My week started kind of slowly, with much focus on work and not so much relaxing, but ended with a weekend I thoroughly enjoyed. So, here we go, and save these beautiful memories.
Work has been so hectic these past few weeks! The worst thing is, because I’ve been so focussed on work, I’ve been neglecting my coffee breaks at Everyday Coffee People. This café is my little caffeine sanctuary just around the corner—where the double espressos are bold, the vibes are warm, and the baristas practically know my life story by now. However, I’ve not been able to give myself time to walk there, sit down, and have a double espresso. I used to do that on a daily basis, and these shorts walks and breaks used to do me quite well. Skipping my coffee breaks has turned me into a human question mark—hunched over my laptop, neck screaming in protest. The past weekend helped to recover from that, but going on these regular coffee breaks is definitely something I’m introducing again next week. The staff even noticed I was coming less often!
Something that I did manage last week, was to grab two ‘Too good to go‘ bags at different shops. Have you ever heard of this app? The concept is quite cool. Restaurants, hotels, bakeries, and other shops that sell food, can offer a bag of leftovers from the day basically, for a much reduced price in an attempt to fight food waste. Scored two ‘Too Good To Go’ bags last week—aka the adult version of a mystery grab bag. One was a jackpot (hello, flaky pastries and lots of bread!), the other? A surprise hotel breakfast box that made me question life choices… but hey, €4 well spent! My friend and I, well mostly me to be honest, enjoyed the box while relaxing on the beach today.
Talking about the beach, my friend introduced me to Praia do Canavial today. Tucked between towering cliffs, Praia do Canavial feels like a hidden treasure—golden sand, turquoise waves, and not a single loud tourist in sight. Just me, my friend, the sun, and a salty breeze whispering, ‘Stay forever’. I went swimming in the sea, enjoyed the sun, and enjoyed the company of my friend. Before sunset, we walked towards Praia de Porto Mós via a secret passage way. That was a great short hike with some great spots to sit down and have a picnic in the future. Once we arrived at Praia de Porto Mós, we decided to sit down at the beach and watch the sunset. My friend suggested to practice drawing the cliffs and beach, and even introduced me to watercoloring. While I was quite shy to try it, I loved it (after she pushed me to do so).
Oh, by the way, on Wednesday I went to the monthly ‘Men’s Circle’ hosted by Alex Wirthl. I also went to the Circle in January, and really enjoyed it. So, it’s a no brainer for me to go every month. This circle we did a variety of breath-work exercises based on Kundalini Yoga called: Breath of Fire. Picture this: 25 grown men on all fours, panting like overexcited golden retrievers. Yep, that’s ‘Breath of Fire’ for you. Ridiculous? Maybe. Effective? Definitely! It was intense and rather stress relieving for me, and it also prepared me for the next exercise we did. We were paired up, and we did multiple exercises with the subject of boundaries. A very relevant subject, which you may have read in my previous update. I paired up with a guy that I met before, and did different exercises with. He’s very authentic, intense, and direct. There is no hiding, and I couldn’t have been happier to have done this exercise with him. In the exercises we had to explain a situation where someone had crossed on of our boundaries, then share what the boundary is, and after that he would physically test my boundary by trying to come close to me while I had to push him away while speaking my boundary. We did two rounds. The first round I felt quite unstable, while the second round after receiving feedback from him, I felt much more calm and stable. I’ve gained valuable insights during the evening, such as 20+ other men struggling with vulnerability, and I’m already looking forward to the next one.
On Friday, I went for my bi-weekly haircut and shave at Eduardos barber shop. It’s such a pleasure to have my hair cut by Eduardo in his beautiful shop filled with personal items of value. Between snips and shaves, Eduardo turned into a storyteller—pointing at a red surfboard (‘First paycheck, Lisbon!’), then his parents’ wedding photos (‘Look at that!’). Who knew a haircut could come with a history lesson? Such a pleasure to see his facial expression change, and see him opening op like this after asking him about his most important object in the shop. Asking questions like this is one of the things I learned at the Authentic Relating game nights, which is coming up again next week – can’t wait!
On Saturday, I went photographing abandoned places in the area of Lisbon. I had five places on my to-photograph list, and three of them were successful. The other two were closed, unfortunately. The first building I photographed yesterday was a stunning abandoned villa, with one of the most beautiful staircases/ entrance halls I’ve photographed thus far, and a beautiful piano in one of the rooms on the first floor. Easy to access, great to photograph, easy to exit. That’s how I like it. The other two buildings I photograph were an abandoned swimming pool, and a huge house that was on the verge of collapse. Both nice to photograph, but not amazing.
That’s about it, although I had a lovely lunch at my favorite lunch place in Alvor – Wild’s Sandwich. This time I treated myself to one of their specials, toasted bread with sausage, caramelized onions and brie. To die for. And, on Friday I also had a call with Sara who’m I’ll be doing a retreat with next week on Sunday. I’m looking very much forward to that, but more about that next week when I’ve been to the retreat. I almost forgot, I also played a pub quiz on Thursday in The Collar Bar. It’s a weekly quiz, mostly British/ Irish orientated, and great fun to play! My team and I didn’t win any prizes this time (we did last time!), but we had some laughs and were quite competitive. A great way to spend a Thursday evening.
And that, my friends, is a wrap on another week in Lagos—full of salty swims, sketchy staircases, and surprise breakfast boxes. Next week? Who knows!
