Finding peace in the waves

I had intended on staying in Nazaré just one night, but I just can’t leave, so book for another night.  Every single person in this town is friendly, so I’m not surprised when I end up in  Rosa Dos Ventos’s kitchen after dinner.  At the end of dinner I was given a tiny clay cup filled with port to enjoy as an aperitif & now that we’ve made friends, they won’t stop filling the cup up with the sweet local wine.  Luckily I’m stuffed with  grilled Duourade…a local fish that is brought into the restaurant daily, sometimes still alive, by a local fisherman.  The owner gives me the port cup to take home & we embrace like old friends when I say goodbye & leave.  The aptly named, Hotel Magic is just a couple of minutes walk away & once in the lobby the front desk clerk & I talk for over an hour…chatting about everything from how exactly the surfers know when the waves will be big, to Portuguese politics.  I absolutely love her & I’m blown away that this young girl is so in-depth.

I have really loved wandering the streets here, with shops selling surfer stuff & souvenirs, but it’s those waves that beg me to climb up to the upper beach.  I’ve got to have the rental car back by noon on the 5th, so I have to leave by 10:30, which leaves no room for error.  I draw out every minute. I wake up at 6:30, throw on my warmest things & still dark, I walk one last time up & see the waves break as the sunrises in the cold North Atlantic Ocean.  This is it.  This moment right here…it’s it.  Everything has brought me here…every hope, every dream, every mistake, every sorrow.  My breath catches in my throat & I stifle the sound coming out.  It’s the sound of my body settling into place…of my mind embracing the moment of clarity.  It’s the sound of the most purest love I have for myself.  “Thank you”, I finally say out loud & then I walk back to the hotel, pack, have breakfast & drive to Lisbon.

110 I’ve been gone & I’ve got 10 days left before I return back to Canada.