Sürfing in Pörtugal

First thing we did after we entered Pörtugal, was a short coffee break in a little village and enjoyed the first but definitely not the last pastel de nata. From there we made the way towards Burgos a little village in the south east of the algarve. We just sat in the sunset at the beach and drank a beer. Although there were no waves at all we felt at the right place.

The next days we drove the algarve up and down a little bit and had our first surf session in Odexeixe and another nice one in Arrifana. Afterwards we drove back south to go wakeboarding at wake park Lagos. Although this is just a tiny cable park with two systems (which means that it just goes back an forth), Linda and me both had an amazing session. The crew is super friendly and nice and by accident there was a nice jam session after wakeboarding, so we stayed late and could even sleep at the park. The next day we discovered Lagos, and although we have been there before it felt nice, escpecially with the tips that we got from the girl that sublets our flat in Berlin and went to school in Lagos. 

On our way up north we stopped in Baleal close to Peniche, where we met up with Kathi. Kathi and me met some years ago on Fuerteventura and she is always full of energy, travelling the world for kite surfing and an all around positive person. It was soo cool to meet her here with her boyfriend. We went on a market and for dinner together, where she told us that she just had bought a house here…. How cool is that? With her tipps we got an amazing place to sleep with Rosi and made our way further up north the next day to Figueira da Foz. Here we had booked a surf camp with the idea in mind to meet other people and get in to the surfing rhythm.

We stayed at Janga wonderland and this place it hard to describe. It is a huuuuge area with three big houses on it. In one house the owner couple lives. The former pro surfer Yoyo Terhorst and his girlfriend renovated this place. In the two other houses there are the rooms for the guests. The rooms are big and the furniture is pretty simple. Everything is a little run down, which is understandable, since it is hard to take care of such a big place. There is a pool, a billiard table, a gym, a sauna, a yoga room and even a six hole gold course…. It is insanely big. The sad thing for us was, that no-one was there. It was just us and one other couple. We were a little disappointed, since we had expected something else, but we tried to make the most of it. Every day we could book surf lessons and this is exactly what we did. Linda got a surf lesson every day and I took tow surf lessons and after that just took the transfer to the beach to go surfing. Here we had the benefits from the few people in the camp. Linda got a 1:1 coaching almost every day and the Waves in Figueira da fox were incredibly good. We had the best surf sessions since Mancora, Peru and made amazing progress. In that regard we really got what we were looking for. Also we used the billiard table and pool and even got a golf introduction. Linda turned out to be a natural talent at golfing and although I went crazy on my incredibly bad shots it was nice to try something else. We left Figueira da Fox with the feeling of great progress in surfing but not really satisfied in what we had imagined in a surf camp. Nevertheless it felt so good to have sore muscles on a daily base because of surfing and the regular yoga session we had done as well.

Since Linda had never been in Lisbon, we made our way back south again and stayed in a little village north of Lisbon form where we took an uber into the city. AI had helped us to design a little walking tour and we started up high at the Miradouro de Santa Luzia with a nice view over the city, before we started to walk down. After passing through the rua Augusta to the Praça do Comercio, where we tried the Ginjinha, a typical cherry liqueur from a chocolate cup, we made a little break at the Time Out Market before we took a rental bike to the LxFactory. This is a really nice alternative industrial area that reminded us of Berlin. We strolled around and had a nice dinner there. I had another flashback, because many years ago I have been on the same area for a conference. Later that day we drove back up north to the beautiful parking next to a beach south of Ericeira, where we had stayed the nights before as well. The next days we strolled through Ericeira and the city center really still has the old fisherman’s village vibe, although there are tourists everywhere. A little bit outside of town there is a huge Boardriders store and a big skatepark in front. Linda used this opportunity to take out our surf skate and skate a few turns. Sadly the waves never that good that we could jump in the water, but we still wanted to surf a lot so we „accidentally“ bought another surfboard. In the city center of Ericeira we found a little surf shop with very fair offers. Since we expected the waves to be small at the north coast of spain in the upcoming weeks we bought a longboard. It was used but still as good as new and built very sturdy since we have to load and unload it on the roof of Rosi and did not want to break it the last few weeks. As there were no waves in Ericeira we drove back up north to Peniche and Baleal to go surfing with our new board the first time. … and this is what we did in Baleal. The conditions were perfect, which motivated us…. but not only us. I am not joking that there were around 100 people in the water. It was packed, but we still joined in. As we were in the water the waves got bigger and bigger and we both struggled to get waves in-between all the others surfers. Also I found out in this session that we bought a board that is completely flat. That is very beneficial once you are in a waves and surf along the face of it, because it gives you a lot of speed, but it makes catching a wave incredibly harder, because if you are just a tiny bit too slow while standing up you dive in the water with the nose of your board…and this happened to bith of us ….a lot! Nevertheless it was fun to be in the water together and we celebrated the end of the session with an ice cold super bock beer in the Parking lot. On our way farther north we stopped again in Figueira da Foz and both surfed again in the really good waves (but this time with less people) of the beach break that we already knew from the surf camp.

From there we wanted to visit Porto but somehow the only good spot to camp with Rosi was full and so we decided to do something that not a lot of travellers do in Portugal – we drove inland in the direction of the Douro valley. This is a huge wine area and the heart of the Portwine production of Portugal. On the way there we stopped in the little town of Amarante, which has a beautiful old city center around an old bridge and we had to try the local specialty of penis shaped cakes, which is somehow a mix of the rural Portuguese humor and the old beliefe that eating it supports your fertility. Further in the direction of the Douro valley we found one of our most amazing free camp spots in Europe. It was down in a valley next to a little river with a tiny beach protected by the trees. We camped there for a nights could cook outside and even go for a skinny dip in the small river. 

The next morning we drove to the Quinta do Seixo, where Linda had booked a tour for us. This wine yard is the place where the famous Sandeman portwines are being produced, the area looks a lot like the Mosel region in Germany and the highly motivated guide gave us an amazing tour through their production facilities which ended with a nice wine tasting. I was never a fan of Portwine, but I have to say that I really enjoyed the wines we tested here. From the wine tasting we drove straight to Porto we we now got a spot at the nice private camping behind a little mechanic out of town. The next morning we took an uber into Porto and did a nice walking tour through the city. In the beginning we were not so convinced, but as soon as we entered the Mercado de Bolhão we were mesmerized. It was an old market that was renovated and offered everything from portugal – fresh as well as canned. Of course there were a lot of toursists there but the whole vibe was still great. We tried cheese, sardines, oysters and of course portwine. Happy and completely filled we got closer to the river and Porto became more and more beautiful. There are a lot of the old houses with colourful ceramic tiles on the front. The city is also incredibly full of tourists but we still enjoyed it and I even got to try the famous local dish Francesinha, which is a sandwich with meat, ham, cheese and an egg. All drowned in a heavy gravy. Not light at all, but still an experience. 

From Porto we still wanted to check out the surf beach Praia do Cabadelo, but the wind was just way too strong when we were there. And all the kitesurfer and the kitesurfing school and rental stations showed us that this place is usually very windy. Sadly it was also too windy to check out the tiny wakeboard park that was very near. Although we had an incredible time in Portugal and really enjoyed it there, we were both very excited to enter Spain. Finally back to a language we can understand. We  were both singing Peter Alexanders „Eviva España“ while we crossed the border back to Spain.