beach testing

Uruguay: Paz e Tranquilidade no Cabo Polonio

Personal, Travel

Two years ago I was on the road in the Southern Brazil. This was when, by default, I decided to visit some parts of Uruguay and Argentina. I always wanted to visit the ‘Southern Cone’ as they call the region of the southernmost countries of America, given the magical realism literature I was into, people I met in Barcelona coming from there and simply: curiosity to discover the most distant and remote places of this continent. This post gathers some memories full of sun, ocean breeze and laughter of a few days I spent with my friend Jimena in the Eastern Uruguay.

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I met Jimena years ago in Barcelona and she was one of these people I instantly felt that I can get along with easily, so I was very sad when I learnt she was leaving town. I promised her the visit in her home country Uruguay though and – sooner than expected: I kept it. I was lucky enough to visit Jimena in a very remote, and charming location some 300 km east from Montevideo: Paloma, near Cabo Polonio.

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Cabo Polonio is a peninsula where the colourful, wooden architecture is preserved, and you can’t get there by the land road, only via natural park and beach, where access is limited. People live there in peaceful surrounding of the Atlantic Ocean, endless remote beaches famous for spotting whales passing by this latitude regularly. In the wintertime sea lions and seals are also quite often seen guests.

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I would like to dedicate this post to Jimena thanks to whom I could live the perfect ‘local authentic’ experience of a few days so close to the nature, living in a settlement which looked like a moon valley (see above), eat delicious fresh & sea food, and most importantly share precious moments together. As Jimena loves Portuguese much as I do, I’ll only say: muito obrigada, amiga!

Trojan Horse was a Unicorn and lived in Troia

Travel

What is the connection between a remote peninsula in Alentejo and a well-known digital art conference? Well, both relate to the Trojan Horse. The conference and collective are named after a Trojan Horse (who) was a Unicorn, and its anual venue takes place in this remote, peninsular location of Troia in Portugal.

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I was invited there last week to meet a bunch of concept artist, illustrators and animators from the film, entertainment and gaming world. It took me only two days to interview about 70 people and see their portfolios, some of them presenting pretty interesting (or at least: quirky) stuff.

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The place itself is also specific, to put it this way. Three years ago there was nothing more than a fishermen village on this enchanting peninsula South of Lisboa Metropolitan and Setubal anyway, surrounded by the Sado river estuary and Atlantic Ocean. Then, the luxury resort was built and although architectonically it’s not that much of a disaster, it has a strange feeling.

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This is what happens often in places that offer great climate and nature sights all year round: it attracts greedy real estate investors. Hopefully Troia was not entirely covered in concrete and glass, and the National Park of Sado River Estuary was preserved carefully.

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Being a complete sucker for Portuguese landscape, cuisine, language and what-not, I enjoyed my stay in the luxury village of Troia. Thanks to some tiny cafés and restaurants that remained there, as well as great companion of those who participated in the Trojan conference.

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On the other side of the Bridge: Costa Caparica

Music, Travel

The quantity of quality beaches nearby Lisbon, not to mention in Portugal, is overwhelming. You can have a glimpse of how it is like to wander around the country beach tasting/testing but the sites I will present here will maybe cover 1% of the total number.

Costa Caparica is probably the hippest beach in the Lisbon’s surrounding. The fact is, it is pretty much accessible, either by car, or by bus taken from the centre of Lisbon. Be aware if travelling during rush hours: the beach is situated on the other side of the Tejo river, and the famous Ponte de 25 de Abril at that times become rather a parking lot than an artery.

Once you get there, you will notice various beach bars and restaurants, varying from very posh to quite affordable ones. But what actually is my favourite remark of the Caparica beach is the quantity of surfing schools and little, wooden houses which endured wind, sun and high tides.

There is pretty much everything to be found on this wide beach: also a nudist and gay zone aka Praia 19. However, if you are looking for a rocky beach where to hide from the all-time present sun and humanity, Caparica may not be the best choice.

My personal fave is to sit nearby the wooden houses, listening to bossa nova classics overlooking the sunset and think about what memories I have left on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I think that what Principezinho meant by ‘looking at the sunsets’ while being melancholic, the Portuguese put nicely in one keyword: saudade.

Wiki:

Ponte de 25 de Abril – 25th of April Bridge, connecting the city of Lisbon with the municipality of Almada on the left (south) bank of the Tejo river. The name “25 de Abril” commemorates the Carnation Revolution.

Principezinho – The Little Prince of Saint-Exupery

Indian Summer on Praia do Guincho

Personal, Travel

Moving on with the Lisbon-related delights… I need to present you the beach I fell in love with at a first sight and which remains in my top 5 until now. Moreover, which is within 1 hour drive reach from the Portuguese capital’s centre!

I have to travel back to very difficult 2011 when Lisbon has been my departure and arrival point throughout the year. Eventually, when my first Brazilian/South American travel came to an end in the mid-September, Lisbon was my welcoming port in Europe after a few months of absence. I had a very emotional meeting with my Mom and my cousin Piotr who decided to fly over from Berlin to join me and spend a couple of days in the Cidade da Luz.

Tired after all-night travel, I proposed we should chill out at the most peaceful place I know by the Oceanside: Praia do Guincho. It was not so easy to get there, taking train to Cascais and then a bus, but impossible was nothing on that very special day for us, weary travelers.

And then, the path between the dunes and green Atlantic forest led us to a wide, sandy beach limited by the most-Western rocks within the continental Europe: Cabo da Roca tip. The air was so clear, the waves – high and long and the breeze was making wonders to my jet-lagged body and soul. We were so happy there, we could not even realize that the tide went up very quickly, gathering back to the ocean our camera, sunscreen and what not. No quality photos were left from this lovely Indian Summer get away, but the memories will definitely remain. And this Brazilian-origined song can tell how glorious can it be when you live by the sea.

Wiki:

Cidade da Luz – City of Light, Lisbon’s nickname

Cabo da Roca – ‘Rocky tip’, the most Western tip of the continental Europe

Praia – beach