Comporta

The change happened gradually enough that it would have been easy to miss. South of Alcácer do Sal the road

I drove south from Lisbon, the Tagus slipping beneath the 25 de Abril Bridge, and felt the city’s hum fade

I left Lisbon before the city had fully stirred. Crossing the 25 de Abril Bridge, the traffic throbbed beneath me,

The first time I walked out onto Praia da Comporta it was early in April, the kind of morning when

The first time I stopped in Alcácer do Sal it was almost accidental. I had crossed the bridge many times

We left Comporta mid-morning and the drive to Marina de Tróia took about twenty minutes. The Doca dos Pescadores, tucked

I arrived expecting a village with presence, streets worth lingering in, a centre to get lost around. Instead, Comporta village

The last section of road leading to Praia da Aberta Nova had already slowed everything down. Dust hung briefly behind

The rice fields appear before the village does. From the road, there’s a sudden stretch of open ground, low channels

Carrasqueira appears almost accidentally along the road northeast from Comporta. The approach is modest: low, reed-thatched houses, walls lined with