Sat here by our pool having breakfast is a good time to tell you a bit about the weather here in Portugal.

The experts say the climate is Mediterranean. (They can’t be experts on maps because we’re bloomin’ miles away from the Med!) What they mean is the winters are mild and the summers are hot and dry. It’s pretty much the same for the whole country, although it doesn’t get quite so hot in the north, and high up in the mountains you get enough winter snow for skiing.

The average annual temperature is 15 Celsius in the north and 18 in the south. And while the north gets around 1,600 sunshine hours a year, the south gets up to 3,300. That’s some of the highest in Europe.

All that sun and balmy air coming in from the Atlantic means the locally produced food and drink has to be experienced to be believed. So you’ll be glad the climate also offers countless opportunities for healthy outdoor exercise to burn the calories off.

Anyway, that’s it for now. I can’t sit here by the pool having breakfast all day … I’d have no time to go for lunch on the beach.

Até mais!

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