Quinta da Tôr and the Strait of Hormuz

We split up today. My wife was keen on visiting Quinta da Tôr, a vineyard with pools. Our son was not too keen so stayed in Santa Luzia. It was the right thing for him to do. He would not have liked it here, and we loved it.  Good wine, friendly service and pools to both swim and cool down in. 

As for the Strait of Hormuz, I naively thought that things would be sorted after the latest peace deal was agreed. But I forgot about the greed. I had realised that the reason oil prices are manipulated by the weekends was based on computer algorithms running. I came to this conclusion when I was wondering why the market kept falling for the same lies. To me, it would be logical for the market to anticipate this and switch off the algorithms, or at least prevent them from making oil trades, over weekends.  I do hope that this is all sorted out properly and soon because, as it is, too many farmers have not been able to fertilise crops and the longer this continues, the longer Trumpflation will increase global food prices. 

Trump may berate NATO nations for not providing him with direct aid in his diversionary war from him being in The Epstein files, but I am glad that we are not helping him directly to strike Iran. 

Taberna Amaro

Today, we left Villa Stofero and its tranquil gardens, its pool and its working TV. We are now in Santa Luzia. The apartment has a bigger living space than before, two private balconies and is in a village.  Down the road from where we are is Taberna Amoro.

Over this holiday, I have had average meat courses most of the time. Today I had the best beef I have had this holiday. The service is friendly, we ate outside in the back garden which did mean we were exposed to some tobacco smoke. I would recommend all the places I have posted on this holiday, this place foremost of all. 

We had been to the nearby market earlier in the day for lunch were we had some local food. I liked the pork sandwich which I had, my son hated it. I felt the fries were from the freezer and were underdone. It may be that my enjoyment of dinner was based on how bad the chips were. The kids had been shopping and my daughter bought herself a bracelet. My son bought a present for a friend. It was an experience that is one we normally would not have on holiday and it added variety to the holiday. 

Restaurante de Querença

Today involved dinner at a distance from our villa. It is our last night here and our hosts recommended this place. It has a great view and the friendliest service we have had so far. I loved the traditional food, but sadly ate too much at lunch so could not enjoy it.  If we do return to this area of the Algarve, we will probably return here as well.  

Restaurante Rei das Praias

Today we returned Praia dos Caneiros and enjoyed a meal there. We actually did not go on the beach, but instead went to the restaurant we had been to in the past. It brought back many memories, but we all agreed that while the food was very good, it did not deserve the price. 

Thanks to my son, my daughter he and I actually went to some caves first of all. There were some rocks afterwards where some teenagers were reenacting a scene from the Twilight films by jumping into the water. Well, one of them did, the others watched. It was amazing to see but the beauty was spoiled by some leaving litter behind.

After that, we drove to Carvoeiro where the children went shopping. We had been here in the past and while we did not recognise it at first, we did remember it, each of us recalling different things about it.  But we did not remember the restaurant we went to before, not that I think it is there anymore.

It was after that which is when we went to Restaurante Rei das Praias. I would love to return to the beach. Fingers crossed… 

We were lucky

It was a penalty. For Ghana. But apparently I am wrong, and I am glad I am wrong as England would have lost. Ghana played well and England was not varied enough for most of the game to adapt. With taller players than ours, sending balls into the box for them to head away was not a good idea.

Towards the end of the game, players who could dribble past others were played, notably Eze and Saka and it appeared to make a difference. But the pace of Ghana was a big issue for us.  Hopefully this is a learning experience for our manager and team, one which will take us to lifting the trophy.

My sweepstake team, Uzbekistan did not do well and my hopes for them playing England in the final appear very unlikely. 

Family wise, we spent most of today at the villa, going for a swim and a drive. My daughter had some work to do, so we left her to it.  The holiday continues to relax us. 

Restaurante Bica Velha

Another relaxing day. My wife and I woke a lot later than the children. We talked about what we could do and I ended up taking my wife for a drive along memory lane. I had hoped to visit Praia dos Caneiros but it was not to be. 

Later we returned to Loulé for dinner. While the rest of my family have enjoyed many great meals, because I am squeamish about sea food, I have not. But Restaurante Bica Velha has given me the best meal at a restaurant in Portugal so far. My son booked it, we are glad and may return. The picture, edited with an app is of part of the town, on the way to where I parked our car.

On a different note, my wife has not been too happy with the resignation of Starmer. For the record, she has not been his number one fan and we have had many a discussion about what she thinks is wrong with his policies, but she and I agree that he has done a lot for the nation. The country was in a much worse position when he took over and while there is a lot to do, so much has been done. We both agree that we want the economy to be better, but it is still doing well compared to our peers. Thanks to Starmer, not counting Israel and the USA, the UK is respected again across the globe. The NHS is in a better place as well. I just hope that these improvements continue once Starmer is evicted from 10 Downing Street. 

Fathers Day 2026 and D’alena Restaurante

Today is Father’s Day, and in our family another important celebration. My wife had booked a restaurant for lunch with amazing views and fantastic cocktails. If you visit, see Vinnie.

The food looked as spectacular as the view, though it was a bit hard to find on Google Maps. Fortunately we did not obey the instructions and found it anyway. 

Loulé and the Saturday market

This morning, we travelled to Loulé, a nearby city to visit the Saturday market.  It was a very enjoyable day. My daughter and I got to visit the castle, the family tried some seafood (not me) and we took in some of the sights. We may return again, but there are other areas to explore. 

O Retiro

My wife found this place for somewhere to eat outside. Parking is available, but is interesting to use. In fact I ended up going for a drive to park. Basically you essentially park part-blocking the pavement, and while you can do so driving in to park, I prefer to reverse park as it is easier to leave. The food is nice in this restaurant and it has an interesting view. Would I return? Yes. I suspect my family would agree, 

Come on England!

What a game. And what a day. Family first. We are now in Portugal. I finished work late on Tuesday and was not around when Leia was dropped off at the dog sitter we use in Ipswich. My daughter said that she whined as she was being left. Yesterday, we woke up early to be driven down to Gatwick. I slept most of the way in the back of the taxi, to the annoyance of our children.  My wife and I split up from the children, they getting drinks in a different part of the airport to us. We were also separated for the flight, which again, I slept through. My wife has booked our stay and it is amazing, but I have been bitten, lots.

Anyway, the football. I worked out how to use the TV and watched a lot of the match on RTÉ and I have to say, they analyse football better than British pundits. An example of this was with the goal by Jude Bellingham. Noni Madueke provided the pass for the goal, but also, importantly, made a run afterwars which stressed the Croatian defence and their goalkeeper as Bellingham could have crossed it too him. RTÉ noted this, the off the ball run by Croatia being missed by the British pundits for their goal. While pundits blame our defence, the runs by Croatia were good and I am not sure there was a right decision to be made at the time by our defenders. This means that while I can watch ITV and BBC coverage here, I will stick with RTÉ.  

Labour, UNISON and workers rights

Listening to the radio, I was surprised to hear that the leader on Unison has said been "handing money over to the Labour Party and getting absolutely nothing in return" as Labour have brought about changes to employment rights. It is fashionable to bash Starmer, but doing this plays to the stance of Reform UK Ltd that they represent workers. 

The facts are simple. Labour have improved workers rights, Reform have promised to abolish the changes. If Unsion want a Reform UK government after the next General Election, they need to keep forgetting how Labour have not done absolutely nothing for workers.  While I understand that unions want more done, union leaders need to tell workers what Labour have done for employment rights now, or they will lose them after Farage gets elected in 2029. 

Suspended from Twitter, again

I have not posted on Twitter in a while. Today I found out that I have been suspended. Again. My last post was in May, this being a message to someone I follow, to migrate to BlueSky. I guess that post could be viewed as a violation of the terms and conditions.  I still lurk on Twitter, but make my posts on BlueSky. Twitter is too toxic, and while BlueSky is a lot quieter, it is a nicer place. I still manage to be blocked by people and have been added to lists allowing me to be blocked by many without seeing any posts by me. Some do not like this feature, but while it is annoying, it is better to allow those who prefer not to be engage in civil debate, the option to do so. Anyway, someone has offered to help me to get back onto Twitter, but I have declined that help, at least for now. 

Crime and migration

JD Vance, the man married to an American woman of Indian descent, the US vice-president, blamed the appalling murder of the British teenager Henry Nowak on mass migration.  Technically, immigration causing murder is something that Native Americans would have every right to agree with. So, when it comes to the USA, he is right.

I have discussed race and migration before. In summary, our Royal Family are descended from immigrants. Immigration benefits our nation and countries with low immigration rates then not to do as well as those which make the most of managed migration. 

Soon, England will be playing in the World Cup. Many of our players are not ethnically white British. But few would want Saka out of the team.  Our nation is stronger thanks to immigrants and their descendants. Not just with The Royal Family, not just with sport, but with so many areas.  

I want our nation to take advantage of the Trump presidency to attract talent to the UK. And of JD Vance becomes President, I want to take advantage of that as well. 

Ava Santina, grooming gangs, rape, religion and race

First of all, let me say that the murder of Henry Nowak is wrong, the actions of the police officer in handcuffing him appears to be inexcusable, and all rape, no matter who engages in it is wrong.

The issue of ethnicity/religion and crime was to be the topic of my post before the sentencing of Vickrum Digwa made the news.  I think it is important to point out, that there is a huge bias in some when it comes to reporting certain crimes, while overlooking others.

I recently had a discussion about the Grooming Gangs and the initial lack of an investigation into them, despite there being an investigation into them, in fact, more than one.  In that discussion, I was accused of ignoring rape by stating that there has already been an investigation.  Doing this is an argument by many to try and occupy the moral high ground on flimsy terms.

Religion and child abuse are linked.  People have quite rightly looked at those who claim to be Muslims who have engaged in appalling acts of grooming and rape. What I have not seen are investigations into the cover up of child abuse over a far longer period of time by both the Catholic church in the UK and the Church Of England.  Some do not care about this, and instead just want to focus on Islam.  

I have disagreed with Ava Evans in the past, notably when it came to having a Minister for Men, as I think that having one will help to combat the evil influence of the manosphere. I disagreed with her in this interview about how someone who is racist can repent as well. 

But, I do not think that she should get abuse, again, for what she did in the interview.  The irony of those on the Far Right (or patriots as they call themselves) wanting to protect our girls when so many are domestic abusers is sad.  Let alone how many of them defend a stalker who has convictions for assault, fraud and travelling on a false passport.  

In summary, rape is not confined to just one religion, but only one religion has been investigated.