Day 9 - Home time

It was an earlier than planned start this morning as Anna told Erin and James to arrive for 8am instead of 9am to go to the market. They text to say they were en route and there was no going back. We all grabbed a rushed breakfast and were off to the Quarteira Market, which apparently was huge and very good.

Just before we left, Marshall couldn’t find his sunglasses. Amy was the last person to have them and asked who owned them a bit earlier. Amy, Erin, and James took an Uber while the rest of us did a frantic apartment sweep. Marshall eventually called Amy, who assured us they were somewhere in the apartment. Spoiler…they weren’t.

When we arrived at the market after all the glasses drama, we realised we’d managed to forget the backpack. You know, the one with all of Alexander’s toys, bottles, nappies and my wallet. So… a quick shop it would be. And the sunglasses? Well they were on Amy’s head the entire time. You couldn’t write it.

The market was your typical market with the same repeated stalls every now and again from underwear and magenta to cork boards and Ronaldo kits. The ladies enjoyed perusing the stalls but after the third stall selling the exact same Portuguese beach towel, I took a well deserved rest on a chair and waited.

Having head home before the market rush, the effects of the balcony drinks had caught up with us all. Anna put Alexander down for a nap, and I spread myself out on the living room floor for a moment of quiet.

For our final lunch, Anna, Amy and I returned to our favourite restaurant in the square. I had a veggie burger on night one and have been craving it ever since — it did not disappoint. Anna had the same this time and agreed. Alexander was on fine form too sitting happily on my lap, eating chips, waving at strangers and doing a bit of birdwatching.

We squeezed in one last pool session, joined by the Wards curious to see how the other half lived. The only downside was that there were 14 of us trying to share 5 sun loungers.

After more hugs (especially from James, who held on just long enough to make it uncomfortable because he knows I hate hugs), we said goodbye…again. I took Alexander for a final walk around the Old Village while Anna started packing. By the time we returned, the entire apartment had been cleaned and packed up. I just had to shower and change and it was almost home time.

Anna, Alexander and I headed off in the hire car, filled it with petrol (alongside every other car rental tourist in the Algarve), and dropped it back. While the rental staff inspected the car for damage, we did the same to Alexander’s nappy as he thought this would be a good time to drop something off too!

Once all that was sorted, we hopped in our private shuttle to Faro Airport where the rest of the family were already waiting. Surprisingly quiet, we checked in, glided through security and passport control without a hitch.

With so many options and no seats anywhere, we decided to do our own thing for dinner and finally managed to get a table. Dinner was an international smorgasbord with Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway and Costa. The only thing missing was a WHSmith.

When our gate finally appeared on the screen, we had to hike up from Floor 1 to Floor 3 only to be sent back down to Floor 2. We reached Gate 314, only to be rerouted to Gate 316 which wasn’t open. Then people started coming out of 316 and then we were sent back to 316. Just your classic game of musical gates. Eventually, we made it onto the plane.

It was nearly 10pm and perfect timing for a bottle and a sleepy baby. Except Alexander was overtired and had to much FOMO now. Cue 20 solid minutes of crying. Genuinely, he cried more in those 20 minutes than he has in his entire first 12 months. I’m sure the other passengers thought they were in for a long flight.

Thankfully he finally conked out and fell asleep for the entire flight. He almost woke again during the 36,000ft Jean Paul Gaultier fragrance advert delivered with enough passion to suggest the steward was definitely on commission. Also when a group of boys clapped and cheered when we landed - not what you want at 1am and a sleeping baby.

We landed and disembarked with Alexander still fast asleep, navigating the new maze that of Belfast International. This time, the staff decided we weren’t eligible for the priority line and that apparently having a baby doesn’t quite cut it anymore, so we joined the long, snaking queue for passport control. The silver lining was by the time we finally got through, the bags were already waiting.

Before we knew it, we were in our cars and heading home. No Derry Chinese on our return this time, just straight to bed. Reality resumed. Another chapter ended and Alexander’s second holiday completed!