I’m NOT NOT going to write a blog post about Portugal

February 4, 2014 at 5:39 pm  •  Posted in Learnings, Portugal, surfing by

I guess you could say that I’m “behind the eight ball” when it comes to blogging nowadays. (My mother’s exact words) What can I tell you? Other “trivial” tasks like, “school work” and “exercise” somehow surpassed “posting” in Wescott’s Great List of Priorities. However, here we are. I’m carefully climbing out of my grandiose blog post deficit one post at a time. Yes, we are currently in Vietnam, but Portugal was way too cool to just leave in the dust.

 

Picking a location is a great starting point, but believe it or not, writing a blog post actually requires a slightly less equivocal topic. As I scroll through my family’s past Portugal blog posts, it would seem that you, as the reader, may have not yet gotten a true taste of the flavorful Portuguese lifestyle. Well, open wide my fellow country connoisseurs, because here comes the main course of information (topped off with loads more enriching metaphors.) I am going to briefly take you through a day in the life of, what used to be, Portuguese Wescott.

 

8:30am – Wake up and shower

 

If you haven’t already seen “A tor of our apartmint in Pochecol” by audacious author, Tuck, then I am here to tell you that the bathrooms were awesome!

Usually, every new shower that I seem to encounter, turning on the hot water is like tampering with alien technology, you turn random nozzles, press alluring buttons, and, occasionally, you get burned. However, not in this bathroom. The shower was very straight forward and, for once, I got that satisfaction of getting that perfect balance between hot and cold on the first try. It felt good.

 

9:00am – Do the daily rounds for groceries with Yve

 

Our “conveniently” placed apartment resided a  several blocks away from the nearest fruit stand, but on the flip side, if you were in the market for hash or cocaine, either one could be found right outside the front door.  I have to say, the American version of grocery shopping is pretty lame, when compared to the European strategy: wake up and buy warm, freshly baked rolls from the baker, thinly sliced salami from the butcher, and ripe fruit from the fruit people. I don’t recall much about the actual walks, besides the marvelous, marble, cobblestone streets, Yve and I stopping to gape at a quaint little art supplies store, and a gregarious, drunk, homeless man making my day when he leaned over us and bellowed, “Get the **** out of my office.” Good times.

We stopped for fresh squeezed carrot and ginger juice every morning

We also stopped for fresh squeezed carrot and ginger juice every morning

 

10:00am – Eat breakfast

 

Gathering groceries may have been a long and toilsome task, but eating all of those fresh, whole foods every morning made the journey very much worthwhile. Even though I could go on and on about breakfast, I doubt anyone wants to read another superfluous paragraph about food, so, what would be a long story short: oatmeal, fruit, juice, toast, and that’s it.

 

11:00am – Get in the Van and Drive to Ericeira

 

The twenty minute drive from our awesome apartment to the beautiful beach was nothing when compared to the drive from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert. See…if I hadn’t procrastinated on writing this, we would never have been able to enjoy that great comparison. Morocco’s two-day tour of twisty, rugged, life-threatening, cliff side roads has every drive I have ever taken, and probably ever will, beat, bar none. However, I have learned to treat long car rides as good things, because that mentality alone makes them slightly less excruciating. In reality, they aren’t all that bad; they give you time to think, and, most importantly, time to observe, soak it all in, make memories. I like to think that this trip is like one big car ride, because while my parents do  all of the planning and driving, I can sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery.

 

Around 12:00pm – We would enjoy a hasty lunch wherever we could.

Beachfront lunch spot

Beachfront lunch spot

 

1:00pm to 4:00pm – Surfs up!

 

Surfing is always a blast, and if I were to craft a metaphor off of that predicate, Portugal is the atom bomb. “Ready to go?” Our guide excitedly asked in his extrinsic Portuguese accent, which, for those of you who don’t know, sounds a little bit like Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb. Like agile penguins, we plopped into the water one by one, gliding above exotic coral and rock formations. Although, paddling out in a synchronized diamond formation made me feel pretty cool, the real fun began when we started catching waves. Ride after ride, a steady stream of adrenaline would fuel my system and force me to keep coming back for more. I had a couple of close encounters, when the waves spat me out on top of the sharp, shallow reef, but that just made everything all the more interesting! In the midst of a perfect moment, when the golden sun struck the horizon and turned the whole sky red (also known as the sunset,) just bobbing up and down with the waves, I reflected on life in Portugal and quickly came to the conclusion: I have to come back here someday and enjoy this day all over again.

At our favorite board shop, Board Culture

At our favorite board shop, Board Culture

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8 Comments

  1. tuckeraufranc / February 4, 2014 at 8:30 pm /

    Love this one. How can you not love the combo of cocaine, heroin and carrot juice? I get excited over chunky peanut butter on a toasted English muffin.

    • Wescott / February 6, 2014 at 11:44 pm /

      All part of a complete Breakfast.

  2. K.A. / February 4, 2014 at 8:43 pm /

    Way to go with the posting/school/traveling the world thing you got going on. I love that we got to revisit Portugal. Felt like I was there!

  3. Terry / February 5, 2014 at 2:32 am /

    Now I REALLY want to experience Portugal. Will you come with me?

    • Wescott / February 6, 2014 at 11:45 pm /

      Definitely! Book the tickets and I’m in!

  4. Ryan / February 6, 2014 at 6:24 pm /

    Oh were going back alright

    • Wescott / February 6, 2014 at 11:40 pm /

      Oh yeah; you can come with Terry and I. The carrot juice, waves, and crazy homeless guys are calling our names!

  5. Cari Johnson / February 7, 2014 at 2:34 pm /

    Wow.

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