I am an Emergency Medicine Doctor, UK qualified with over 11 years experience. I fell in love with the beautiful sunny Algarve many years ago.  To my surprise, I bought property here, and I am now even married to a Portuguese citizen!

If you watch fish through a layer of water - I was running out of ways to amuse myself during lockdown - you will see them remaining absolutely still for a long time, for no particular reason, judging by their glassy eyes. And then, with a slight twitch of their fins, they dart away so that they can do nothing again, somewhere else.  

In recent times, we might be forgiven for thinking we were living in a Russian play.  When Irina, the youngest of Chekhov's Three Sisters, says, "How are we supposed to go on like this?" most of us would probably just shrug fatalistically and look glumly at the other two sisters.

It pains me to say this, but your brain is a liar.  Not that you'll believe me once I tell it so.

The Algarve's motorway, A22, was partially built with EU-money; so accordingly should always be free for use by all. This road is key for tourism, as thousands of cars enter Portugal that way.

Searching online for something to read during lockdown, I noticed that Romance was on sale, for as little as £1 in some cases.  If only it was always that easy.

You would think being dead might severely limit a person's shopping habits.  As well as most of their other vital functions.  But no. Or not necessarily.

A Vespa is a luxury motor scooter made in Italy and was considered to be the bee's knees in the 1950s and beyond.  Which reminds me is that 'vespa' is the Italian word for wasp.