Sunshine

We were blessed with wonderful weather during our stay in Portugal.  For the whole week, not a cloud obscured the sun from dawn till dusk and the temperature was just right.  Not too hot to make you want to flake-out and not move, but warm enough for us to enjoy sitting on the balcony until well into the evening.  Of course, the sunshine made for some good views over the coastline and out to the sparkling sea.

The bright sunlight also served to show off the beautiful Bougainvillea which seems to adorn most villa fronts.

There can be few more iconic sights than the various colours of this group of vines - despite the fact that they are not originally from this part of the world at all, but from South America.

Pink is the most common colour, but they come in several shades from white to deep purple as well as a few pale orange ones which, to my eye, look rather insipid and not very nice.  These however, against a blue sky backdrop and the ubiquitous Portuguese chimneys, looked quite stunning.