Where Gods meet and cats can roam wild and free
Finally I’m able to do a summary of my time in Sagres, Algarve, Portugal. Sagres is located at the southern most point of Portugal and Europe and is sometimes called the End of the World since in ancient times it was the last explored point of the then known world. Which is easy to understand when you visit, it’s just the sea beyond the cliffs of the town and it feels like you’re at the end of the known world.
After I got back from Portugal I’ve been so busy settling into my house up north in Sweden, this winter I’ve just been in and out of the house, I’ve been travelling so much I’ve sometimes hardly known where I spent the last weekend. There’s also so much to do with a house, it practically never ends. I sort of thought there would be less to do when the snow was gone, but no. Also, this thing with me setting up a web shop and choosing the right eCommerce platform is quite a task. Think I’ve finally made a decision which plattform I’m going to go with. More about that later.
Anyhow. Now I’m taking the time to get back to what I’m supposed to do, present my travels and tell you about one of the most amazing places in the world. I spent one week in Sagres, which means ‘Holy’ in Portuguese, and it really feels like a holy place and it’s holy to me. I love the dramatic Atlantic coastline in Portugal, just walking along the cliffs and taking in the sights. One morning while walking, one of the sights were two dolphins swimming in the sea right outside the cliff where I was standing. I guess I could have taken a dolphin watching boat but I enjoy it more seeing dolphins by accident. Now when I’m writing this the thought struck me again, “Who would have thought that I would get the chance to see dolphins swimming in the Atlantic?”. Not me growing up in the north of Sweden anyway. But here I am, sitting and writing about it. Amazing.
Even if it looks very dramatic you don’t have to be fit to roam around since there are paths along the cliffs and walking is very easy along the coastline. Of course, you can rent a MTB and go biking along the many trails there, or go for long treks, but I prefer walking and stopping here and there, having a coffee somewhere or stopping for lunch. The best walks ends up with me taking a swim in the Atlantic. The weather in Sagres in April was sunny and had the perfect temperature around 20-25 degrees Celsius, so you don’t get too warm while out during midday. The water temperature was nice, I have no idea how warm it was but it wasn’t as if I felt my feet freeze or anything. Just nice and refreshing, another great thing about swimming in Sagres is that the sea floor is made out of sand so you don risk getting reef cuts or so.
I would love to visit Sagres at other times of the year too since the climate is really nice, a taxi driver I spoke to said that it never gets cold and the winter has a great climate too. And of course, the summer seems perfect too especially as the Atlantic get a little bit warmer by then. But I would say, based on my two visits in October and April the weather in Sagres is perfect.
Above you can see The Atlantic Ocean where I was swimming every day, The Big Infinity Pool. And the sunset photo is one I took from the balcony in my apartment, I had to stop my yoga practice just to take a photo of the amazing evening sky. There are yoga schools in Sagres too but I prefer to do my practice by myself in my apartment since I’ve been doing it for so long and know it inside out. Or, even if I know my practice I never know how the asanas are going to feel since the body is different every day. It’s an understatement to say that I had a nice practice there, loved practicing with the balcony doors open glancing at the sea in front of me.
When I was walking on the cliffs on the grounds that is the old fortress of Sagres, Fortaleza de Sagres, I took the opportunity to place a stone at the top of the pyramid. In Zen practice the building of stone pyramids is supposed to honour the ones who came before me and remind me that I’m on the right path. I know there’s a lot of debate about the right or wrong of doing this, but I like it, the rocks were already there, not moved from anywhere and didn’t change the environment. And as a reminder to not take thing too seriously, the whole pyramid fell to the ground when a small girl, just minutes after I took the photo, accidentally made it fall to the ground.
One of the first places I had to visit when I got back, since that was one of the highlights of my visit in October 2022, was the house full of hearts. And, it’s still there. Filled with hearts. I heard from a woman that the price for the land where the house sits is something like 4 million Euros. Personally, I hope that nobody buys it since I appreciate walking there so much and if somebody buys it they will most likely turn it into a luxury resort. And everything would change.
The reason why I call it the place where the Gods like to meet is because that’s what Sagres been known for.
And, if somebody buys the land where the house with the hearts is, there will be more people in Sagres, and the Gods won’t gather there anymore.
The other two photos are of the real Gods in my universe, some of the cats I met during my walks. The sleeping cat in the photo to the right is an old acquaintance of mine from my last visit, we met outside of Spar Supermarket in the centre of Sagres. One of the friendliest cats I’ve ever met, so safe and trusting. Sagres is an old fishing town, and when the fishermen had problems with mice they discovered that cats were the solution to their problems, and ever since, that cats of the fishing town is well cared for. Sagres is not only an old fishing town since Portugal in the 16th century was the largest commercial and naval empire which you can see the remains of in the old fort on top of one of the cliffs. Also. The three photos above, and the photo on top of the post, are all taken with my phone so, iPhone photography works.
Of course I took surf photos too. When the surroundings look like this it’s quite easy to get dramatic photographs. My surf photography has sort of developed to trying to capture as much as possible of the surroundings too. You can sort of make the photos more dramatic too. In the middle photo, that rock is not really as big as it looks. But the surfer is surfing very close to the rock. In the bottom photo you can see the old fortress on top of the rocks and you see some vistiors taking in the view from the cliffs. Generally surfing in Sagres is suitable for all levels, there are many surf schools there who cater for all levels of surfers.
But sometimes, the surfer and the sea is enough to make a good photo. Then you can capture the skills of the surfer and the beauty of the sea. As I also had the chance to do.
So my time in Sagres was refreshing, relaxing and stimulating. And. I hope I get the chance to visit The End of The World sometime soon. Obrigado Sagres.
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