Summer travels. Porto. Portugal.

After a few hours of standing somewhere on a roundabout in Coimbra a Russian couple stopped to take us! We made it to Porto and even saw Aveiro on the way. 

Summer travels. Peniche. Portugal.

So we get off a bus in this PARADISE and the driver says, the third longboard is yours too, no? We look at each other like, what the hell? Then this surfer gets off the bus too, looking pretty much the same as us with a huge backpack. We had a little chat with him, discovered he's Danish and that he basically traveled like half of Portugal and Spain plus had a longboard session with his friends going down the Pyrenees mountains. Until that point I felt like a proud, young backpacker, but damn he made me want to keep on traveling.

Summer travels. Nazaré. Portugal.

Hitchkinig to Nazaré took about 10 minutes in total since the second car that went by stopped. We were very lucky to meet these two Portuguese single mothers with their children on a weekend getaway. They later explained that they are taking their kids to a water park, but it is a surprise and we shouldn't dare to tell them. Well we couldn't since we don't speak Portuguese. We squeezed into their little car and here we go. Their english was so, so, but they did all they could to talk to us. They showed interest in our travels and also concern, explaining that they wouldn't let their children on such a trip. This is a shoutout to all the single mothers in this bloody world. Even through it must be very tough at times (my mum would know) you are doing a great job and your children are the luckiest to have you.

As we arrived to Nazaré I was quite disappointed, because everyone kept telling me its the most beautiful place, make sure you go there. The beach was all touristy, the town was all touristy with seafood restaurants on every corner. However, when we dropped of our bags and longboards we went to explore.  You can take a funicular to a rocky promontory over 100m above the main part of the town and when you come to explore what is on the other side of the cliffs you will be truly amazed. The highest waves in history were surfed at this beach, even through it looked nothing like that when we were there. This beach has a totally different atmosphere with surfers, locals walking their dogs and the truly beautiful nature as opposed to the beach in centre of the town.

 

Summer travels. Costa da Caparica. Portugal.

So we took a day trip to the largest contiguous beach in Portugal (about 30km long) 15km away from Lisbon. For my liking it was a bit too touristy, but we found a spot with less people to lie down and enjoy the waves, cool swim and the sun.You can also come here to see the locals seine fishing using two tractors and one fishing vessel.

Summer travels. Lisboa. Saudade! Portugal.

Lisbon is my crush. Its steep, weary streets, manholes, tiled houses, views, secret spots and architecture made it one of the most appealing experiences for me this year.  Other than that, I am utterly in love with Portuguese people who are welcoming and chatty. 

I like getting up early (before the usual tourists) to see how the city wakes up and you see all the locals getting ready for the day.

Comeback?

So, I guess it takes some commitment to keep up a blog, which I clearly do not have as I haven’t logged in since June. Why? Simply because summer came and there were loads of other things I chose over this virtual world. It was the busiest summer of my life so far, but I have NO REGRETS. I traveled a lot, met so many amazing people, plus saw the most amazing places.

Here is a little sneak peek from a longboard trip around Portugal; Lisbon and going north along the coast to Porto from where we continued to Paris and from my girls trip to Barcelona: