When Pipocas and I went out for some much needed cold water after our Japanese luncheon the other day she mentioned that she was going to Tavira during Semana Santa with her husband and 4-year-old daughter and asked if Nog & I would like to come and hang out with them for a couple of days while they were there. And well, I’ve never been to the Algarve and Tavira is very close to the Spanish border (and also accessible by bus) so I started looking into this possibility . . .

At first I thought we would just go overnight as the bus leaves here quite early in the morning and returns around 4.30 in the afternoon, but then Nog & I talked it over and decided to make it two nights if we could find a cheap reasonably priced hotel. But then I found this place online, a small ‘guesthouse’ with just four rooms, which had a special offer – three nights for 30 euros a night! And it looks like just the sort of place I love – small, independently owned – so I called the owner, Sebastiao, for more information. He told me the usual rate is 60€ a night and if we wanted two nights he could offer the room for 100€. Though three nights for 90€ is an even better deal, even if we only end up staying for two nights, so I booked the place. Eep!

Luckily my next door neighbour Paula is going to be in town all of next week and has said she doesn’t mind coming over to check on the cats while we’re away – freshen the water bowls and even scoop the poop out of the cat box (bless her!). She also did this for us when we went to Lisbon last summer, though she said she never ended up seeing either cat as they stayed hidden (sulking) whenever she came over.

My only concern is leaving the boys together pretty much ‘unattended’ for so long – the last time Paula did the cat-sitting thing they were separated (Sunny was closed off in the living room) because of the ‘pee wars’. And although things have settled down quite a bit since then and the boys are mostly getting along with only occasional spats, I’m worried in case a few days without the alpha cat (me) around to calm them down might set them off again. Really I’m only worried about Azar because he’s much smaller than Sunny and only has one functioning front leg, so he can’t defend himself very well if 7 kilos of a demented Sunny decides to whup his ass.

But it is rather exciting to be suddenly off to the Algarve. And we’ll be there and back again before the hordes of Spanish tourists arrive for the long Easter weekend, which is also a good thing. Anyhow, we’ve bought our bus tickets and so now I’m getting the usual pre-trip jitters! Must go do some laundry . . .