Olá Portugal

Touched down in the afternoon in Lisbon, I was confused about the one hour time difference… “is that for real?” I had no idea! Anyways, got out of my plane, grabbed my bag and got welcomed by my girl gang who had been waiting (im)patiently for me to join them. Jokes started from the first second mostly alcohol themed, whilst promising the car rental company that we were reliable grown up women. Big lie, literally four hours later we scratched the side of the car while flattening a tire… OOPS.

It was my first time back in Portugal since I was a kid so I was very excited to discover the culture, the food and the landscapes. Let’s introduce the gang for the week: first off, we have Julia, the Portuguese beauty who made sure to keep us hydrated with the best local wine introducing our palettes to green wine. Then there is Jesse who most desperately needed a holiday. Jesse is also my roomie in Zurich and the fact that I want her around me even on holiday shows the high esteem at which I hold her. I found my pair! Also, my old friend Nadja joined us despite her busy travel schedule this year. Finally, I got to meet Jesse’s best friend, Jenny, whose love for wine and good food ignited an instant spark. And then there is clumsy, hilarious and opinionated me!

After four hours of driving, with one stop to buy some groceries or as Julia saw it, an opportunity to buy ALL the wine in the shop and a short stop for dinner. This quaint very typical restaurant (YUM!) which had no vegetarian food much to Jesse’s dismay who is our very own flexitarian, she ended up eating a stake that was pretty dam tasty, there were no complaints from anyone for this quick pit stop.

We made it to the Rose Marie Villa, what a dream! This is the home of a friend of ours who renovated it with impeccable taste and is now renting out. Every room amazed us! This was the perfect place for the gang to rest and enjoy our week off. On the first day we rented out fun short boards to practice our paddling in the ocean, which turned out to be less rough than imagined with fun little waves. What confused me was having to fight around the shore break, since it took me longer than most to realise that waves are not supposed to be surfed until shore. While the process of putting on and taking off a wetsuit was a challenge that entertained the entire beach, staying in the cold water with it was a real pleasure. Would you believe me if I told you that I was warmer in the Atlantic Ocean than I have ever been in Indonesia? After this “smooth” surf session we all had a torturous job to do this afternoon… tan! So we lay in the sun for the rest of the day and went home even more tired.

The next day, we visited a few towns where food never disappointed us! We visited the lighthouse in Sagres – the most west point of Europe where the presence of a food truck selling “the last Bratwurst before America” surprised us. It was too much to expect “the last Sangria before America” (haha)? The next few days we tried the surf in a few different spots, it got harder and harder the swell was quite intense this week and for me personally understanding these beach breaks just complicated things. I’m sure, that with experience and practice I will reach the point where I won’t front-flip over the waves anymore!

I have to take a quick break here to mention the worlds most energetic and adorable dog ever, Amy. One morning, after an early surf session, we met Amy, our neighbours Australian Shepherd! Julia went crazy with how cute she was, and Nadja and I came to the conclusion that we were traveling with a dog like soul. As Nadja said so eloquently “Julia, you are like a dog you get excited for all dog related things. Food, beaches and other dogs!” Which was very true! She is a very happy soul and brought us all many laughs during this week.

One beach day things got real, Nadja, Julia and I went from working on our tans to developing a water system in order to protect our tanning spot from being submerged by high tide. Swiss engineering tactics plus cheap Portuguese manual labour equalled a water channel so big that the whole beach could profit. Ya welcome! At one point we even had little employees with shovels helping out, even though we were contributing to the immense issue that is child labour, they seemed to get the most enjoyment out of our water channel once the water actually managed to reach it.

The days were filled with exploring, surfing, good food and wine. Many thanks to our host and friend Nico who gave us some amazing tips, we found this massive and yet deserted secret beach. Beautiful beach with, amazing rock formations and a sketchy hike down, but definitely worth the relaxing afternoon, the beautiful scenery and the untouched sand. What an experience to be tanning with only crabs as company!

We came back to Switzerland fully energised, Julia is now more motivated than ever to come back to Zurich and we all got back to our money earning routine.

Pictures: Nicki Antognini
Words: Nicki Antognini & Julia Benn
Location: Arrifana, Portugal
Thanks to: Nico for welcoming us into his beautiful homestay –> Casa Rose Marie