Feedback Oleg about Portugal Surfschool

When my friend Andrey and I were thinking about where to travel and to surf in August and September, we came across the column on the Surfdiscovery site about a surf camp in Portugal. My old Surfdiscovery mate, Stas Sushenkov, was in charge of the camp. From him we received enough information about the waves, boards and accommodation facilities to make a decision to go to Peniche. So, with the tickets in our hands, we flew first to Madrid and then went by car through the deserted and hot Estremadura province to Portugal where my friend Stas was waiting for us.

The town of Peniche surprised us with its multiple cozy cafes and restaurants, with its non-European prices and good-hearted and friendly people who speak Portuguese. The Portuguese language is very similar to Spanish, you only have to add “sh” or “zh” sounds to the word endings.

We found a place to stay and were absolutely ready to go surfing immediately! For that, we bought our hydrasuits (and the local stores offer a great variety of them!) and set off to the camp homespot. At this time of the year the ocean is warm and friendly, and having spent two minutes in the lineup you forget that you’re not in the Indian Ocean but in the Atlantic. On this beach the waves are excellent both for beginners and the surfers who have some knowledge and skills; the bottom is mostly sandy; the spots, after Kuta, look almost empty but more people arrive to the lineup at weekends. And I also noticed that, even if the swell is good, the locals are not in a hurry to hit the board in the early morning; relaxed and laid-back they start coming to the beach at about 9am. It is astonishing that sometimes in the morning the ocean is covered with steam or fog that is so thick it looks like you can touch it! I always had the feeling that I had to rub my eyes so I could see clearly and was regretting I hadn’t brought my sauna stuff! Well, to cut the long story short, I will not write here about all the spots we went to with Stas as some of them are “true secret” and he himself will take you to the others.

Local warungs and restaurants offer a great choice of fish and seafood – and just dirt cheap! One of my favorite dishes is fish soup (enough for 4 people), Bacallao, sardines. Speaking of sardines. I think it is the most suitable visit card of Peniche surf camp that I saw on Stas’s souvenir caps because 1) it has some resemblance with a longboard; 2) it is the ocean’s true nature; 3) it is the favorite dish of the local villagers.
Many Portuguese have good English – that is the result of long and friendly relations with Great Britain. Any local either speaks Shakespeare’s language perfectly or does not speak at all. If that is the case, then you have to switch to Spanish and do not forget to add “sh” and “zh” sounds (see above).

The Peniche outskirts are literally scattered with all sorts of castles, fortresses, museums and wineries. For example, in Obidos (that is about 15-20 minutes from Peniche) you can go to a beautiful castle and an aqueduct, both excellently preserved.

You can have a 20-minutes tour along the medieval wall that surrounds the fortress and from above see the everyday life of the people who have been living in this fortress for more than one generation.

I was genuaily surprised of Portuguese bookstores – as a rule, it is the best building in town, with the perfectly lit rooms, refined, elegant architecture, fanciful staircases and bookshelves.

And I do have to write about the two peals of Portugal – Lisbon and Porto. Both are not that far from Peniche and here I will tell a bit about Porto as some of you have heard about my true passion for wine.
Porto is the city of amazing Romanesque architecture, the city where picturesque slopes create great views, the city that has a lot of palaces, museums, bridges, fortresses and squares.

The river Douro divides the city into two parts – the one that is popular with tourists and history fans and the one that is the world capital of Vila Nova de Gaia port wine. In this part of the city there are wine cellars that store and sell the best drink of English gentlemen.

Well, maybe it is good that Portugal is huddling right at the end of the continent; maybe it is the reason why the country has preserved its originality and unique identity unchanged over the centuries.
Would I like to go back here? Yes, for sure!
(Sorry for my spelling and punctuation!)