Cabo da Roca: Where the land ends and the sea begins

“Aqui, onde a terra se acaba e o mar começa…” [Here, where the land ends and the sea begins…] – Luís de Camões, Os Lusíadas

There’s something extremely fascinating that I find about the vast expanses of water, which never cease to make me look for more of the world’s oceans and seas. It’s a feeling I simply don’t know how to describe. A combination of pure freedom, fulfilment, connection, happiness, peace… At sea, I feel complete. Give me a small hut on a lonely beach by the ocean and I won’t ever ask for anything else.

Cabo da Roca was my most pleasant surprise during my short trip to Lisbon last week. At a stone’s throw from Lisbon – about 45 minutes by bus – lies the Westernmost point of the European continent, a natural area where the rocky coast of Portugal managed to stretch itself the most into the ocean. The scenery is fantastic and a great opportunity for a short hike.

Standing on the rocks above the Atlantic Ocean, facing the strong wind and watching the land ending and the sea beginning, was more than I have ever imagined I could live in my whole life. In another – better – reality I would have never left that place. It was simply breathtaking.

All those words I’m trying to use to describe what this place really meant for me are too plain to give a real image of what I have perceived while being up on those rocks, so instead of babbling on and on and ruining everything, I’ll just rest my case and keep what’s left just for myself.

And if you plan to go there, please don’t be the shallow tourist type that just hits ‘the most western point of continental Europe’, takes a photo with the monument and goes home. Take a walk along the rocks and breath the beauty that surrounds you. It’s priceless.