Natasha Donn

Natasha is an engaging and delightful character, brimming with personality and juicy tidbits of life in the Algarve. She is a career journalist, reporting on all the fascinating stories in the Algarve. Let me tell you there are some miraculously scandalous stories about! Listen on to her engaging tale:

 

Show notes

On journalism in the modern day.

Natasha always wanted to be a journalist, ever since the age of 9.

Living in a whorehouse in Portsmouth at college.

The Surrey and South London News Group: "The Balham and Tooting News".

"Journalism is writing what someone doesn't want to see in print, everything else is just PR".

On being threatened with defamation and staying out of jail!

A part time job filing in the basement of a multi-millionaire turned into being his personal assistant around the world for a few years.

Natasha fell pregnant and moved over with the father of her child to Portugal.

"Picked up Portuguese in 5 minutes" and absolutely loved it whilst in Praia da Luz.

She started writing for Discover Lagos in 1990 and has been writing ever since.

Scratching under the surface of the Algarve and there are some pretty gritty stories to uncover:

The ongoing story of Premier FX

Salgados Development

Algarve Oil story

Natasha mentions stories about bullfighting.

We talk about PAN, the Portuguese political party.

Paul Rees' Algarve Daily News.

Natasha's recommendations:

Cordoama and Castelejo Beaches.

Ingrina, Zavial and Salema on the south coast.

"Do not go to Albufeira".

Natasha currently writes for the Portugal Resident, look for her name on the bottom of each article. Here's a good one about a person falling into a sculpture!

Algarve Rock Brewery

Their website reads. "Algarve Rock was started by two guys that are passionate about drinking real beer. Somebody had to do something about the lack of quality craft beers available in the Algarve; why not us? That’s why we created Algarve Rock. We’re here to put Portuguese craft beer on the map." They certainly have! I interviewed Neil from Algarve Rock Brewery. Have a listen!

Show notes

How Algarve Rock started. After 10 years of holidaying in the Algarve, Neil and his father in law took the leap.

Neil grew up near Sheffield and his father in law introduced them to the Algarve through his holiday home for the past 9 years in Quinta do Lago.

How Neil got into business and the first thoughts of a brewery whilst sitting at the Cheeky Pup in Quinta do Lago.

Investment through the Portugal 2020 scheme.

How Neil and his wife enjoyed the Algarve on arrival. We talk about the nightlife in Faro.

Where can you try Algarve Rock Beer? Get in touch through their website at www.algarverockbrewery.com

Beer festivals were a great start for the brand

The first one they attended was in Lisbon.

Minho Beer Fest

Alameda Beer Fest in Faro

Silves Beer Fest

How Neil got the idea for his seasonal beer, the Piri Piri Pilsner (see Instagram image below).

Some of the challenges in setting up the business.

We go through each of their zero chemical beers (all between 4 and 5% alcohol by volume):

STEADY Pale Ale

SOLID Red Ale

SESSION IPA

STOUT Porter Portuguesa

SHARP Pilsner

We discuss the potential for a Weiss Beer, and also the upcoming tastings and tours of the brewery.

Neil's restaurant and bar recommendations:

Cheeky Pup,

Melting Pot

The Shack

Wax Restobar

Elementos

Watch out for the new restaurant opening next to Elementos

Castelo Bar in Faro

Casa Vostra

Butchers

Gamboa for steak

Marufos for chicken

Earth Café in Carvoeiro

Beaches

Praia do Evaristio

Praia do Carvoeiro

Praia Grande Ferragudo (Clube Nau)

Benagil Beach

 

A post shared by Algarve Rock Brewery (@algarverockbrewery) on Jul 31, 2018 at 8:04am PDT

It's wonderful to welcome Fiona Butler from www.myguidealgarve.com She has been running her website for ten years now and has picked up an awful lot of great information in the process. She shares it with you on the latest episode of Algarve Addicts. Thanks for listening!

Fiona Butler show notes

Her youth in Ireland and being a holiday rep in the Algarve.

Faro airport at 3am back in the 90s.

Praia da Rocha, Praia de Vau and Alvor, stories from the past.

Alvor walkway and the lifesavers building (where you can rent paddle-boards, windsurfers and kayaks).

Restaurant Caniço renowned for it's seafood as you move east from Alvor towards Praia da Rocha.

Alvor boat trips do great trips through the rock cliffs near Prainha.

"Dust was your default setting" and we talk about Albufeira, Vilamoura, Vale do Lobo and Quinta do Lago (we talk a little about the airplanes... check out our podcast with Chris the pilot)

We talk about Faro as well (more with Carlos in Episode 29)

How Fiona went from holiday rep to online business owner of www.myguidealgarve.com

Summer 2018 and the major events in the Algarve:

Loule Jazz

Lagoa Jazz Fest at Fontes de Estombar

Silves Medieval Fest

Silves Beer Fest

Alameda Beer Fest (270 types of beer in Faro)

Medieval Fest Alvor

Pirate Week in Armação de Pêra

Pirate Week in Alvor

BPM Festival in Praia da Rocha (Sept 20-23 2018)

Summersound at NoSolo Agua (August 17-18 2018)

Baixafest Faro

Festival F

Algarve Orchestra

Algarve Jazz Club

Sardine Festival in Portimão

Seafood festival in Olhao (we talk a little about Olhão, the islands, Maramais Bar and there's more in Episode Paul Reese).

Oktoberfest in Porches (also craft beer festival)

Paderne Medieval Festival and Christmas markets later in the year.

Goose Barnacle Festival ("Perceves!")

Lusa night festival in Loulé.

Querença Chouriço Festival (spring time).

Sao Bras Feira de Serra (country fair)

Fataçil agricultural fair.

Fiona's recommendations:

Alvor Beach

Windsurf Restaurant on Alvor Beach (no TV, no music).

Ria Formosa (our 60km long wetlands to the east of Faro).

Cacela Velha (the "source" of the Ria Formosa).

West Coast (the Costa Vicentina) near Sagres, Aljezur, Arrifana etc.

Professor Luis Coelho

Meet Professor Luis Coelho from the University of the Algarve. He is a lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and is a respected voice in the community, writing for an online magazine as well as his day to day work and being invited to sit on various conference panels. I thoroughly enjoyed our chat and I am sure you will too. Listen here -->

Show notes

The vagaries of professional titles in Portugal - different to other places in the world.

Luis was born in Beja, just north of the Algarve in the Alentejo Province.

A dream of being a footballer, became a desire to being a vet and then he actually studied economics at the University of the Algarve.

Studying at the UALG, what life was like... as an outsider (a non Algarvio).

Early impressions of the Algarve and Monte Gordo in particular.

Investments in the Algarve: beautifying the cities, sewage improvements, and how clean the tap water is.

A short history of the Algarve through an economic lens: canned fish industry, Faro airport was constructed in 1969.

Tinned Food Restaurant in Portimão: Maria do Mar

Tourism began in Portimão and Tavira and then Vilamoura/Quinta do Lago (with Andre Jordan - see Constantino Jordan's interview).

Waves of economic activity from the 70's until 2010 when the Economic Crisis hit.

Current economic growth in Portugal is STRONG.

Main economic activities in the Algarve. Tourism is the major catalyst.

How to diversify from tourism into other industries. Could tech be one? We discuss CRIA and The Algarve Tech Hub.

Potential growth areas in the Algarve: AirBnb or "Alojamentio Local". Olhão and the Italians (Portimão and Tavira could be good places).

Luis' restaurant recommendations: Praia de Faro (Faro Beach) Wax Restobar, Ze Maria

Luis writes for an online magazine called Lugar ao Sul in Portuguese (if you can't read Portuguese you could always try Google's laborious translator which is better than it used to be but still definitely not perfect).

Carlos from Take Algarve

Carlos runs regular tours around Faro through his company Take Algarve. Listen to his story.

 

Show notes

Carlos tells us the story of the place we are conducting the interview: Café Aliança (officially called Café Alliança Cervejaria) in Faro.

Carlos was born in Faro but lived in Spain and Poland and we talk about the differences between Faro now and the Faro of his youth: the University and the airport.

The people have changed, they used to play football in the streets and now all the kids are plugged into their electronic devices, which is probably the same the world over. Many of the people in the downtown area are tourists.

Free Tours in Faro and the concept of free tours. Take Algarve True Tours. I love this: "Some people call it Algarve. We call it home."

Carlos and his competition started up in the same month, so they are both labelled as "the original Faro Tour".

Breaking down his tour of Faro. From Café Aliança and moving into the old town and the history of Faro. See also our podcast on Algarve History.

The railway as a barrier to the Ria Formosa and Faro as a city that has turned it's back on the sea. In contradiction we talk about plans for a development near the container terminal.

We talk about events and the Jardim Manuel Bivar or the Jardim das Docas.

We talk about the football world cup and crazily you can hear a game going on in the background.

Also Hotel Eva rooftop pool parties!

Baixa Street Fest in July and August every Friday night.

Castle Beer Factory

Teatro Lethes

Restaurants in Faro: Carlos' favourites.

Restaurant Travessa

Moinhos do Grelha

Cafés in Faro

Baixa Café

Café Alliança (of course!)

Eme Café

Nautico Café

Lab Terrace Café

The Hotel Rooftop bars as we discussed earlier.

Greg Boegner from PortugalConfidential.com

Meet Greg, who moved to the Algarve from the USA in 2008. He runs a successful website all about Portugal over at www.portugalconfidential.com Listen to his story.

Show notes

Positive growth and a new department of the business.

The story of Portugal Confidential, from a blog to a business.

Travelling around Portugal discovering new businesses and writing about it.

Travel boards and familiarization trips.

About Greg and his history in Houston, Texas.

We chat about Greg's time as the TV Producer for NASA's shuttle programme.

Greg moves to Hollywood in 1988 and encounters a writers strike.

Answering phones for Pacific Arts (who started the music video concept) and moved up to the Director of Acquisitions.

Workout videos and yoga videos with Ali McGraw. He moved over to Fox and eventually children's programming.

Greg was looking for something new to do and looking at moving to Europe, when a friend suggested he check out a new film studio being created in the Algarve. So he moved in 2008.

We discuss the economic crisis in Portugal and after the film studio ran out of money Greg spent his days blogging on Portugal Confidential.

A renewed sense of positivity now in Portugal, with lots of investment.

Greg's recommendations: Tavira,  Santa Luzia and his favourite beach Praia do Barril, Praia da Marinha

The things we'll miss if we leave here: slow eating.

Greg recommends going down to Cacela Velha for lunch, Casa do Polvo in Santa Luzia (for octopus specialities) .

We move on to discuss Portugal Confidential and a new guide to Comporta (a lovely break from the Algarve).

Bradley Querl (really it should be Curl, shouldn't it?) has practiced hair design (now with his salon called B Hair Design) all his life and is a 3rd generation hair designer. Bradley is the consummate professional and does a fantastic job with anyone's head, even throwing in a super relaxing head massage into the deal. I checked in with Brad to here his story and what his take is on life in the Algarve. If you resonate with any of his suggestions, let us know!

Tune in to Bradley's interview

B Hair Design Show notes

We talk about B Hair Design's location, history and the tough times starting up a business in the middle of Portugal's dreaded crisis. 2008-2012 was a tough time for everyone here.

Bradley's hair history: Zimbabwe, London and Portugal.

Hair Design vs Hair Dresser - the new terminology. In Portugal all hairdressers are generally called "Cabelereiros". Personal note: I love having my hair cut while I'm travelling, it just feels like an insight to local life somehow. Do you agree?

A partnership offer in the Algarve. In Faro to be more precise.

We talk about the area where Brad lives near Quarteira and Social Restaurant in particular. 

Brad's recommendations: Alte Hotel

We digress to Trail running and Mountain biking in the Algarve: the Trail Run

Cork: Educating visitors about cork trees!

Sagres, the end of the world and her fantastic cliffs, rich history and authentic surf lifestyle.

New Sushi Restaurant in Loulé called Artigo 3, highly recommended by both Bradley and another guest of mine, Constantino Jordan.

Manzo Steakhouse near Albufeira in Olhos de Água.

Starting a business in the Algarve: "a big shock", a slower pace of life, being late for meetings and how to be conscious of the traditional Portuguese lunchtime.

Parties on the beach, here's a whole selection - No Solo Agua, Thai Beach, Julias, Izzys, Temperus Beach Restaurant

Bradley turns the tables on me and quizzes me about the origins of Algarve Addicts! Good one :)

Show notes

100% Algarvian, born in Loule and raised in Albufeira.

Shopping trips to Ayamonte in Spain.

Dreams of Archaeology, History and Architecture all led to a University degree in Lisbon.

Her love of the Algarve brought her to a job in tourism as a Duty Manager at a hotel in Albufeira, helping the clients.

Albufeira Tourism Board: familiarization trips, roadshows, workshops and promotion which she realized she really loved.

Desiderio Silva (current President of the Algarve Tourism) invited Dora to come over as his chief of staff, writing speeches and controlling his agenda.

We discuss the difference between the Regional Tourism Board and the Algarve Tourism Association.

The board helps visitors to the Algarve with Information Offices in each city, they manage a calendar of events and promote the Algarve.

The Association on the other hand, works with airlines to ensure a constant availability of flights for people wishing to travel to the Algarve, organize press trips, familiarization trips, and segment their operations in to different segments: sun and sea, golf, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions).

Why the light is so good in the Algarve for photography...

How the Algarve is benefiting from a surge in tourism and how to retain those travellers.

Helping to create businesses in the Algarve.

Dora's suggestions for travellers to the Algarve: Eating Algarve Food Tours

Algarve Tourism Association: http://www.algarvepromotion.pt/en/Default.aspx

Visit Algarve: http://www.visitalgarve.pt/en/Default.aspx

Algarve 365: http://www.365algarve.pt/en/agenda.aspx

Mark Sebastian Kiss DJ

Mark is a wonderful character full of fascinating stories and he agreed to sit down for a chat with us. Join us for a great chat!

Show notes

Mark Sebastian was born in Cheshire, UK.

Holidays in Majorca led to getting a job there and explored playing records in clubs.

A company called "Music Service" sent Mark out to ski-resorts, like Wengen.

He started at St Thomas Hospital Radio in London and then moved into the pirate radio scene in London: Kiss100 and JazzFM... Mark's training ground.

The KissFM Franchise and moving to the Algarve in 1997.

Interviewing DJ Christian F. about his song "Secret" which is all about the Algarve.

Mark Sebastian DJ's at a lot of weddings during the summers: best wedding location is Ferragudo. Also another great one is Praia Senhora da Rocha

Quarteira is a great suggestion to spend some time: reasonably priced and up and coming.

Portuguese wine and the Bacchus Festival also known as the Portugal Wine Fair.

We chat about the local Jazz scene in the Algarve: Cafe Ingles in Silves, Jazz in the São Bras museum every month, Jazz in Faro and Jazz Festival in Loulé.

Changes to the Algarve in the last 20 years: Roundabouts, shopping centres and tolls on the A22 highway.

What NOT to miss in the Algarve: the Ria Formosa islands, Faro with it's funky streets and bars, Quarteira up and coming, Lagos, Monchique ... "there are not many horrible places in the Algarve".

Whats up at 5.30pm every day on KissFM  Mark mentions a website called Eventa B and for the life of me I can't find it. Can you?

KissFM Facebook Every day Mark is on KissFM Radio from 4-8pm www.kissfm.pt

Constantino Jordan

He has worked on the most prestigious residential and hotel developments in the Algarve region including Quinta do Lago and Vilamoura. He has a very positive outlook for the future of the Algarve, find out in this informative half hour chat with me.

Show notes

Born in Argentina, Constantino moved to Liechtensten when he was 3 and holidayed regularly in the Algarve, due to his father's business interests (his father had founded the Quinta do Lago Resort near Almançil. Read about the history of the resort on Wikipedia).

What the Algarve was like back in the 70s: 6 hour drives from Lisbon, only corner shops and nothing going on.

Constantino Jordan's most interesting town in the Algarve: Olhão and why.

The family business: "Resort Development". Selling Quinta do Lago, 1994 Developing "Vilar do Golf" and the land where Monte da Quinta is today.

Moving on to Vilamoura which became a massive project up until 2007 (bigger than Euro Disney in size). The marina has 30-40,000 people in an evening in summer.

Vilamoura used to be a farm called Morgado do Quarteira (Estalegem do Cegonha was the old manor house) bought in the 60s by Cupertino Miranda and he started to develop it with his partners. There is a great page illustrating the history of Vilamoura in photos.

We talk about sustainable development and ecotourism.

Portugal tourism is booming right now and we talk about how this happened and the potential of the Algarve as a hub for other industries beyond tourism like technology.

Faro has a small but vibrant tech scene which is extremely exciting, "the Algarve needs revolution" (in a business sense of course).

Lisbon as an example is catering to a more discerning market and the Algarve is following suit. We talk about sushi as an example and Artigo 3 in Loulé. Check out their Sushi! Restaurant design is so important and entrepreneurs need training.

Good examples of restaurants: Pizzeria Casavostra in Almançil.

You can find Constantino online through his web site www.constantinojordan.com  / Facebook / Linkedin