Direction Ponta da Piedade, about 45 minutes from Albufeira. A magical place that you should not miss.
The arrival is easy. There is a large parking lot and the path is very well marked. A wooden boardwalk guides visitors along the cliffs. Then suddenly I see them: magnificent stairs descending toward the sea. The view is breathtaking. Dark blue water mixed with turquoise shades contrasts with the ochre color of the cliffs. I overhear a guide explaining that each rock formation bears the name of a local fisherman.
At the bottom of the staircase, small boats take visitors through the nearby caves. Unfortunately, I have no cash and, true to my habit, I booked nothing in advance.
This place is beautiful. It reminds me a little of Diamond Beach in Bali. A guide tells his group that this is one of the best places in the Algarve to watch the sunset. I immediately decide that I will come back later.
About fifteen minutes away on foot is Praia do Camilo: a wooden staircase descends to a small cove, and a tunnel through the rock opens onto a second beach beside it. At this hour both are already crowded and it is difficult to find a place in the shade. The water is turquoise.
Eventually I find a thin patch of shade at the foot of the cliff, under the signs warning of falling rocks, and there it is finally quiet.
I open my book, Soufi, mon amour. I love this book.
How good it is, I think, to give an afternoon to a book and not a screen. To read instead of perform. To live for oneself, and not through the approval of others.
The heat sits almost too heavy, then turns kind the moment I lower my feet into the sea. Warm skin, cool water breaking over it, a small and welcome contradiction.
I go back to the book and underline a line: if we are the same after love as we were before, we have not loved enough. I close it on one finger and watch the sea a while. The waves keep arriving. I turn the page, already wanting the next one.
Back to top