But Cristina appeared before me just as I was about to resign to a couple of hours of me-time and chirped, ‘I’m going to the beach, wanna come?’

OF COURSE I said YES. And it dawned on me – WHY did I not think of going to the beach? WHY? WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME? I had just arrived in Sagres AKA BEACH TOWN and I wanted to SIT DOWN on a sofa and what? Just sit there?? I was so stupid! Like DUH.. what kind of sun worshipper was I? A shit one!

So off I went and packed my bags – in something like ten seconds.

^Sunset and moonrise at Praia do Tonel

Once I was ready, the both of us sauntered off.. into the wild.. nah just into hot, dry Sagres.

^The street where the surf school was near

The walk to the beach was really fun. The whole place was so EMPTY.. so barren. The landscape encouraged us to walk slowly and because there were hardly any trees, the sun was upon us like a giant blanket of joy!

There was this part where we had to walk through a narrow dirt path outlined with long tall grass.
I felt like I was a part of Spirited Away, about to walk into some sort of weird screwed up fantasy world (a good thing).

But instead I got this ^

Imagination is key here.

About two minutes from this point, we got a bit lost. There was no one in sight except for two old non-English-speaking men and we had to use our very broken Portuguese – onde? praia? a praia? 

At least I know now that it’s ‘onde é que a praia?’… I think so anyway. Haha!

Well, whatever it was, it worked. Eventually, we arrived at Praia da Mareta, one of the many beaches in Sagres.

^just before the steps down to the beach.

What a gorgeous day it was! In mid-September, I was feeling like the luckiest person (from London who had managed to escape the onset of autumn)!

Obviously, I bragged about it to my friends. This is why we go on holiday, right? :p

We found ourselves a nice spot in the sun and… shared a spliff (ok for the Nth time, this is an honest and open blog). I swear all my closest friends are made this way.. !

We had a most lovely time talking about.. rubbish, of course. Rubbish I don’t really remember.

^Goliath came along too.

^Beautiful golden sand!

I wish I had tiny people to place on the little mounds, to create an exciting scene! Tell a story!

^Sorry, it’s just me again..

Once started to get cold and we could no longer keep moving along the beach following the rays.. we picked up our stuff and left. But look what greeted us when we got back onto the street:

We looked at each other for a few minutes, confident in our mutual desire to chase the sunset.

We RAN. RAN LIKE THERE WAS NO TOMORROW. 
(Or as my crazy little sister would say – RAN LIKE COWS – no it doesn’t make sense, but it’s not supposed to).

We ended up on a cliff slide overlooking one of the more scenic beaches in Sagres – Praia do Tonel – JUST as the egg yolk sun was about to touch the line separating the sky from the sea.

Mission accomplished, I say.

We sat on a ledge, sharing my beach towel, and smoked a little more.

It was THE MOST beautiful sunset. Magic! Magnificent!

The sky was clear as clear could be. The air smelt and tasted good.

We were really happy!

^So happy that we didn’t care that we looked like crap.

I can’t really fully describe how truly a special moment that was. Just us two girls, who had only met a couple of hours before, perched on a ledge, witnessing a stunning sunset together. We promised each other that we would visit each other soon, after surf camp was (inevitably going to be) over.

Cristina comes from Bucharest, Romania.

Guess where I’m going this Friday? YEP 🙂

^In the distance you can see Sagres Point, a kind of fortress-like building (it’s actually a promontory) I never got to visit.

Cristina and I then had a most serene walk back to surf camp under the night sky.

Editing the photos for this post made me MISS THE SUN so much. When I got back to London from Portugal, I was so brown. Super tanned. So tanned that even I thought it was a bit much. But two months have passed and so I’m a bit more normal now, though I do want to keep a bit of my tan still on.

Which brings me to THIS below – some really handy tips to help you keep your tan for longer than ever! I’m not just saying.. I’ve read through and they actually are pretty good tips. Some of which I already practise, and not to be a brag, but I do have pretty good smooth skin that’s erm.. not pale!


I always have a wax before any holiday. But I never exfoliate – this is because I’m lazy.
Because I have asian skin (and generally I’m kind of a mutant), I pretty much never burn.. it would take a LOT of sun exposure to sizzle my skin!

Saying that, I am a firm believer in sunscreen and these days I apply SPF50 before going to the beach. Protect your skin!

ALWAYS MOISTURISE. EVERYWHERE. EVERY INCH.


Right now, I’m using Dove summer glow + soft shimmer moisturiser, which contains self-tanner and.. my favourite bit – it has tiny little sparkly bits in it! Literally makes my skin shimmer. It’s fab.

This post was brought to you in collaboration with Hayes and Jarvis.
You’ve got them to thank for these useful tan-keeping tips!

The post Beautiful Sagres – Praia da Mareta/Tonel & Chasing the Sunset appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

At this point I was really starting to enjoy hostelling! It was kind of my first time properly staying at hostels while travelling so it was kind of novel.. and amazing. Thanks again Hostelbookers for the opportunity!

The lovely people from surf camp in Sagres gave me a lift straight to the property in Lagos. But Bura provides free pickups from the bus or train stations anyhow, if you need.

The location is slightly out of the city centre but close enough that you can walk.. for 20 minutes or so.. this of course was ‘very long’ to me but I managed and I survived! It’s not so bad when you’re walking in such a beautiful place and in good weather 🙂

Also, there’s a large supermarket just five minutes down.. which I visited not long after I arrived to satisfy my Portuguese snack cravings.

^View towards the front of the house.

Not unlike my previous accommodation, this hostel was like a big house shared by friends. It’s on a street lined with other houses (where I presume normal people live).

Heather and Matt, who are originally from the UK, loved Lagos so much that they decided to buy this house and set it up as a hostel. And it’s fab!

^Looking towards the back entrance.

One of the highlights of the place, I had read, was the stand up paddling course you could do with Heather, who had recently qualified as an instructor. So I asked if she could kindly take me one day.. I had never tried it and well you know me.. I like to try everything and anything. Especially if it involves water!

Of course, you can also sign up for surfing lessons if you preferred.

^The window you see is from the room I was placed in! That orange thing is my bikini hanging to dry.. haha

^The rooftop!

I found this dude who had spent the whole night sleeping on the roof until the blazing sun came up. Clearly he was roasting but refused to leave..

…Until I appeared and started taking pictures, that is. Sorry to have made you feel uncomfortable, random guy!

I was given a bed in a six-bed dorm.. but I must say the room was huge. There was so much space! I stayed with a few boys.. and I was so lucky that none of them snored. Seriously.. NONE of them. Either that or I had somehow gone deaf while sleeping.

What you see there on the bottom bunk was all my luggage for my 2+ weeks away. I placed an image of the Bura fridge because I thought the colours went with the colours of my bags….

^The resident dog – sorry dog, I forgot your name..

^Comfy living area for all your lazing needs

STAND UP PADDLE BOARDING

As I was blessed with such perfect weather…and as the sun loves me so much, the conditions were good enough for Heather to take me out for a lesson the next day. We took the van down to Porto do Mos beach.

I have to say the hardest part about the whole experience was carrying these gigantic boards down from the parking lot. They were SO BIG! Or perhaps my arms were just too short but whatever.. they were heavy and large. I guess that was my warm up.

We went through the basics in theory – how to hold the paddle the correct way, for example – on the sand for a bit before going into the water. I couldn’t wait cos it looked so, so inviting.

Most of the time, I paddled whilst on my knees. I did stand up to do it a few times.. and fortunately I didn’t fall once (I was worried about my pink hair, which had just survived a battering few days at surf camp prior).

I enjoyed just sitting on the board and cruising along with the paddle.. perhaps because I was lazy. But it was so relaxing and serene. We chatted about random stuff and travel stuff.. and before I knew it, an hour (or two?) had passed and it was time to go back.

Here’s a little Instavideo I took in an attempt to take you swimming with me
(btw, follow me on Instagram please!):

I have to say that stand up paddling was a lot harder than I anticipated. I mean, it LOOKS so easy! I think I did well, but it was definitely a challenge staying upright and keeping balanced. My legs were wobbling a lot of the time….. forcing me to use my never-really-used muscles. Haha.

THANKS Heather for the wonderful introduction to SUP.. I genuinely enjoyed it!


Nights at the house involved mostly drinking and lounging about. One night, I brought my light up toys, kaleidoscope glasses, and glow sticks down to the pool so everyone could play with them. Toys are for sharing!

Everyone at the house, staff and other guests alike, were really friendly. I noted that there were quite a number of Australians.. (I love them!).

I’ve got so much more to share about my time in Lagos but that’ll have to come in another post.

Nights at Bura Surfhouse can be booked via Hostelbookers, and prices start at about £15pppn. Yes, there is free wifi internet!

You can follow Bura Surfhouse on Facebook and on Twitter.

The post Lagos – Bura Surfhouse & Attempting SUP appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

After spending a couple of nights in Albufeira, I took a bus to Lagos. As Albufeira train station is actually located 7km away in another area called Figueiras, it proved more convenient to catch the bus. The journey time was about an hour and only cost a few Euros.

Penny, one of the surf school staff, picked me up from Lagos station. You can arrange pickups with the school in advance for €15. She had no trouble spotting me at all.. I only had to say ‘I have pink hair..’. It was about another half-hour to Sagres.

It was SO HOT that day (as was every other day there haha).. by the time I arrived at the house (Algarve Surf Camp), I felt rather like a wilted petal. A PINK wilted petal!

I WAS IN LOVE WITH THE PLACE THE MOMENT I WAS INSIDE.

^Kind of a lame Instavideo I took hehe

It was just so cool and all I felt like doing was sitting down and having a full on chill-out.

I was shown my room/bed and everything I needed to know around the house, which was pretty empty since everyone was out surfing and won’t be back until the evening.

^The surf house!

^The driveway leading to the house

The ‘Residencial’ is a disused/abandoned hotel which some people enjoy describing as haunted. I heard that it’s possible to enter it and climb up to the roof to watch a magnificent sunset, but sadly I somehow missed out on doing this!

Here are more pics of the house:

^Seashell ashtray!

^The bar has an open policy whereby you’re free to help yourself to drinks from the fridge, and if you’re not an asshole you then write down your name and what you’ve had in a book on the counter.

There was a social event that evening – BBQ + sangria. I have to say I didn’t expect too much of it.. but the food turned out freakin’ delish. There was lamb, chicken, pork, beef, sausages, potato salad.. everything!

^Just inside the main entrance of the house.  Very surfy.

^My room! The I took the top bunk.. and my stuff took the bottom. Yes I was definitely quite glad that no one occupied the bottom one because having that extra space was toooo convenient.

The room wasn’t that big and I shared with four other girls. But not for a moment did I feel suffocated or that I needed more ‘space’. I felt like I was sharing a room with my sisters or friends, in a house as part of a big family!

Everything was very relaxed and often you would find doors left open. No one felt like they needed to guard their belongings like a hawk.

The room had a balcony and a large, ensuite bathroom and toilet. I know this is quite important to some, so I must say it: yes, there is free wifi internet access!

^View from the balcony connected to our room.

Sagres was not what I expected at all. It was a lot more deserted than I pictured.. and very flat! In fact in some ways it had the look and feel of one of those tiny, barely populated towns you would see as part of a zombie apocalypse movie or something (think the ‘Residencial’ building might have contributed to forming this part of my imagination).

I LOVED IT. I loved that it was so quiet. I loved that there was nothing much else to do other than feel the heat of the sun from an empty sky and listen to the leaves and tall grass whispering to each other with every gust of wind. I loved the abundance of beaches. They were like temples – everyone was drawn to them, staying for hours each day. And of course I loved that pretty much everyone was there for one main (and VERY FUN) activity – surfing.

A TYPICAL DAY AT ALGARVE SURF CAMP

Everyone wakes up at about the same time – between 8.30 and 9.00am. I assume no one would wanna be up earlier than that.. unless they’re a real nerd. Anyway. After washing up, getting dressed, and packing our bags, we go down to stuff ourselves with some brekkie!

The lovely staff a.k.a. the house elves puts all the food on display and you can have your pick of the usual cereal stuff, yoghurt, fruits, toast, hot drinks, etc. There’s also a selection of ham, tuna, and cheese plus a variety of bread. Most people used these to make a packed lunch for later.

Sometimes the elves make pancakes or brownies and other treats.. they’re all delicious.

My packed lunch always consisted of a ham/tuna roll, and a giant sandwich stuffed full with Nutella and peanut butter (of course).

At approximately 10am, everyone’s fed and ready to go (except the slow ones.. although I didn’t know of anyone who was so slow that they got left behind). We all pile into the lemons – by this I mean the vans/jeeps – and off we go to the beach!

It’s all very exciting and made me feel somewhat like I was at some sort of boarding school. It was a great sense of community.

After a bumpy 25-30 minutes, we arrive at Praia do Amado. It’s beautiful and has neat lines of manageable waves – perfect for beginners.

^It’s set against a backdrop of cute little midget mountains. I guess I should say ‘hills’.

IT’S REALLY A MOST BEAUTIFUL BEACH.

Please watch this rubbish compilation of rubbish videos I recorded that day.

SURF SCHOOL

We linger around and enjoy the sunshine for a bit until everyone gets allocated to their groups/instructors and given wetsuits.

Cristina, a girl who bunked with me, was learning with me. We’d spent the previous evening enjoying a cliffside view of a spectacular setting sun together – so we were pretty much best friends by then.

[In fact, I’m off to Romania to visit her next month!]

^Cristina, Me, GermangirlwhosenameIforgot

This was the last photo of my brilliant neon pink hair before the sun + sea sucked the life out of it. I tried spraying SPF50 sunscreen into my hair, but I don’t think it had any effect.

Once suited, we carried our boards down to the beach, to our little segment – the beach is shared with other surf schools.

We do a little warm up before going into the water – running and some stretches. Lemme tell you that running in a rubbery wetsuit with the sun blazin’ down.. was a bit.. blah. Especially after carrying those heavy boards all that way, while firewalking (the sand was SO HOT).

I’d tried surfing a couple of times before (read about my surf experience in Matosinhos, Porto) and I have good balance and coordination, so I didn’t find it too difficult.

In fact it was SO immensely FUN! I didn’t care about my hair. The sea could eat it all up if it wanted.

The biggest challenge for me was lugging about that huge board – an eight foot one (for beginners) – which kept banging against my legs and ankles, and around which my short arm simply couldn’t fit.

Luckily, they let me switch to a smaller, 6ft one the next day when I asked. Best thing ever! I had EVEN MORE FUN. Every time I fell off I just wanted to go back and try even more. I’m happy to say that I caught some good waves.

I LOVE SURFING!!!!!!

The lessons are split into two sessions with a lunch break in between.

The only shit thing is carrying those boards back up, and then back down again for the second session. Haha!

^Isn’t this the perfect way to spend a lazy hour by the beach?

I spent my breaks down by the beach, playing in the water 🙂

^Me and my stupid hair.

At the end of the afternoon, it’s time to rinse off and hang up your wetsuits etc. And what a lovely setting in which to do so!

There were yoga classes on the beach once or twice a week, and I got to participate in it one evening. It was just MAGICAL (just ignore the part where you lay down and sand keeps blowing onto your every crevice). I loved the view of the green upside-down hills every time I bent over.

Yoga on the beach was so good that I completely fell asleep at the end of it.. vivid dreams and everything.

THE BROKEN JEEP

Yeah, one day, our jeep broke down just as we were leaving to go back.

I think everyone was so high on surfing that no one really cared. To me, it meant more time by the beach and more time in the sunshine!

In the end, the boys had to push the jeep up the road and out of the way while we waited for another vehicle to pick us up.

While waiting, we enjoyed this:

The ocean was glistening like a smooth, shiny tarp.

Eventually, our rescue jeep came and we were back at the house in no time. Everyone has a shower and then you can either stay in for dinner or take a walk to the buzzing, two-street metropolis of Sagres to find food.

As mentioned above, I stayed for a BBQ one night which was superb, and on another evening Cristina and I went out for some traditional Portuguese food instead.

^Dinner at the house

^Me, Sara, Cristina

Sara was our surf instructor. She’s Welsh and she’s so lovely. This pic was taken in Lagos, when it was one of the staff members’ birthdays and everyone went down to celebrate (the nightlife in Sagres was just too much for us to handle).

THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME ALGARVE SURF SCHOOL! 

When I was reading the reviews on Tripadvisor I noticed a common theme of people suggesting being flexible with your dates ‘because you’ll want to stay longer’. I thought it was just one of those things that people wrote about places they enjoyed… but you know what, at the end of my three nights there, I REALLY WISHED I COULD STAY LONGER. I wanted to stay so bad! Maybe next summer..

Prices per night at the surf school start at €20 per person. More info on their website, including packages, lessons, board hire, and other things. You can also stalk their Facebook page here.

The post I Love Algarve Surf School Sagres! appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

If you know me personally or have followed my travels.. you’ll know that I don’t normally stay at hostels. In fact, the first time I used a hostel was two years ago in 2011, when I was kind of forced to after I got kicked out of that farm in France (read about how that changed my life). Yes it was kind of cheating since I got a private room in one of the ‘best hostels in Europe’ (Villa St Exupéry Gardens in Nice) but it opened my eyes to and destroyed all the silly stereotypes I had about hostelling.

With the help of Hostelbookers, I designed my solo Portugal trip around some carefully handpicked hostels. I was really excited (I HAD THE MOST AMAZING TIME).

Ale-Hop Albufeira Hostel

In Albufeira where I spent two nights, I picked a really new hostel called Ale-Hop – it only opened this year in July! The name is actually that of a shop that sells ‘bits n bobs’ and other souvenirs, and the hostel is located above it. They’re so new that they haven’t got a proper website yet, but you can check out their Facebook page.

The owner, João, welcomed me at the shop. In fact, the Reception = Till = Reception. He showed me around the building and I was placed in a 6-bed female dorm with ensuite bathroom.. except that, there were no other guests in that room so it was rather a treat for meeeee 🙂

I was really impressed the moment I stepped in. Not only was everything shiny and new – the beds were all made and it all looked super cosy.

I introduced the room to Goliath (my pet mouse), freshened up (read: replaced my face) and went down to find dinner. João recommended a good restaurant called ‘O Alentejano’ just down the road that served traditional Portuguese food.

I love dining alone! It gives you so much time to concentrate on eating and to fully enjoy your meal. I think it’s one of the best forms of ‘me time’ ever.

For my first meal in Portugal I had bacalhau (salt cod) – of course, I love it.. almost to an obsessional degree.

  
^left: fish soup (soap de peixe) / right: almond tart (tarte de amêndoa)

EVERYTHING WAS SO GOOD. So good that I went back again the following night. I know.. how unadventurous of me 🙁

But the upside was that the owner was so happy to see me again! We spoke a little. He opened the restaurant about five years ago and lives in a nearby village, where he grew up. I think his name was José. You can actually see him in the photo above – he’s the dude standing on the right side near the seated woman!

Restaurante O Alentejano
129 Rua da Liberdade
Albufeira 8200-151
Portugal

I had a wander around the town and quickly realised that Albufeira was ‘very touristy’. Dominated by British tourists, even the streets were occupied by things like pubs screening English football and I spotted many groups of erm, British people. Haha! I guess it is in Algarve what Magaluf is in Mallorca.
I decided to go back to the hostel and spend the rest of my night on their roof terrace:

It was quiet. Possibly because it was a Monday night. I had the whole place to myself. It was fab.
Look at the view!

^The thing about being alone is that you end up with some quite lousy self-timer shots of yourself

I put on some music, watched my light-up toy bunny, and had a naughty little joint… (again – this is an honest blog)

It was a warm night. It as a happy night!

The Next Day

I took my time getting up – hey, I was on holiday! Used the free wifi to look at maps and plan my route a little bit. I even painted my nails 🙂

^Me in the ensuite bathroom, which had two toilets and two showers. All were super clean and nice and new. I especially enjoyed the large mirrors..

^I bought these sunnies from Topshop before my trip.. I thought they were cool but now looking back at them, I’m not so sure… I guess I needed to see photographs of me using them first?

I’m a lucky girl though – the lovely people at VisionDirect had a pair of sunglasses of my choice shipped to me in Portugal. I picked something rather classic – a pair of RayBan Clubmasters. Initially they wanted to send me some contact lenses to try.. but I have perfect eyesight. I did experiment with coloured contacts – FreshLook contacts to be precise -when I was younger but I never got over the whole ‘putting something foreign in my eye’ thing..

ANYWAY, I was really pleased! The Raybans arrived at a friend’s address in Porto, where I would visit later on in my trip.

As you can see, I made good use of the extra space available to me 🙂

I loved the colours in the room. I felt like I was in some sort of school dorm!

I thought the place looked much better with daylight, so I took some photos before I waltzed away to the beach.

^The hostel can be accessed via a small lane next to the shop. Guests are given a personalised security pin which can be entered onto a keypad at the door!

I think ultimately the best thing about the hostel is its location. You can’t beat it really. It’s right in the centre of everything. It’s not what you would call a ‘party hostel’ and there are no organised social activities etc. It’s a place you can go to unwind and have a quiet time after a long day out – which was perfect for me.

I know it was helped by the fact that I had a six-bed room all to myself, but I genuinely enjoyed staying here!

Special thanks to Daniela, one of the staff, who was ever so helpful and patient with me. She was allllways smiling. I can’t wait to go back to visit againnnnn 🙂

Nights here can be booked via Hostelbookers. They have private double/triple rooms too. Rates start from £15pppn in an eight-bed dorm.

Ale-Hop Albufeira Hostel
Rua 05 de Outubro 23
Albufeira 8200-109
Portugal
Email: alehopalbufeirahostel@gmail.com 

The post Albufeira – My First Stop & Where I Stayed appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.