Down by the Sea

On the Guincho

Today was a planned break from frenetic touring. We got up when we felt like it, got a load of laundry going, and eased into things. Finally got out of the house around 11 and headed up the coast to the Guincho beach. There was a pretty good crowd there already, but we found a parking spot pretty close to the action.

Playing Rackets

What can I say? A beach is a beach. Not in a bad way, but people everywhere seem to use beaches for all the same things, and if you just look at the pictures, you'll see a random beach that could be anywhere in the world. There were people kiteboarding and surfing and playing ball and swimming and windsurfing and building sand castles and going for walks, and flirting with guys or girls, and families having picnics. Nothing surprising, aside from a couple of small biplanes doing aerobatics over the water.

Manny taught us a new game called rackets, which basically involves hitting a ball back and forth between two or more people, that appears to be popular here. We snacked on some juice boxes - they make them in large sizes here, not just the kiddie boxes - and had some custard pastries and some little snack-y chocolate things, mini-biscuits, and swam a bit and laid out on our beach towels. Perfect relaxation.

Palm Beach and Harbor

Manny had some errands to run in the afternoon, so he dropped us off at a beach right in Cascais, Palm Beach, while he did that. More of the same, less windy, more crowds, some topless sunbathers, a cantina nearby. Relaxed there for a couple of hours, wandering into the water when we got too warm, back out again to lay on the sand and bake. The water here is about comparable to the temperature in N. California or the Oregon Coast, I think. Not quite like the warm currents of the Pacific.

Came home and showered up, folded laundry, snacked on some cheese, olives, and nuts. Irene has bacalhau in the oven for dinner, and it smells delicious. Ciao!