It's hard to believe that we're already galloping towards the end of January, and that Christmas now seems a distant memory. January is typically a pretty depressing time of year, but I have to say this one hasn't been too bad for us here in Portugal. We have both been unusually busy with work and had time for nothing notably exciting, but we've been perfectly content in our simple Algarve existence. I can't deny the weather has helped. Even though it is far from hot, we have woken up to sun peeping through the shutters almost every day, and it's hard to be too downhearted about trifling issues like paying off Christmas credit cards and losing weight when the sun is constantly lifting your spirits. Our main pleasures this month have been the ones we moved to Portugal for; having time to make a proper lunch every working day, long barbecues at the weekend and Saturday mornings at the local market. Our nearest market in the town of Tavira is a real hub of local activity on a Saturday morning. The market itself is a huge, indoor affair. Half of the main area is filled with dozens of stalls selling fruit, vegetables and herbs, along with local produce such as honey, marinated olives and cakes. The other half is filled with fish, shellfish, and a fair few gawping tourists! The outside of the market is lined with butchers shops, delis, cafes and bakeries. It is truly foodie heaven, with the benefit that the prices, in the main, are lower than in the supermarkets. A Saturday trip to the market is well worth the early, sensible Friday night that's required for us to organise ourselves to get there! It is very life affirming to begin a weekend with friendly exchanges with stallholders, coffee and cake in the sunshine and, on some weeks, a wander around the neighbouring antique market. After such a pleasurable start to the day, it's a huge bonus that we also get to arrive home with bags stuffed with wonderful, inexpensive, fresh local food. It's hard to choose just a couple of our wonderful recent market purchases to mention here, but one of them has to be the sardines we purchased for a barbecue last Saturday – ten of them, with sparkly fresh skin and bright eyes, all for the grand sum of 1 euro! We have also been buying incredible strawberries, apparently grown just down the road from us in Moncarapacho. These also cost just 1 euro per punnet, and smell and taste “like strawberries used to”. If there's one thing sure to shake off January blues, it's eating strawberries that taste like July! So, although our life in the Algarve hasn't been hugely exciting recently, it has been pleasing and simple, which is really what we moved here for. Sometimes life doesn't have to be exciting to be good. All the best, Ben