Sunday 20 July 2008

Vacation time!!!!!!!


Hurrah!!!!!!!!! I have finally managed to survive the first half of the year relatively unscathed and am now ready for my first vacation!!!! YIPPEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I'm not sure if you have realised yet, but I am rather excited! WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! And the best thing about this vacation? The intention is to do almost absolutely nothing!!! A chance to truly recharge my internal batteries and catch up on reading a few books. Yet, you can be assured that my camera will not be very far away!

The location for my holiday is a luxury villa in Espiche, the Algarve in Portugal, with my family. It has been many years since the whole family had a holiday together, so this is going to me a fun time, and the villa is plenty big enough for us all to have our own space, which is very important when you are spending 2 whole weeks together.

Below is a small selection of photographs of the villa.... Mmmmmmm, I am getting excited just at the thought of it.




The Villa



The view from the pool



The tennis court and putting green



The lounge area



The dining area



One of the many bedrooms



With it being situated in such a beautiful location, I will most definitely go wandering with my camera and hope to take copious amounts of photographs to share with you (The villa also has Internet access, so I'll be sure to post a few updates whilst I'm there... as long as I can summon the energy to get myself up off the sun lounger..lol!).



Unfortunately, there are still a few slow, long, arduous, tiresome, grueling, frustrating days before I go (not that I am wishing my life away... but goodness HURRY UP!!!!! LOL!!!!).

Cheerio for now :o)


Graham x

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where are you going? Lucky you, it looks like a great place to relax... and meet people (by people I mean a woman, shy English man! ;) )

I'm heading to Beijing mi-August for the end Olympics, expect a lot of pictures as well!

Wayfaring Wanderer said...

It looks simply amazing.....you deserve a vacation! It's great having something to look forward to eh?

There's going to be room for me, right?! ;)

Memories Of Mine said...

Is there enough room for me too, can I come... can I, can I???
I just want to hang out by that pool!! WOW it looks so great but I know you will venture out past the front gate as we want to see lots of photos. Yes... more photos then just the Bikini wearing woman you will attract with that pool. I saw the TV series “The Villa” I know what goes on at these places.
Soak up the sun and enjoy :)

AZZITIZZ said...

Hope you and the family have a wonderful time. Can't wait to see your pics.

Have a couple of cerveza's for me!

Loadsaluv

Azzy
X
P.S. I was being polite by saying have just a couple, I could do with getting absolutely blasted out of my brain! But I wouldn't want you to suffer the hangover.

Janette said...

Wow - lucky you! My husband deserted me for a family holiday in Portugal, when we had not been going out all that long - he did invite me along, but when you've known someone 2 weeks, the prospect of going on holiday with mum, Dad, Granny, Sister etc was a bit scary! Have a great time and I look forward to seeing all the pictures.

Anonymous said...

you are going to have The Best time. Wishing you a safe and fun filled trip. I expect boatloads of photos in flickr to stalk when you return.

xxoo

Graham Ettridge said...

Zhu, wow! Beijing.. that sounds absolutely amazing!!!! That will be a holiday to truly remember... and to visit the Olympics too! Now, it is my turn to be jealous.... ooooh!!!!! lol! I hope you have a fab time and we'll have to swap photos when we get back ;) And Wouldn't it be perfect if I did meet that special girl whilst I am there.... sadly, I think there is more chance of catching a flying pig... however I will hope!

Jessica, of course there is room for you xx I am getting excited but am shattered at the same time. It is quite exhausting, getting everything ready for the holiday.

Liss, the more the merrier!!! Lets have a party!!! The pool does look great, doesn't it just! I can see myself spending quite a bit of time there.

Hey Azzy :) I am sure that I am going to have a tipple or two! Something to help wash down all that food :)

Jannette, awww thanks for your kind words. It is going to be strange going on holiday with the family again (in a nice way). Luckily the villa is plenty big enough that we won't be under each others feet.

Meleah!! LOL! There will definitely be lots and lots of photos... there might even be the occasional one of me (if I am feeling brave enough!!! LOL!).

Kelly Ann said...

You musn't get on the internet at all, enjoy everything while you have the time there. I'm so jealous, what great relaxation your in store for! :D

Anonymous said...

How absolutely amazing. I can't imagine a vacation like this. I've always done the outdoor, rigourous type of thing, but do you know what? At this point in my life I could easily do a vacatioin like this...as long as it was in a beautiful private place, without tons of city around me all day long. Not that city markets in some countries can't be so MUCH fun, but I would want the peace. It looks quite peaceful here.

Well, it certainly is going to be an amazing adventure of a different kind for you...which is so cool. I will think of you over there in that wonderful pool while I am here in the desert of the southwest exploring more ruins.

In two weeks we are going to see another Native American settlement called Aztec Ruins. It is only for two days but it will be so so so good to get away.

I am glad you are having this opportunity to get away and do nothing. So essential. You ought to do a photos series of the trip if you feel like photographing. You could shoot something that makes you happy, something that makes you sad, something that makes you passionate, something that makes you angry, something that makes you fear, something that makes you confident, something that etc. etc. You could call it the "Graham Edttridge Emotional Series". LOL (I can hear you laughing)...BUT WAIT...ACTUAAAAALLY...I think it would be VERY cool coming from you. But I would prefer to see you just "BE", and do only what you want...because that is the best kind of vacation. That is the ONLY kind of vacation. Take care of yourself my good friend, Hugs and love, Robin

Max Coutinho said...

Hey Graham!

Welcome to Portugal :D!

The villa is a nice place indeed, with beautiful surroundings!

Enjoy your holidays :D!

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Wow! You certainly travel a lot. Great blog and keep writing.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations with your so long-awaited vacation. Villa looks really nice, hope that you've already taken some photos to share:)

no more said...

the flower pics were beautiful. Are you on vacation now? Maybe that's why it's so quiet around here. I'm trying to be more active but i think all tha time away I lost a lot of readers.

be sure to check out the link i left in your comment chat box - i think you'd like it being a traveller. He also has 1 of 3 lectures on youtube worth listening to as to how that video got made

Graham's Photobook....Through The Eyes Of A Dreamer

Please click on the link below to view or purchase my new book.