This is the last of my Porto Santo blogs and in it I’m looking back at some of the highlights and sharing a few candid holiday snaps. In my previous holiday posts, I focussed on the outfits. This will give a little more insight into the beautiful island that is Madeira’s little sister and I’m going to share some very unexpected events.

I went with Ian and the children and we booked three rooms in an all-inclusive hotel. We were actually given, unexpectedly, a fabulous villa which meant we had our own private pool and space. This was brilliant and much-appreciated and we still had all of the benefits of being all-inclusive.

It’s Never Straight-Forward…

The holiday had a few ups and downs though. I mentioned previously that on the afternoon we arrived, my grandfather died. This wasn’t unexpected. In fact, I visited him in hospital two days before to kiss him goodbye.

The day after we arrived, Harry cut his foot on the side of the pool while doing handstands. This necessitated a trip to the hospital and two stitches. It meant he couldn’t go in the sea or pool for a few days, which was such a shame. But, he didn’t complain once and he joined in with everything else as normal. I was proud of him for that.

And then, during our final night, and this is something Ian and I are still trying to come to terms with, an intruder burst into our bedroom. Thankfully, neither of us panicked. We talked to him very calmly and very firmly and he left without any of us getting hurt. We haven’t got to the bottom of how he got in, nor what his intentions were, although he was armed with a rock. Both Ian and I are just incredibly thankful that he didn’t go into any of the children’s rooms. We called reception who sent a security guard around and they changed all of the villa’s key cards, but they didn’t find him. Part of me wishes we’d have caught him, but I believe that we best protected our children by acting in the way we did.

All three events were upsetting and we didn’t sleep for the remainder of the last night. You can imagine the adrenaline.  I’m very glad it was the last night because I don’t think we’d have settled otherwise. As a consequence, I wouldn’t go back to that resort. I guess something like this could happen anywhere, but I’d rather not take that chance knowing our security was breached and our loved ones were potentially in danger.

Despite everything though, it was still a good holiday. Porto Santo is a beautiful island. We spent precious time together and I in particular, loved not having to cook or even think about what to cook for a whole week.

Here are the highlights…

A Yacht Trip

We booked an organised morning excursion on a yacht. It took us around the island and then dropped anchor so we could get off and snorkel. This was a thoroughly enjoyable trip and one I highly recommend if you visit Porto Santo.

Porto Santo Church and Centre

The centre of Porto Santo is beautiful. It has a small white church that I visited four years ago when I went with my parents and children. I was keen to show it to Ian.

I bought this dress just a few days before we went away, another impulse buy. I love the embroidery and tassel belt.

Tropical Twinning

I’ve worn this  high low tropical print skirt several times, the last time was in the snow actually! I love it and even though it took up a lot of room in the suitcase, I wanted to take it to Porto Santo. For the first time in our lives, Poppy and I co-ordinated our outfits and had a lot of fun posing for these photographs. Ian is such a great photographer. He really captured the fun we had that night.

And I’m so grateful to Poppy for taking these slightly less exuberant ones of Ian and me.

I’d like to mention my silver and rose gold bow shoes too. They’re by Ted Baker and were a gift from Shoeaholics, a website that sells designer shoes at discounted prices. They very kindly let me choose two pairs of shoes, so I chose these and the black and pearl Ancient Greek sandals that I wore throughout the holiday (and in the photos above too). Aren’t they stunning?

Happy Memories

Having our own pool was such a bonus, because we didn’t expect to get a private villa. Despite poor Harry hurting his foot, we still had a lot of fun and he went back into the pool on our last day. I bought Frank the Flamingo for Lanzarote last year and he served us well once again.

The photos of the children and me in the pool are so precious. I do wonder if it might be our last family holiday though. Poppy and Harry both have plans to travel next summer and then Poppy will go to university.

I hope they’ll both look back with happy memories. Memories of tipping their mum out of the flamingo, of wearing similar outfits and posing for the camera. I want them to remember spending time together and sharing experiences, even the unplanned, unexpected and unnerving ones.

Porto Santo is a beautiful island. It’s quaint and quiet. The people are lovely and the staff at our hotel were excellent. But I don’t think I’ll go back. Instead, I’ll remember the glorious beach, the rolling waves, the yacht trip, the lizards. I’ll remember drinking Cava with breakfast and cocktails with lunch. But most of all, I’ll remember a week in which we all became even closer still and I’ll remember it fondly.