I had no expectations about Faro. There are two simple reasons why I came here: Faro has an airport and there was a cheap flight.

I have been traveling from Faro to Lisbon within ten days. As Faro is known to be a tourist destination, I did not expect much of privacy but rather a bunch of german tourists wearing socks and sandals and stoping in the middle of the street to take pictures. On Friday morning, the plane landed early. Time enough to reach the hostel before the  midday heat. My hostel: Cheap and clean. I couldn’t do the check-in that early, but was able to leave my stuff in the storage-room and walked into the streets of these foreign Portuguese town. Narrow streets, white houses, a chilled atmosphere.

While walking around, I found a small traditional Portuguese „patiserie“ filled with locals. Having some trouble ordering due to my very limited portugese language skills, I decided to use my hands and point towards the bread. Time to learn the basics …“um pan con quesjo e um café por favor“. Sitting back, sipping on my coffee. The black, hot liquid makes me feel at home and is waking me up. The perfect place to calm down and have a decent breakfast. I love this hidden places.

Checking the map without knowing what to do, I decided to go to the beach. It was hot. Already 30 degrees at 11 am and instead of the beach, I ended up at the ferry station.

Once there, I had to choose between three islands: Illha deserta, praia da faro and Illha do farol. Most people took the ferry to „praia de faro“. Unsure what to do, I sat down.  While smoking a cigarette and staring into the sea, I was waiting for an inspirational answer to my question.

And then the answer came. “Ola” a guy said and smiled towards me. This was the start of a beautiful day and an intense friendship-for-a-day. Francisco was a portugese traveler and suggested to take the ferry to illhala deserta. I was glad to have an answer to my question of where to go and agreed. We bought the ticket (7,50€ return) and while waiting for the ferry, we treated ourselves for the (hopefully) awesome decision and an energy kick with “um expresso”. Ten minutes later, we were on the ferry. It was, at least in my opinion, not really a ferry, but better a decent party boat. Wow!! For sure, no party this time coz it was used as a ferry at the moment, but there were these cozy couches and a great vibe.

Enjoying the ride, the wind surrounding the boat and tickling on our skins, the sun shining on our bodies. Happiness. Francisco suggested to go for a walk opposite to the crowd. We walked along a wooden path, passed a small fishermen house and in between the dunes.

„They used to invite the passing hikers for lunch, but they stopped when the tourism started. You can’t invite that many people. That’s why they stopped inviting“, Francisco told me. The path was leading to the beach, but we went straight into the dunes and discovered small little sand bays everywhere.

We spend the whole day here and did not see any other person. Many seagulls, though, but that was pretty much it. And for sure, some rubbish as well, which always makes me sad. Francisco and me enjoyed the silence, the nature. Silence is such a valuable thing when you are used to live in a big city. Without much talking, we shared our fruits and sandwiches, celebrated our great idea of going there and took a bath in the calm water.

So, if you wanna check out this place, remember not to follow the crowd and say ola if you see someone walking around alone.