beachtown

The coastal town of Nazaré here in central Portugal was just a sleepy fishing town with good fish and spectacular beaches before it was discovered five years ago as home to the largest surfing waves in the world. Now the surf community has beaten a path to its doorstep and with good reason.

From the cliffs above town, the view of tow-in surfers from around the world battling monster swell from the North Atlantic brings crowds of spectators to watch the world’s best excel and survive in the cold ocean surge.

The town itself is a grid of narrow streets running from the hillside down to the sea. Each avenue ends abruptly in the sand below providing a clean background to the nuances of life silhouetted against the clear ocean sky down every street.

Here is where I found myself today. Wandering the neighborhoods of this ancient town discovering the old and not-so-old as they blend into a new world of international attention.