Come as You Are

After mistakingly thinking that Luiz and I had jet lag, the wake up time of 12:30 p.m. proved us wrong. Sleep was not going to be an issue for us today, that's for sure. Rushing to get the croissant that was intended to be our breakfast, we realized lunch would be ready in... oh, 30 minutes. Therefore, jog time!


Running took place on the sidewalk the size of a Texas freeway, right alongside the Mediterranean, coinciding with the fresh ocean breeze. The path that was taken was leading to a cute and petite light house. Ahoy! Arriving back was a freshly grilled salmon and mashed potatoes+corn, which proved me right again about everything being fresh. 


Lucia then let us know that we had beach chairs that we rented out for us right next to the shore. Meaning, onward to the crystal blue sea! The shoreline wasn't covered with sticking sand, but with rocks of many designs and textures available in many different shapes and sizes. This was officially the first real 'sun' I was about to soak up all summer, and comparing myself to the fellow French, I had a lot of sun bathing to do to catch up to their tint. Therefore, I laid myself down onto that blue & white striped lounge chair, and there I stayed. Until it got hot... which conveniently, I was located 4 feet from the see-through blue water and was able to order a side serving of lemon gelato. Hello paradise.


I also recognized that the Europeans were comfortable in their own skin. The young ones were able to goof around on the rocks, while the older ones were just as goofy with their fellow peers. It didn't matter what age or size, a cute bathing suit was being worn by the women, and the men... they like their speedos. No cover-ups on older people (or maybe not even a complete bathing suit), no crazy amount of sun protection on younger; Come as you are. It fascinates me the change in culture. The change that is even apparent in the way the people are here... they embrace what they have or who they are without trying to mold it or hide it. C'est une belle chose.

Continuing on with the day, we freshened ourselves in preparation for our evening dinner at a restaurant that Luiz has raved about since we first started planning this trip; Boccaccio. This holds this certain tuna that he really enjoys and a foot long crème brûlée. 


There were so many new foods consumed tonight; oysters, muscles, octopus, and a shot of espresso. When in France! The entre I ended up with was brought to the table just as if it was brought out of the sea... except this time, it was already cooked and just needed to be checked to make sure it was a good enough quality to cut apart right then to get to the eatable part. Poor fishy, yet delicious fishy. After forcing ourselves to finish the crème brûlée, we went home with overly stuffed bellies. 

The night ended with a girls vs. boys game of dice, where there were many different Portuguese curse words and funny dances going along with the intense game. Bonsoir!