As always, Quinta dos Vales’ visitors were greeted at the Open Door 2017 with beautiful sunshine. On Sunday 2nd April over 3.000 visitors strolled through the grounds of the estate, where on display were numerous dance and musical performances.

A year of exciting concerts and events continues with a memorable performance of the DIDO & AENEAS opera from the Lagos Academy of Music on 30th April from 18:00h

Vale do Lobo will be introducing the talented musicians and performers of the Lagos Academy of Music during the performance of the DIDO & AENEAS opera being staged on Sunday, 30th April in the resort Auditorium from 18:00h onwards, in a glamourous 365 Algarve Program event, a structure financed by Turismo de Portugal.

Mediterranean Gardening Association – Portugal, Members and Friends Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday April 1st 2017, including a talk by Sue Parker, followed by guided walk 'Wild Orchids – Odysseys & Oddities'.

“Go to the right places in the Algarve at the right times of year, and the most amazing orchid sights will greet you.”

Sue Parker shares her time between homes in Wales and the Algarve and travels, mainly in Europe, to see, photograph and learn more about wild terrestrial orchids. Her passion for wild orchids dates back to her childhood in the Far East, where epiphytic orchids grew on the fence at the bottom of her garden.

The FIMA 2017- Festival Internacional de Música do Algarve presents “Ode to Joy” with the Orquestra Clássica do Sul directed by Rui Pinheiro, its titular conductor.

In this inaugural concert we have a program that presents the absolute debut of "Eu.Rope" by Luís Soldado, OCS associated composer, in which piece the author makes a reflection on what it means to be European in a globalised world, as well as on how Europe will have to look to its cultural and intellectual heritage in order to reinvent itself.

It is a basic human quality and involves learning to focus and pay wise attention to what’s going on inside your mind and body, and in the outside world.

Our minds are easily distracted, often unhelpfully going over past events in our head and trying to anticipate the future. Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to, and seeing more clearly whatever is happening in our lives. Paying attention to our thoughts, feelings and sensations in the body may not sound like a very helpful thing to do, but research consistently shows that learning to do this in a particular way can have a measurably positive impact on our lives.

Algarve Archaeological Association talk on Tuesday 10th January 2017 - 'Bon appetit! Eating in Roman and Medieval Islamic times in Southern Portugal: comparing zooarchaeology and literary sources'.

On Tuesday 10th January, the Algarve Archaeological Association (AAA) will be presenting two lectures, in English, by Professor Maria Joao Valente. The first lecture will be at 2.30pm at the Museu do Trajo in Sao Bras, the second lecture will be at 5.45pm at the Convento de Sao Jose in Lagoa.

Are we already at that time of the year again?  I must be getting old(er) because it feels like 2016 has flown by and while the interweb keeps on telling me it has been the worst year ever, it feels actually like it has been a good one on the whole down here in Carvoeiro.

Sometimes it can be a pain living in a place that most people can’t point to on a map (Do you mean Puerto Rico?) but when the world appears to be going a bit mad it can be a nice feeling to be off the radar a little and that’s the way I like it here.

A Portada’s next appearance is at Cine-Teatro Loulé on Friday, December 16th and Saturday the 17th. Their new production is of 'Arms and the Man' by George Bernard Shaw. Although it deals with serious subject matter it is the nearest Shaw ever got to farce and is acclaimed as his wittiest comedy. Written at the end of the 19th century its anti-war message was the 'Blackadder Goes Forth' of its time.