June 28-30, 2018

I arrived in the south of Portugal, welcomed by sunshine and a hoard of Englishmen at my hostel.

During my time in Portimao I indulged in beaches, pastel de nata (gotta get my fill while I’m here…), and “football”. I will henceforth refer to soccer as football, because apparently it is disgraceful and utterly embarrassing to call it soccer.

The Lagos area (where Portimao is located) is known for its cliffs and rock formations. The beaches are surrounded by red-orange-tan cliffs and caves – possibly the most beautiful beaches I have seen yet… Possibly… I have seen a lot of gorgeous beaches this year, it’s difficult to pick a favourite. The two beaches I visited were Praia do Vau, and Benagil Beach.

Rock formations, yo.

Benagil Beach also has the Benagil Caves, which are amazing! Only accessible via the ocean (boat, kayak, or swimming if you’re feeling ballsy) the caves were formed by the waves and currents of the Atlantic. Some caves have beaches in them, some are small dark crevices, all are beautiful.

The most famous of the caves – has a beach and this gorgeous hole in the roof that lets light in

Did a boat tour of the caves, the guide went INSIDE a tiny little cave and it was so cool!

Benagil Beach from above

Walking along the cliffs at Benagil – so many secluded beaches only accessible by boat!

Praia do Vau and the cliffs in Portimao

While in Portimao I also attended a few viewing parties for World Cup games! It seems that every town in Portugal has a giant screen outside meant exclusively for broadcasting football games. I went to an England game and, of course, a Portugal game! Unfortunately, the team I was cheering on for both games ended up losing… But the culture of football in Europe is so fun and exciting regardless! Almost as fun as the hockey culture at home 😉

That pretty much sums up my time in Portimao – I could easily spend a week or two long vacation here lounging on a new beach everyday.

To conclude, I will leave you with this – It’s coming home. It’s coming home. It’s coming. Football’s coming home.

XO – Kris