“When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system.”
Kalpana Chawla
It was a late night, i was in my bed trying to get a sleep after long day and as usual i tried to watch some ASMR videos, which helped thru my insomnia nights back in 2017. My sleep lasted two hours and here i am woken up and being smombie (definition for person who constantly stares at his phone without breaks). I somehow ended up on Google page with lots of reviews about nearby food places, as i was craving for some burgers and saw this. It was a post of a guy who reviewed Mcburger as Michelin jury. I was so into his posts, that i read almost all of them, but one took my breath away.
Golden rocks which spread for miles on coastal line of Algarve and whitish morning waves of Atlantic ocean on Portuguese playa on rising sun. I felt it. I felt that ocean breeze and did a screenshot instantly.
That screenshot has been saved on my phone for a YEAR. You may ask yourself, why would you save a screenshot for such long time? Because now my goal was to spend my time there by myself and it took me a whole year to get there.
Our first encounter was in July 2017 and was truly magical. I have never seen such beautiful coastal line with huge rocks in shape of fallen titans, The water was so cold, that i was not able to feel my toes anymore, but when they touched warm golden sand of algarve, it felt like waking up from cryotherapy!
I arrived there late afternoon, there were still some American surfers and local families enjoying Earth’s treasures. As usual near coastal i got super hungry and for my luck there was a local trattoria with delicious crispy home-made bread seasoned with fresh herbs and olive oil and served with flame-colored tomatoes and greek cheese. Glas of red wine from nearby winery prepared me for the magical encounter at night. After everyone left and trattoria closed its doors, i went to my car parked on the cliff, put a song “M83 - Wait” and waited for that moment, when in a sudden stars on black sky started merging to me and making weird shapes. I still believe this was not from wine. No doubts, i really enjoyed stars dancing at night sky that day.
That day i really felt, that places such this may heal your soul and sometimes you don’t feel being from part of particular piece of land, but rather from solar system.
Author: Nijat Gafarson
