Cody’s Fight for Cancer - A Son’s Love

Cody Lee Smart Playing the Piano At any age the idea of loosing a parent is a freighting and emotionally wrenching thought. At the tender age of 9, it must be daunting - yet this is what Cody Lee Smart was faced with.

In 2006, Cody’s mother Yvonne, was diagnosed with breast cancer and although she was successfully treated at home in the UK, Cody was profoundly marked; not only by the possibly of loosing his mother, but by the treatment that saved her. This has driven him to take an unexpected path for a 9 year old - rather than be paralyzed by life’s cruel turn Cody chose to join the fight for cancer research in his own way.

Last year while on holiday in the Algarve, Cody stumbled into the Atlantic Piano Bar in Vilamoura Marina, and asked if he could play. When he explained, he wanted to play the piano to raise funds for cancer so no other child would have to walk his same course, patrons were touched and helped Cody with the first donations.

This past Friday we had the pleasure of not only meeting Cody and his family but Read more

Share This

Mama Maratona - Portimao

Phew – what a day. This morning, we took part in our first ever Marathon for the “Mama Maratona 7” in Portimao — a great event, to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer, as well as research and treatment for all types of cancer.

The turnout was fantastic – with numbers exceeding 2000 registered runners, and included a good mix from national athletes to mothers, daughters, grandparents, fathers, sons and friends. Everyone joined together to collectively bring attention to this important cause.

The race was scheduled for 5km, but the more advanced runners had the choice of doing an 8km run. If you’re wondering, Moses and I accidentally volunteered for the 8km, but glad we did. It turned out to be a good personal challenge. During our run, we managed to squeeze in some photos – although the pictures didn’t come out as great as we hoped, they did capture some of the highlights of the day. To see some of the photos, click on the image below.

We would like to thank our good friends Vi and Phil, the rest of the Mama Maratona organizers and the Algarve Oncology Association for putting together a well-organized event. Nicely done, and we’ll see you next year!

Share This

Better Living in Portugal Exhibition

Earlier today we drove over to Portimao all ready for a marathon Mama Marathona, but to our surprise, probably due to the lack of sleep from this past week, we were a day early for the race! The Mama Marathona is scheduled for October 14th : ) … so with no marathon to run, we put a plan B into action – fortunately we didn’t have to look far, because right behind us was the “Better Living in Portugal” (BLIP) exhibition. We had heard so much about it, we decided to take a peek for ourselves and glad we did. We found tons of varied exhibitors from private banking to an organic online grocery service – the BLIP is well organized and features a wide breadth of services available in the region for those already living or interested in moving to Algarve, Portugal.

Better Living in Portugal (BLIP)

The “Better Living in Portugal” (BLIP) exhibition will be open tomorrow as well (Sunday, October 14th), so if you’re in the area of Portimao, we recommend you stop by.

For more information, you can visit their website here.

Share This

7th Annual Mama Maratona

An annual marathon organized to bring awareness to all forms of cancer, through film, education, information and fun. This marathon is also strongly focused on raising funds to fight and treat cancer.

The first Mama Marathon took place in 2000, with the objective of raising awareness for breast cancer. Since the initial race, Mama Marathon has kept Read more

Share This

Loulé Noite Branca

Loulé was awash with a sea of white on its first Noite Branca (White Night) on Saturday Sept. 1. Main Street was closed to traffic and turned into a white playground for artists and guests.

Capoeira artists, pyrotechnics, piano & jazz musicians and many more were featured center city, to delight and entertain. Big comfy couches were also made available for those needing to take a load off and just enjoy the sites.

Noite Branca

Graffiti artist came out Read more

Share This

Algarve International Fireworks Competition

What is it about fireworks that makes me feel 10 again? Maybe it’s that no matter how “big” I get they always seem so far out of reach, or maybe its because they’re so reminiscent of Christmas; lots of sparkly stuff causing a lot of ooohhs and aaaahhhs, and secretly wishing there’s a surprise in there for me somewhere.

Portugal has been putting on amazing fireworks shows for a while now, but considering our low profile, they’re rarely heard about. This past new years Madeira (Portuguese Islands) broke a few records with a spectacular show of lights. Unfortunately, only the lucky ones (I wasn’t one of them) who were there can tell the tale of what they saw. I’m dreaming of sipping a great champagne, while on a garden paradise in the middle of the Atlantic; surrounded by a spectacle of lights in a massive black velvet sky….hummm, have to keep that image in mind for upcoming new years planning.

Fireworks Portugal

Fortunately we don’t have to wait for new years, there is an international fireworks competition on right now, we caught one on Quartiera beach a few nights ago, and there’s one more on September 9th (in Monte Gordo) promising more oohs and ahhhs…if you want it to feel like new years, don’t forget the bubbly.

Details for the final fireworks display

Date: Sunday, September 9th

Time: Between 23:00-24:00 (show will last between 13 to 15 minutes)

Location: Monte Gordo Beach, in Vila Real de Santo António

Share This

← Previous Page — Next Page →