Last week, I moved from Lagos to Luz. Before coming to the south of Portugal, I figured it’d be smart to stay in Lagos for a bit, and then try out a neighboring village for a couple of months. Plus, rent for my Lagos apartment was set to jump by €300 a month from April—not worth it, right? Turns out, it kinda was. My place in Luz is cute enough, and hey, I can technically see the sea from my balcony… if I squint past the surrounding buildings. But everything’s super quiet here, and I need a car to get to all my fave spots now. So yeah, lesson learned—and good news: I’ll be back in my original Lagos apartment come November. Lucky me!
Oh! Did you know that Luz is where Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007? Yup, right next door. I remember the case vividly, and I recently rewatched the Netflix doc. Being here now makes it all feel strangely real.
One of the biggest “adventures” I had last week? Hunting down a shaker bottle. You’d think it’d be easy with all the massive “China shops” around. Nope. My friend Rute and I scoured half of Lagos looking for one. I knew my gym sold them but refused to cough up €10 for a piece of plastic. After hours of searching (and price comparisons online), I caved. Marched up to the gym counter, ready to surrender… and the guy gave me a 50% discount! €5 shaker secured. Victory!
Later that week, I hung out with my Italian friends from Lagos and we played some super fun games. First, the classic Undercover, and then a hilarious name game I’d never played before. Everyone writes three names on bits of paper and tosses them into a bowl. Two teams take turns guessing the names. First round: describe the person. Second round: use just one word. Third round: act it out—no sounds allowed. We were laughing, a lot. Highly recommend.
Thursday = pub quiz night, of course. But this one was a little off. The quiz started while people were still chatting, which threw off the vibe. Plus, one guy on our team had this intense, almost overbearing energy that made me feel weirdly uncomfortable. He left halfway through (phew), and I started to enjoy myself a bit more. Still didn’t win the shot round though—ugh! We had to guess the amount of protein in a single chicken wing and missed it by 4 grams. So close! Sorry team!
Foodie update! I tried out an Indian restaurant near my new place called Sunita’s Castle. The food? Delicious. The atmosphere? Not so much. The interior felt pretty outdated and didn’t vibe with me. So next time I’ll head back to Curry Leaf in Lagos instead. Equally tasty, and the ambiance is way better.
On the weekend, I went for a hike with friends through the pine forests near Barão de São João—just 15 minutes from Luz. It was a refreshing change from all the coastal cliff hikes. So peaceful and quiet. Definitely planning to explore more of that park soon.
Unfortunately, the week wasn’t all light-hearted. About a week ago, a paraglider went missing roughly 30 minutes from Luz. Witnesses saw him land in the sea, remove his gear, and attempt to swim to shore—but he never made it. The digital nomad community came together for a massive search and rescue effort. The coast was divided into zones, and dozens volunteered—some on foot, some (like me) with drones. Despite everyone’s best efforts, his body was found yesterday. Tragic. But one positive note: local police and fire departments were impressed with our help and want to collaborate in the future for aerial support. We covered a huge area in no time thanks to all the scattered drone pilots living along the coast.
And to round off the week on a sweet note—literally—I had a cozy drink with a friend, who casually showed up with a homemade strawberry cake. Not just any cake, mind you—this one had gold on it. Gold! It was absolutely divine. I may or may not have had four slices. (Okay, I totally did.)
That’s it for this week! A bit of a different update, I know—but hey, they can’t all be rainbow-filled cliff walks and pastel de nata. Catch you next week!
