We live amidst a genuine horticultural community of Algarvians who either own small plots of citrus trees or work for the larger citrus farmers in the local area. The traffic in our lane is mainly limited to tractors, and there is a local shepherd / goatherd who drives his flock past on his weekly circuit. We are the only cottage in the lane with a pool. It is up to you how much you want to go out or just "sit and contemplate" in the garden, read a good book or swim in the pool. In winter the cottage is "cosy" with a woodburning stove. It is a good place to "get away from it all", whatever your "it" is. It is our "hide away" from corporate life.

You can choose whether to eat out or buy delicious, organically raised vegetables, fruit, honey, jams, bread, local meat and freshly caught fish at the local markets to cook at home. There is good selection of local restaurants from the very simple (say £5 a head excluding drinks) to the relatively expensive and sophisticated (say £15 a head). Silves is home to the very famous "Rui's Marisqueira", probably the finest seafood restaurant in the Algarve. However lobster, crab, whelks, barnacles, langoustines don't come at all cheap (but are far less than in the UK). You can also eat out with views of the castle, along the pavements by the market and Roman Bridge in the summer or eat inside as you choose. There are also restaurants in most of the small hamlets and villages around - some smarter than others. It is unlikely that you will be "cheated" - as you might be in a coastal restaurant - which doesn't mean that genuine accidents with bills won't happen !

There is lots to see in Silves itself. The excellent museum, which has recently re-opened, depicts Silves from the times of the Phoenician traders (750 BC - 550BC), through Roman Times (Silves was an important port by 200AD), the Moorish occupation (700 AD - 1189 AD), the conquest of the Crusaders - including the formidable Highlanders - (1189 AD - 1191 AD), the Moorish re-conquest (1191 AD - 1249 AD) and the final expulsion of the Moors in 1249. One can see the remains of one of great Moorish water storage tanks under the castle, which allowed it to withstand the Crusader siege, inside the museum.

There is the Moorish castle in Silves to see (although heavily restored in 1940) - the views from the ramparts are stunning. The nearby cathedral is one of the few major buildings to survive the catastrophic earthquake of November 1st 1755 mainly in tact, and is of great interest to architects and historians alike.

Silves has a quaint Moorish quarter, the majority only passable on foot, where you could easily imagine yourself in North Africa. The City is in the throws of a major urban regeneration programme with the pedestrianisation of some streets and the transformation of the old Anglo-Portuguese cork factory (The Fabrica Inglês) into an entertainment / cultural / gastronomic centre.

With the extension of the Spanish / Algarve motorway from Huelva to near Silves and the improvement of the Lisbon / Algarve motorway, Silves makes an ideal spot for exploring the rest of Southern Portugal and South Western Spain. We prefer pottering around the little Algarvian villages which are still relatively unspoilt (except for the odd "Jeep Safari"!) and marvel in the contrast in building style and layout between the Villages of the West (up to and North of Cape St. Vincent) and the East (from Silves inland and East to the Spanish border).

If something goes wrong in the house, it will get fixed - but not with the UK speed of reaction. The Moorish influence and the heat mean that time is not as "important" to the Algarvians as to North Europeans - one just has to accept that the pace of life is slower. We have therefore installed the most mechanically simple and well-proven domestic equipment in the house to reduce the chances of a "technical problem".

We can't, however, second guess an electricity failure in a thunderstorm or the day on which one of the several water pumps or the video will "give up" any more than you can at home. We have an excellent Management Team who visit the house regularly to carry out preventive maintenance and to weekly clean the pool, replenish the water softener with salt etc. (more often in summer). The Manager's office is in Silves, is open daily during the week and there is an emergency 'phone number for out of hours problems.