AL VOR ONE AND ONE FOR AL
Day 1 Thursday 26th February 2026 Our first break of 2026 was to Alvor in the Algarve, Portugal. We seem to be making a bit of a habit of going somewhere warmish early in the year. The Algarve was a bit of a gamble, inasmuch as warmth and sunshine is not as certain as in Gran Canaria or Madeira. It is, however, closer to home. We have been to the Algarve a number of times, but never to Alvor. Everything was new to us, but Alvor is an ancient place. The port was founded by Hannibal (of elephants over the alps fame) in 436BC. It was named Albur by the Moors who conquered the port in 716 and built a large castle here. It passed from Moorish control to the Portuguese a number of times before finally being reconquered in 1250. One modern guide calls it a drinking village with a fishing problem! Who wouldn't want to explore somewhere like that? I fear that neither Hannibal nor the Moors would have persevered, had they been faced with nearly two hours of shuffling through the...