Palm trees swaying in the wind. Instead of having the air-condition on full blast, I opened the balcony doors. Than straight back to bed and my dreams. What a fantastic feeling, knowing you have absolutely no reason to wake up early, other than going to have breakfast or going for a walk to discover more of the park.
And that is what I did. Blissful laziness. Fantastic breakfasts out on the terrace overlooking that “lake” with the fountain. Wouldn’t mind having a breakfast like this every single day. What a way to start your day. Their selection of fresh fruits took me by surprise, mangoes, strawberries, papayas, cherries, apricots, peaches, figs right next to the usual kiwis, oranges, apples, pears and bananas. And they had porridge, my morning staple. After the second morning they even got our coffee so “right “( first day they served us with an extremely weak, milky cappuccino), that I had to get extra milk to dilute it so I can drink it. Small problems. I am gonna miss those breakfasts. I thought I had the best when we were staying at Pestana Grand and eating by the pool, but this easily beats it.
After breakfasts usually we gathered our stuff and went down to the beach. 35 steps to take, pretty steep ones, but once you were down, was worth it. Sometimes we had “huge” waves, which made my son so happy. Acted like a normal kid, jumping up and down and trying to catch the waves. Once it got too hot, we went up to our pool side cabana, private and shady. Then our usual cocktails, M had mango smoothie, and I had giant pina coladas served in a pineapple. Lunches by the pool, reading in the shade. More pool time, beach time, while A took his afternoon nap. And he wonders why we fall silent after 11. We are tired!
Amazing dinners followed. Had Portuguese in Adega , even tried their fennel ice cream. Did you know that Funchal got its name from it? Back then they had fennel everywhere on the island.
We’ve tried the Atlantico and the Whales . Both of them have amazing views of the ocean, with excellent food. Though there were a few funny moments, like when we ordered a shrimp dish as an appetiser to share…Without blinking an eye they brought 3 plates and then the shrimp had arrived. A single one with some decoration around it. Or when M decided to have dessert, and he asked for a cheesecake. A cheesecake with pina colada sorbet. The waiter did his best to make us order something else, saying the sorbet has alcohol in it. No problem, Mum will have it. After a while he gave up and brought it to us. A heap of whipped cream cheese with 3 bits of pineapple around it and that alcoholic sorbet. When we asked about it, poor thing he said that it is an alternative interpretation of cheesecake. We laughed so hard, couldn’t even get up for a while to leave.
But we had delicious salmon with broccoli risotto, sea bream fillets, lamb with dolmas, name it we tried it.
Mostly we drank their “local” wine. Can’t say that they were best, did have better ones, before, but we still enjoyed it.
They do have their own vineyard and grow their own veggies at Alentejo at Herded dos Grousvila vita’s farm. They had organic chicken and vegetables on their menus as well. Thumbs up!
The only restaurant we haven’t tried on their premises was the Ocean, their two Michelin stars restaurant. They were fully booked and they close on Mondays and Tuesdays. Bad timing. But then again, children under the age of 12 are not welcomed. And we wouldn’t want to leave our own little entertainment – called son – at home. 
If you wonder did we do anything else other then eating, drinking, the answer is yes. We did step out of the hotel’s premises. I will tell you later.