Accommodation - Marvao / Castelo de Vide area / Lisbon

There is a wide variety of accommodation available from camping, Bed only (normal in Portugal & then you go to a local cafe for breakfast), B & B, villas to rent and hotels.

If a group of dancers want to book the B & B at Camping Asseiceira there is a good discount plus use of the self catering facilities. Gary is the friendly & welcoming owner who owns this wonderful site in San Antonio das Areias. I think it says it all that friends arrived in their caravan in November 2009 with the plan to travel around Portugal........ they didn't leave till May 2010!!!!

www.campingasseiceira.com

Casa Melanie, Castelo de Vide centre - (00 351) 245 901 632

This is where I stayed when I first came to the Castelo de Vide. Accommodation is room only & you can have breakfast at the Cafes nearby. Emilia is a welcoming & friendly host who has turned out to be one of my many Guardian Angels here - she has been so helpful & kind to me. Thanks to Emilia who gives me lots of her valuable time I have been able to sort out so many things!

LISBON

Despite it being the capital you can get incredibly cheap accommodation. I have stayed right in the centre in a good hotel for the reasonable sum of 50 Euros for the two of us (Feb 2010).

Depending on how fussy you are hostels are worth checking out. Only heard good reports about them from people who have used them. Many Hostels have twin rooms & I recently stayed in one which was 36 Euros for a twin. 15 Euros per head sharing a 4 bed room in an expensive area of Lisbon where the other alternatives were more like 80 Euros for a room.

I get the impression that Tourist Informations can get cheap deal last minute bookings when searches on the internet were not successful.

Travel Information

Hi, gradually over time I will improve this page. So for the time being please bear with me!

Travel Info - updated - 27th March 2011

For accommodation - please look for the 'Accommodation' post

I will also be putting together a 'Things to do locally' post

AIRPORT - the nearest one to me is Lisbon (Lisboa).

Then there are various options - car hire, coach or train (the latter is not great regards the timing).

** I have heard that there is another airport opened in Spain recently which is about the same sort of distance away but I have no idea yet of the links to my area.

Faro airport is something like a 5 hour drive (very easy drive particulary if done via the toll motorway) or 7 hour coach journey if you get the one daily direct coach.

Car Hire - easy & pleasant drive to where I live. Be aware though that it will take between 2 & 1/2 to 3 hours depending on how fast you drive. I will be putting together very clear directions directly from the airport. A car is a good idea if you are someone who likes to go off & explore. Although any guests staying with me I will organise trips out depending on my commitments at the time. Once you are in rural Alentejo, Portugal it is not so easy to then in hindsight try to hire a car!

Car hire has been cheap for the month of April 2011- it is possible to hire a reasonable car for less than £130 Euros. Infact when 4 people wanted to get a bigger car (because of luggage space) it actually worked out much cheaper to hire 2 smaller cars.

** Be aware that the there is a distinct lack of efficiency when hiring a car from Lisbon airport. Patience is not a virtue - it is a necessity when picking up your car. Be patient & polite, smile and just chill. Also, it is a good idea that you check you can drive into Spain - best to ensure your insurance covers you for going out of Portugal as I am close by the Spanish border.

Coach - There is a shuttle bus (about 3.5o Euros) from the airport to the main coach station called Sete Rios. The taxi ride is currently about 10 Euros so if there are a few of you it is easier & cheaper to hop in a taxi. Make sure you discuss price / that the meter is on - mostly honesty isn't a problem though. There is one daily coach at 3pm to San Antonio das Areias (on timetable it is S Antonio Areias) which is a lovely village near me (10 mins from my house). I enjoy the pleasant journey but does take about 4 & 1/2 hours. The other main town near by is Portalegre (30 min drive) which has several coaches going to it throughout the day. This trip can be as little as 2 & 3/4 hours. www.rede-expressos.pt If you google rede-expressos various information sites come up. I can email you a translation of a timetable between Lisbon & myself. Current cost to San Antonio is about 17 Euros.

Train - there is a train that goes from Lisbon through to Madrid. It stops at a station called Beira / Marvao which is about 20 mins from me. But it is at an ungodly hour - I will check it out.

TRAVELING AROUND LISBON

If you wish to spend a day or two in Lisbon there is lots to see & do. There is a metro which has been efficient & easy to use the few times I have done it. The GREEN ticket you get is reusable so don't throw it away like I did (on-0ne told me!). You present this each time you buy a ticket(I believe it is for the metro, train & bus). Also, it was a coincidence that at the train station I realised that I had to 'activate' the card before catching the train by waving it at a little upright machine. Again, no-one at the ticket desk told me. I read that there is a huge fine if you don't!!

There appears to be an all day ticket travel option for less than 4 Euros. You can visit some great places outside of Lisbon which are still in the special deal area of Zone 1.

There appears to be quite an efficient bus service around Lisbon but I have an aversion to buses which I still need to overcome.

Some of the free maps from the tourist info give good details of the bus, train & metro routes.

Events, Demonstrations & News

These photos are of various events & workshops held in England.

For more info on what is happening you can look on:-

www.modernjive.com

www.uk-jive.co.uk

** There is one Modern Jive 1 week holiday in September near Lisbon

LAST CLASS for Modern Jive Santo Antonio das Areias (Alentejo) - 15th June

** Classes due to start again in September 2011

WE LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU.

CONTACT:-

• Yolande - 245 905 196 (I speak English, Dutch, & some German, Portuguese & French)
• Joao - 966 459 529 / 245 102 561 (Portuguese, Spanish & English)

FORGET THE GYM - JOIN THE PARTY - HAVE FUN - GET FIT - MEET NEW FRIENDS

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXAMPLES of FUTURE PLANS:-

Portuguese language workshops

Photography workshops

Guided walks

Dance workshops

The Van is Committed!

PHOTOS

Left - Titch makes herself at home whilst the work of unloading the jigsaw puzzle of things stuffed into every crevice of the van is carried out.

Right - Dogs posing by the van.

Below - last class with Sue Freeman. My left leg's ability of the Suzie Q move improved slightly!!

Where on earth did the last 6 weeks disappear to? As for this last week - it did a vanishing act!! The list of things to do before leaving seemed never ending & grew longer instead of getting shorter.

Discovered some key people who helped with my equipment challenges. My laptop threw at wobbler at all the music it had to cope with & lay on the ground with its legs in the air playing dead. Lee at Computer Direct worked his magic on my computers turning them into little race horses. His patience with my questions was endless. Then there was Bob at Kays Electronics in Chesterfield - 30 years of experience in the music / entertainments business providing lots of good information as to what I needed to help promote my dancing. I even touched a microphone used by royalty recently!!

There was also Lee at New Leaf sign makers who delivered as promised the design for my van's transformation into a moving advert. Oh, the agonies of "can I do this to my beloved van"? Once the work was done I was delighted - the colours are great, it is certainly noticeable & definitely not subtle! What is the point in that eh? It did dawn on me though that I now cannot do anything like park somewhere I shouldn't etc. as my info is all over the van. I'm surprised that I didn't get an irrate phone call from the shocked woman who witnessed me fling a banana skin out of the window into the bushes as I was driving along.

The trip back was fairly smooth & as usual the dogs took it all in their stride - even the 24 hour ferry crossing. Then there was the 8 hour drive with just a 20 minute coffee break during which they slept & I sang & plotted & planned all the way home intersperced with the odd moment or two of "Oh HECK - I've done it now. No turning back now. Especially with a van that has Gecko Dance plastered all over it!" Not forgetting of course all the wonderful people who have committed themselves to coming over to help.

Unknown Talents of Others ...... Unless You Chat!!

When you dance it is always so good if you can chat a bit. Turns out Elbie at Lindy Hop is a singer & does duos with his dad Irie White. Elbie sings an interesting range of music styles ranging from Reggae to pop, Rock to Classics AND he has a Maine Coon rescue cat - so has obviously got good taste!

Count Down - March 1st 2011

PHOTOS

Top Left - Nicolai & Rasa dancing Salsa Cubana (Sheffield). Top Right - photo by Kim Willis of Marvao Castle gardens.

A 'Wi' dance party - great fun on a wet winter day.

I think my memory cells have packed their bags & taken a holiday to the moon! I panic & have moments when it feels like I can't remember a thing. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Last Sunday I danced lots as a follower and then as a lead - switching from one role to another without any brain ache whatsoever. Admittedly I creaked a bit getting out of my van once I arrived home but that was protesting limbs & body!! It was a great evening at Tracey's as usual and the icing on the cake was being able to dance the lead AND chat all at the same time without any hiccups or anything grinding to a halt as co-ordination refused to kick in. YIPPEEEEEEEEEE! The other thing that put a big smile on my face was when Tracey (bless her cotton socks) asked me to help with teaching the class. Loved every minute of it.

Adam the ever patient social media guy came round for lesson no.3 in the joys of Twitter, Mailchimp, Blogs, Hootsuite and facebook - it sounds like a recipe for a joke doesn't it? My giddy ants - now doing THAT kind of stuff really does give me brain ache. But after much swearing, muttering, chuntering & coffee we finally finished my first ever Gecko Dance newsletter. Am I proud or what? Dancing in Portugal here I come.............. Just got to pack the van & do a thousand and one things before setting off on the 13th. Business cards, posters, van business signs, Marmite for Linda, Cadbury's Cream Eggs for Gary, a saw for Ben, and ..........

Expanding on the leading front - testing new territories ..... my first experiences of actually being in a class & leading - Salsa New York style. Also thanks to Nisha Lall's never ending patience Lesley & I eventually got our act together leading Cuban Salsa. We had such a laugh and gave Nisha good reason to chuckle at our antics. I'm sure leading in Modern Jive has paved the way to making this easier even though it is a very different dance.