Day 5 - Lions and Linguine

The day started with the usual routine — preserving sun loungers, breakfast, a quick pool visit — before we headed up to the bar for something far more important: the Lions match at 11am. Cue the earliest beer of the holiday.

Fair play to Marshall, former international TMO, who sat quietly through an onslaught of utter nonsense from nearby punters trying to dissect the laws of rugby. Some guy was confidently delivering incorrect analysis… while wearing wetsuit shoes. There’s always one.

Alexander joined us mid-match after his morning walk, snoozed through the first half and woke up just in time for pastry and the second half. Every time the poor waiter walked in front of the telly, we scored a try — funny once, infuriating by the fourth time. But he became a good luck charm in the end.

Five pints later, the Lions had won, the sun was shining, and spirits were high. We wandered back to the apartment for lunch before heading poolside again. Nothing dramatic to report — just a standard lazy afternoon in the water.

Later, Anna and I snuck off for a quick drink and some water (balance), before showering and getting ready for dinner. Of course, no evening is complete without a bit of family tension — this time about where to eat. I somehow found myself stuck in the middle of the great dinner debate of 2025, playing diplomatic peacekeeper between South and North Korea. Sadly, I lacked the Donald Trump hair touch to fix it - although my tan isn’t far off his! Let the boys play.

We all eventually drove to the marina and settled on Il Lamparo, a lovely Italian we booked in advance. Shame the front-of-house didn’t know that — he was adamant we sit outside despite us clearly having reserved inside (because… heat). Anyway, we got there in the end.

The food was brilliant and the wine was passable. Alexander, meanwhile, was charming the waitress — a dark-haired one this time. He’s clearly moved on from blondes. He had a good lot of his carbonara and sampled some of Anna’s truffle pasta for good measure. He ate his body weight in food today. I don’t know where he gets it from… though I still reckon I’d win the pizza challenge against him.

The marina was buzzing — queues everywhere, music playing, people dressed to impress. Definitely the liveliest it’s been. After the waitress took three working days to bring the bill, we made our way back, with Anna and Alison stopping off for a cheeky ice cream en route to the car.

Speaking of the car — we’d abandoned it on a random footpath earlier, so were delighted to find it still there and unclamped. A win.

I took Alexander for an evening stroll then we all hit Jakks for a tipple to round off the evening — served, of course, by the same waiter who’d been working the rugby shift earlier. Still powering on. The Portuguese work ethic is unreal.