This time last week I was living it up in Portugal with 30 other women on a Hen weekend, what a difference a week makes!!

I got a 10 am flight to Faro airport, most of the others got a 6am flight but I like my sleep and can’t function that early in the morning so I got a later one. I arrived into Faro airport at about lunch time and got a coach to Albufeira, which I think took the scenic route because it seemed to take forever. When I got to the hotel I found my roomies and we followed the others into town where they went for a few drinks and then went back to the hotel get ready to go out. We were staying in a hotel with apartments, I volunteered to stay in the sitting room under the air-conditioning. The hotel was nice apart from the very aggressive and uncooperative hotel manager (it’s a long story). That night we headed into town.

The following day was spent beside the pool. With burns you are meant to avoid being out in the sun as your skin is more delicate and more likely to burn, and the heat can be difficult so I have never been on a sun holiday. Plus the fact that you are not walking around half naked like everyone else draws attention. I avoid the sun and heat. With 3rd degree burns your sweat glands are destroyed and don’t grow back, your sweat glands help to regulate your body temperature so it can be dangerous if you get too hot as it is difficult to cool down again. You can get very nauseous and your body has to work harder to cool down so it can be exhausting. It is also very easy to get Heat Stroke. The heat actually wasn’t too bad in Portugal though as there was a nice wind and I covered myself in factor 50 sun cream. Seemingly it was hotter at home. 🙂 I stayed under an umbrella beside the pool so my skin was fine. Had it been a hen party of a friend I wasn’t as close to I probably would’ve given Portugal a miss but I am very glad that I didn’t this time!! 🙂 I had a great weekend with lovely ladies, most of whom I knew but some who I didn’t. That night we went out for something to eat in a really nice pizza place and then to a very cool club across the road.

My roomies went home the next day so I was on my own in the apartment which I actually didn’t mind. The next day was spent beside the pool or sleeping, we were all beginning to fade at this stage. That night we went to an Irish bar for dinner and there was an Elvis impersonator, a very bad Elvis impersonator so bad that he was funny!! 🙂 I left early enough as I was exhausted from the heat so went to back to the apartment to pack.

We were picked up at 7:30 am the next morning for the airport, the flight was delayed for an hour which everyone was delighted about. In fairness I was fine just tired but there were a few ladies who were dying a slow and painful hangover death. 😦 It was a pretty uneventful flight home (thankfully) and we all went our seperate ways …… until the wedding.

When I was younger I never really felt I had much in common with other girls because my life was so different, for most girls when you are younger it is all about what you look like and boys.  I looked awful and boys didn’t want anything to do with me, they still don’t, so I had different priorities. Girls were often very competitive with each other too, something that I have never had much time or patience for. As I have gotten older though I have found that I have more in common with other women, as women grow up they develop different priorities and interests. I have realised that women are pretty amazing, we put up with a lot. Now I love spending time with other women so weekends away like this are great fun. It is very difficult to get so many of us together at once with babies and husbands and different work schedules so any time it happens is a novelty. 🙂