Day 4 - Albufeira Pole Dancing

Another morning of work for me, though I was up and ready to take Alexander — only to find Marshall had already beaten me to it. A man on a mission. I eventually joined everyone at the pool after my calls for a quick swim before Anna, Alexander and I packed up and hit the road.

It was my job to sort the bag for Alexander, and Anna, suspicious as ever, kept asking what I’d packed — which usually means I’ve forgotten something (and let’s be honest, I definitely didn’t). We were heading to Albufeira to meet Clodagh, Aisling and Eugene from back home.

After a quick hello at their hotel, we boarded the legendary tourist train that rattled us past the infamous strip. Anna and I had some great memories from that area, mostly involving lads’ holidays and hen dos.

The train dropped us in the Old Town, which has an escalator outside. I loved that — if we had one back home, it’d be broken within 24 hours. Anna immediately gave off to me for forgetting to bring Alexander’s water bottle, so we bought a Pokémon water bottle as a temporary fix. I really thought I didn’t forget anything!

As is tradition on all our holidays, we bought bracelets — I spotted a Portuguese-coloured one and got it for €1.90 (a full 10 cents off — bargain hunting king). Not that I negotiated it; it was just either €1.90 or €5 as I had no other change and she seemed perfectly happy with the lower price.

We needed shade for the kids so we found the nearest bar and grabbed some chips for lunch. Then we went for a wander as this was all new territory for me - the last time I was here, I never left the strip.

In our next bar, Alexander began paying his way on holiday with a very committed pole dancing routine. The shot girls were loving it and told him to come back when he’s 18 for free drinks. I had to cover Anna’s ears.

Just as we were packing up and probably about to request a full sterilisation of the pole (or at least Alexander’s hands) Anna found the “missing” water bottle in the bag. It had been there all along.

We wandered around a bit more to kill time before the train back, stopping for some ice cream. Aisling and Anna were still mid-cone when we boarded, so the train driver handed them kitchen roll as no food was allowed. Alexander tried to nap on the way home but couldn’t settle — too much going on. He managed a 20-minute snooze in the car but had barely slept all day, so we were definitely due a good night ahead.

Back at the apartment, I dropped Alison, Marshall and Amy to a fancy oyster restaurant and stayed back with Alexander while Anna got ready for our date night. Alexander and I practised kissing — a solid skill to add to his growing repertoire.

With Anna and I ready for dinner, I picked the trio back up from town with Marshall still proudly sporting the same white shirt with no spills. Credit where credit’s due.

We were granted a night out to ourselves, so Anna and I made the most of it — starters, mains, desserts… the works. We tried heading to a cocktail bar afterwards, but it had just closed and was totally empty. Nowhere else for it but Jakks Bar for a final drink, where everyone sat in silence, staring into the warm, glowing light of their phones. Society is thriving.

Then home — and off to bed.