Chapter 106: Sesimbra Tropicale

nerd blog post #112

My time in Portugal was, as Terry would say, "to die for." Terry is Jessica's dad, and he and his wife, Maria, are two of the most hospitable people I have ever met in my life. People sometimes tease me for saying that every trip was the best, that every person was the best host, and that every day was a fave. But I will say right now that Portugal is my favourite European country, and that my time there was one of the best of my life. That bold statement made, it will be very hard to nerd blog about the five nights spent in Sesimbra, Portugal, just South of Lisbon. But here we go...

Jessica and I partied the night before we left, one last time, joined by Marni, a good friend from Queen's. As our flight left at 7am, we only caught one hour of sleep before making an epic journey to Lisbon, which included a six hour layover in Madrid. Luckily, Jess and I both have the lucky ability to sleep anywhere, so we found a sketchy nook behind ATMs, lay down our beach towels, and snoozed our faces off.

Arriving in Lisbon, we were met by Terry and Maria, and Maria's best childhood friend, Louisa. Louisa doesn't have much English, but her dancing and spirit shone through so clearly that words weren't really necessary to be her friend. We drove the forty minutes to their place in Sesimbra.

The house is on top of a huge hill/small mountain above the fishing village of Sesimbra. The "village" is more like a town, though, with a long and beautiful beach and lot's of bars and restaurants. While the tourist industry is growing, it still feels very local, people don't speak a lot of English, and we were always basically the only white peeps on the beach. Their house is beautiful and we spent most of the time there on the big terrasse, lounging with drinks, chatting, and eating delicious food barbecued on the outdoor, built-in, stone BBQ. It was paradise.

Terry was a dream with driving us around. We were chauffeured to the beach and back, and they toured us around the area. We visited a bigger city where we ate cuttlefish at a really good restaurant, we visited a castle atop a mountain, we went to a beach called Meco which had the biggest waves I have seen since Africa, and we drove along beautiful countryside, up windy mountains, saw an ancient monastery built into a cliff (and still in use), spectacular views of the land and ocean, and always stopped regulariy for coffee or beer. I thought, once again, of how much beauty I saw as a kid, before I could really appreciate it. I wondered how many mountains my parents took us to, while I slept in the backseat or refused to get out to take a look.

When we weren't touring around, the three of us were on the beach. I have turned a light shade of black and am now putting Parisian tanners to shame. We all love swimming in the ocean, and braved the freezing Atlantic temperatures to swim around and enjoy the salt water. We also went downtown three of the nights. One night we did karaoke! What a treat. I love karaoke. We also went to a nightclub on the beach, though no one was dancing, so we sat in beanbag chairs in the sand, looking out over the water. Beer was 1 Euro, so we each had one per night.

My favourite times were before dindins. We had drinks (one of which Terry invented and we named Sesimbra Tropicale), and talked a lot. Terry and Maria met working as flight attendants for Air Canada (Terry is now retired). They have seen so much of the world and have really interesting stories. They also have neat backgrounds - Terry is Greek but spent a lot of time in Australia, and Maria moved to Montreal when she was a teenager. After these chats, we would eat copious amounts of fish. I have never eaten so much before in my life. I think I gained 1500 pounds.

On the Saturday, they had a lunch party that lasted until the wee hours. It reminded me of how my grandmother described their parties. Lot's of middle-aged Portugese couples who drank and smoked and danced like I've never seen before. There was enough fish to feed a small country, and enough wine to drown one. The peeps there were neighbours, childhood friends, and flight attendants. There were a couple of their children there, that were our age, but they were far less entertaining than the energetic older adults.

I left Portugal Monday morning with Piri-piri powder, a hot Portuguese spice, a deep desire to become a flight attendant, and a massive appreciation for Portugal and its people. If Canadians are warm, Portuguese are burning hot. I have never felt so welcome and at home in a foreign country. I was sad to leave, but so grateful for the hospitality and the chance to see an authentic side to such a beautiful country.

Love to you all,
Hincks.