me along to the party, and introduced me to some of her friends. They provided food and drink, a disco and free raffle. At the end of the night we were all given a little bag with a gift in it. I had a soft toy puppy and neckchain. After the party, and exchanging e-mail addresses with some of the people there, including Mae, and Tess, a Polynesian woman, I left the party and took a cab back to the Stratosphere. I finally dropped in to bed at 1 a.m. happy and exhausted. To add a bonus to it all, I discovered that Bill had enjoyed his gambling session and it hadn’t cost him a penny. In fact, he ended the night $3 up!