so as per usual when I have too much to say I think it's best that I just jot down some high points of my holiday... perhaps expanding on them later.

day one
-arriving Thursday and heading straight to Seville and went to the festival. the costumes were so pretty and the whole city was alive! with music and dance. it was truly a wicked night. Trailing around the different casettas
-finding the only public casetta with drag queens... or 'fake women' as Tiago called them... how we managed to do that... I'll never know!
-winding up at a gay bar at the suggestion of one of Tiago's clients (the hilarity comes from the fact that Tiago is not gay) and after the 'fake women' was already a little shaken
-dancing and drinking and laughing till 4am


day 2
-witnessing a bloke have an unfortunate but hilarious incident involving a used condom falling out of his pocket in the middle of the street.
-amazing breakfast in a local restaurant in the Jewish quarter of Seville
-did I mention I'm going to move to Seville?
-drive to a horse ranch for a business chat with a man who simply could not sit still while negotiating with Siobhan... me standing outside desperately trying to rid myself of my white London hue
-bob marley and giggles and deliriousness on the way back to Portugal
-sleeeeeeeeeeep

day 3
-beautiful bbq at Sally and Tony's farm... the weather was amazing
-tan... nope not a chance... still as white as a snowflake
-arrival of Line and Sophie... annouk's cousin and friend and her two babies waalt and daan from Belgium
-girlie giggles

day 4
why can't I remember anything?

day 5
-slept till 11
-there was rain
-yummy Belgian food
-major business planning with Siobhan... building her a consultancy model (which ROCKS btw)
-drink
-gossip
-girlie chats

day 6
-helping Siobhan train her horses and ponies
-learning how to walk a horse... and generally trying to be of assistance... city girl with horses... never a dull moment
-boat ride with Tiago
-drinks
-crying babies
-dizzying amounts of Flemish and Portuguese mixed... I was in language overload


day 7
-more horse training
-trip to badajoz to visit Oopie and Soleil and check on some ponies that Sally has living there
-trip to Carrefour (including the purchase of a lovely pair of red sandals for me and my seestor)
-drinks
-dinner in a local restaurant including more than 11 beers between Sio, Marina and I including food that cost 21 Euros (gasps! how inexpensive!)
-crying babies


day 8
-witnessing a gypsy kid get struck by a car in town... and watching no one help him except Siobhan... I dared not as I couldn't communicate to him but no one else would go near the little guy cause he was a gypsy
-boat trip with annouk, line, sophie, all the kids and some of annouk's relatives
-the most thrilling motorcycle ride of my life wearing nothing more than a mini skirt and flip flops and no helmet. Over bumpy terrain, though olive groves. It was the most terrifying thing but also the most fun/stupid thing I've done in a long long time.
-Hugo landing the job he wanted in Spain (thus securing his ticket out of his limited possibilities of work in Portugal) BIG celebrating for him!

day 9
-lots of sunning and relaxing
-car trip into the Spanish mountains
-buying a huge picnic lunch for under 10 euros for 3 people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-picnic by the side of the road... playing football, laughing... taking pictures
-stopping random donkey drivers to ask if they had a bourra for sale to mate with Siobhan's Donkey Eeore
-picking up a very old man who was hitching and giving him a lift to his house to help him avoid the heat and the long journey!
-night time trip into Evora with the boys for a friend's b'day party
-controlling my laughter at the age difference and the major language barriers between the kids at the party and me... had a blast anyway
-watching Hugo attempt the pseudo juggling tricks that the hippy girls were doing outside of the cathedral including the wiggling of the hips!
-staying out way too late

day 10
-recovery
-napping
-afternoon bbq
-donkey hair cuts!
-dinner under the stars

day 11
-loading up the car with Hugo to be dropped in Spain at his new job... lots of good byes
-stopping at a festa just on the border and having a beer... lots of lovely Spanish traditional dress and lots of pretty horses...
-noticing that the festa was in the middle of have a mass (and they were serving beer) now mass with booze.... that's a concept!
-honking and every car we passed, waving and laughing!
-did I mention how friendly the Spanish people are?
-lunch with Hugos new boss in a sandy (western looking ) village
-driving along side a massive motorcycle rally along the coast on the way to the airport
-quick check in and immediate boarding and off I was winging my way back to London town.

I'm still a glow from all the wonderful fun I had.

I will surely never forget it!

Thanks Siobhan and Annouk!