Wide open spaces, narrow alleyways, steep cliffs, friendly beaches and the murmur of the water on an afternoon, as gentle as the sun that warms without burning. That body on the alert in anticipation of the wake-up ring, of that pressing telephone call in the office… it unloosens itself in the sea breeze that wafts through the Cascais Marina. Muscles relax, feet slip through cobbled streets around the harbour where the fishing boats float at rest, snuggled close to the most elegant restaurants in town. Perhaps we arrived at Cascais – if we had not, perhaps we should have done – by train, on the Cais do Sodre line, to descend at a station adorned with the typical Portuguese marble tiling. With the drowsiness of the journey, we have the feeling of having gone back in time, we are one of those aristocrats of the 18th and 19th centuries who discovered in this little fishing village refuge for their recreation in palaces built overlooking the bay, like the residence of the Duke of Palmela, facing the ocean, or that of the Counts of Castro Guimares, nowadays converted into a museum where one can admire pieces of Indo-Portuguese furniture, archaeological items and the over 25,000 volumes contained in its library.
The ideal temperature for strolling, with the lassitude that comes with the afternoon following a meal filled with flavours from the sea, for discovering the Citadel, that austere, massive fortress invigilating the waters, looking eastwards, on cliffs that are like breath-taking balconies from which one can have an overall view of the coast and the city limits of Lisbon. We feel a pleasant tingle on our skin: the luxurious residences by the sea, the guiding lighthouse, Faro da Guia (which lighted the return of the ships from the Indies), Hell’s Mouth (Boca do Inferno), a natural cave where the sea offers an amazing spectacle, and the quiet, reflexive appearance of the little churches, like the baroque church of the Navigators, the tiny cafés that mark out the cliff-tops…, the vision of such a harmonious setting with a landscape echoing the sound of the waves, soaks us with its heady sensations.
