Carcavelos beach, Lisbon

This is a lovely surprise. I am on a flying visit to Portugal with Her Ladyship. I don’t know what His Lordship is doing back in Austria. Perhaps he is still looking for the key of the garage. Who knows and who cares? The main thing is I am back on the beach!

We are staying in Carcavelos, just outside Lisbon, and we have wonderful views of the ocean from our balcony. It is hard to believe that we are only a short train ride from the city centre. Then again, this sign on a suburban train door is a reminder of how close the city of Lisbon is to surfers’ paradise.

With a 1.5km long shoreline, Carcavelos beach is one of the largest beaches in the Lisbon area, it is easily accessible and it certainly is popular! The early summer sunshine has brought out sunbathers, swimmers, beach footballers, body boarders and surfing dudes en masse.

During the week, it appears that all the local kindergartens and primary schools decamp to the beach as well. From watching town life from my window sill in Austria, I am more used to seeing groups of school children in skiing gear. In Ireland, I have often seen groups of kids kitted out in sailing, diving or simply plain old rain gear. Here, the children march two by two to the beach wearing flip flops, swimwear and wrapped in brightly coloured beach towels.

They are so sweet, these tiny human chicks, but their teachers are very courageous in taking on the responsibility of herding them around on a busy beach. Not a job for the faint-hearted! They are very well organised, though, I must say. Each group of children appears to have been allocated a particular colour of sunhat, so the little red, orange, green or blue heads bobbing up and down in the sea or running around in the sand are instantly recognisable. Colour coded kids, what a great idea!

Each group places its towels in a circle, so that the teachers, who are dressed for the job of course, can direct operations from the centre. I doubt that there are many teachers in Ireland who would have to include a bikini or swimming trunks in their work wardrobe!

Due to the proximity to the city of Lisbon, there is plenty of sea-going traffic. Everything from yachts, pleasure boats, cruise ships, cargo ships, oil tankers to ferries. I could just stand on the beach and watch them all day.

I wouldn’t know how to categorise this particular vessel. It reminds me of something from a James Bond movie, piloted, most likely, by a crazy megalomaniac looking to hold the world to ransom on some pretext or other. Cool!

In spite of the crowds, the beach is still a joy during the day, but my favourite time here is the evening when the only obstacles are anglers’ lines and we can enjoy the magnificent sunsets in peace. The Atlantic breezes have Her Ladyship looking like she has been dragged through a hedge backwards, but they can’t wipe the smile off her face.

They can’t wipe the smile off my beak either.

Her Ladyship and I may not have matching sunhats, but we sure are two very happy beach babies!