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Tag: Cabo Carvoeiro

Plans for days of extreme heat in Portugal

We played in a previous entry with the idea that many people are even grateful when a rainy day comes in summer in Portugal and they have the perfect excuse to make different plans to the typical surf, beach and golf.

At the opposite extreme would be hot days. But, in one more example of how extremes meet, we see that practically all of the plans that we mentioned for those rainy days are also valid for days of extreme heat.

And there are also some additional ones. In an article in the Diario de Noticias during the August 2018 heat wave, Cabo Carvoeiro was cited as one of the coolest places in mainland Portugal:

https://www.dn.pt/pais/interior/fugir-do-calor-conheca-os-locais-mais-frescos-de-portugal-continental-9672712.html

And it is true that anyone who has visited the cape, with its impressive cliffs and its marvelous views of the coast and the Berlengas Islands, will have noticed that in this space of wild fusion between land and sea almost always does, at least, a gentle cool breeze.

Another plan along the same lines would be the Foz de Arelho cliffs, with their views over the sea and the lake. The plan combines especially well with the pleasant chill-outs on the Foz de Arelho beach.

And also in that line of chill-out, the garden in Areias do Seixo, where you can enjoy in good company the always pleasant combination of the night, the fire and the stars.

Berlengas

The human being is curious and adventurous by nature. And anyone who visits Cape Carvoeiro, on the westernmost tip of the Peniche peninsula, would probably be curious about some islands that are seen in the distance, about 10 km away. It is the archipelago of the Berlengas, a group of small islets, with three peculiar histories that interweave surprisingly with the present.

In the history of the islands there is a very relevant first date, 1465. It was in that year when King Afonso V issued an order prohibiting hunting in the Berlengas, in what was a pioneering and very novel decision of care and attention for the nature. Anyone who has visited or seen pictures of the islands, and their coves with turquoise and crystalline waters, understands well what King Afonso could see and feel to dictate an order so unusual at that time. The line to the present, and the future, takes us to more than five centuries later, when in 2011 UNESCO declared the Berlengas a biosphere reserve and confirmed what the king’s sensibility valued long before.

In the century following that of King Afonso, in 1513, with the help of Queen Leonor, a small monastery of San Geronimo monks was founded on the islands, seeking a place for their spiritual retreat and to help the victims of the numerous shipwrecks that generated that coast. Saving the distances, is what nowadays also look for the many retreats that in different points of the coast of Peniche offer interesting combinations of mindfulness, yoga, meditation and surfing. We hope that modern history is more favorable to these initiatives because the monastery and the poor monks ended in closure just a few years after its founding because the monastery was frequently attacked by pirates and their members taken as slaves. Surely they were ahead of their time and did not get everyone to see the peace, beauty and spirituality that inspires this Atlantic coast.

The third story connects the past and the present century through sea, football and technology. In 2018 the company Apple shot a short film about a supposed historical rivalry between the football teams of Baleal and Peniche, who preferred to settle their matches on a neutral pitch and chose to move to the Berlengas. You can watch the video in this link. The story, obviously fictional, is aimed at showing the technical excellence of the phone model with which the ad is recorded. But, in a certain way, it allows us to understand the difficulty of those who live from the sea and to value better all those who ventured to sail the waters and discover the mysteries that they hid. It is a story that connects the past and the present through the sea and these special islands. If watching the video makes you want to visit the islands, please note that from June 1, 2022, there is a 3-euro tourist tax, Berlengas Pass, destined to improve the infrastructures and ensure that the number of visitors do not exceed 550 per day.

I will leave a light on

Lighthouse keeping has always been a challenging profession, suitable only for the more seasoned, for those capable of living in isolated places and under very harsh weather conditions. Nowadays, as the operation of the lighthouses has become more automatic, they have stopped needing personnel living permanently in them and new technologies have also made them less essential in navigation and have lost some prominence.

But they still keep intact their romantic and adventurous aura. That is why the initiative of the Portuguese government to open most of them for visits is highly appreciated. In the Oeste region we currently have only two lighthouses in operation, both very close to each other, one in Cape Carvoeiro in Peniche and the other just in front, in the Berlengas Islands.

But within a short distance to the north we also have those of Aveiro, Mondego (Figueira de Foz) and Penedo da Saudade (Marinha Grande). All of them can be visited every Tuesday, from 2pm to 5pm in summer and from 1.30pm to 4.30pm in winter. Before departing, it is convenient to check the website of the National Maritime Authority to verify that they are not closed for operational reasons or for any works.

And for those who prefer surfing the internet there is also the possibility of a virtual tour of the Bugio lighthouse, located in the middle of the mouth of the Tagus, near Lisbon.

So for those of us who sometimes need a light to guide us and an inspiring and different view of the sea, this could be an excellent plan for Tuesday afternoon. And if we go with children, surely we can imagine with them a great adventure of pirates and smugglers in that evocative environment. Obviously, in the playlist in the car, on our way to the lighthouse, we must not miss I will leave a light on, by Tom Walker.