Southern Portugal is peppered with beautiful places, dotting the coast and the small towns on hills behind it.
One place that opened my portuguese imagination was on the wharf of Olhão, a small town in the Algarve region. Restaurants and a fish and food market sit along the street adjacent to the port.
I went and bought my €2 ticket to visit one of the islands stretching next to the coastline. There are many elongated islands, separated from the mainland in this case by Rio Formosa.
I lined up on the wharf to join the other tourists, mostly from the UK, Spain and Portugal to visit ILHA DA ARMONA.
To avoid boredom, I placed in my earbuds and listened to the popular tunes of modern Portugal. It sounded like the country was influenced by the rhythm of its global history with the flavours of Africa, the Middle East and Europe intertwining.
The tourists in Olhão are bite sized when compared to Albufeira, the region’s big tourist town/city further west, but number in their hundreds all the same.
This part of the country is a sunshine paradise. However on this day it was cloudy. Overcast one day doesn’t stop the weather from shining at other times.
The heat pulsates through those clouds. I noticed in places like this, filled with the British and Irish, a red haze usually flowed over the crowd’s skin. It symbolised a kind of pride that people appeared to have to be burnt red hot.
It showed me the Australian influence in my life. Sun = sunscreen. I can’t recall the last time I had a whole of body sunburn like many of the people I saw, maybe 5-10 years ago? I’m in the sun often, but with safety precautions 🦘☀️🌞
Wear your sunscreen, it avoids pink skin and cancer. That’s my tip to northern Europeans 😉
Once on the ferry to ILHA DA ARMONA I sat in a seat with the hot sun beaming through the window, as we slowly made our boat calmly over to the island.
When we arrived I felt the calm portuguese air flow into my life. No towers or huge shopping complexes met me.
Armona is an island where you feel the expanse of Portugal’s south with a hint of traditional life in the old homes that line the main street.
I walked along that road to connect with more beach on the ocean side of the island.
Like many experiences in this world, it was the physical world surrounding me from the island that played magic and added calm to my senses.
Pablito...travelling mentally with you! 