Two weeks previously, Angharad and I had sat down at my table after a giant croissant based brunch and booked a trip to Faro, Portugal. We were in search of sun and a fun break. Faro delivered wonderfully, and I couldn’t recommend it more for a mini-break from London.
For a four day trip, we packed a lot in. Angharad and I visited the nearby islands: Ilha Deserta and Ilha Culatra, which we loved. Deserta was, quite aptly and perhaps unsurprisingly, a deserted desert. There was one wooden, modern restaurant, which gave us creepy “The Menu” vibes. Otherwise it was just wild beaches with a spiky plant middle filled with birds and boardwalks. We zig-zagged across the boardwalks, pointing out the birds and butterflies to one another. Arriving at the beach facing south, and the southern most point of continental Portugal, we removed our shoes and walked barefoot along the shoreline. Eyes tied to the assortment of shells on the sand, picking up our favourite ones to show the other the colours, or the ridges, or the texture. Whatever made it spectacular. The sea became too inviting and we positioned ourselves on the sand, towels out, clothes off. Remembering we were in Europe, our bikini tops also came off. We bathed in the sun, we read our books, leant on our elbows we ate the punnet of strawberries bought earlier, juice dripping down our chins as we filled the gaps between the rushing waves with words. We swam. The cool water against our bodies was thrilling and delectable. We caught the boat over to the next island and explored the two fisherman villages, drinking sangria overlooking the beach and eating fried octopus sat alongside the small streets.
The next day, we hired bikes and cycled deep into the Rio Formosa National Park. We stopped to watch the birds, keeping an eye out for flamingoes. From a distance that was too far to be completely certain but too far to disprove, we saw a flock of flamingoes. Mission accomplished we rode back to the city, through forests heavy with the scent of pine and spring flowers.
We caught the bus and a taxi in land to a vineyard and spent the tail end of the day tasting/drinking wine, eating tapas and surveying the vine covered valley with our toes in the pool. We discussed love and life. Kicked out at closing time, we got a lift back to the nearest town with one of the waitresses, and then the bus onwards to Faro. Sophisticated and sunkissed, I taught Angharad my favourite card game and we savoured our final night.
An absolutely perfect four days.