If you timed it perfectly, maybe you could have traveled throughout 2020 and 2021 and somehow escape Covid. But you’d have to leave places where cases were starting to rise, to places that would not become hotspots in the short term. Which takes a bit of research and maybe an impossible amount of luck.
I, like everyone else, did not have such luck. But while daydreaming and researching good vacation spots, I stumbled upon and decided to escape to Ericeira.
Ericeira is the town just outside Lisbon where King Manuel I (aptly named The Unfortunate) fled Portugal’s revolutionary forces, never to return, just over a century ago. The small fishing village was a quiet spot on the Atlantic that for one brief moment became the spotlight of a royal downfall.
It remained a quiet fishing village for decades afterwards. That was until 1991, when the first surf club opened. Little by little the scene grew until surfing-fueled tourism eclipsed fishing as the main economic stimulus. Now, the unlikely reinvention of Ericeira is complete and it’s considered Europe’s surf capital.
Portugal Gets Ahead of the Covid Curve
In October of 2021 there was another reason an escape to Ericeira was so attractive: the Covid numbers for Portugal were so low that almost all restrictions had been lifted. Social distancing, masking in restaurants, and curfews had disappeared. Portugal’s population, much older than that of most others countries’, was over 80% vaccinated.
This was much better than the vaccination rate of the US. Rates for new cases and deaths were a small fraction of those in the US, too. On paper Portugal was an impossibility; the world post-pandemic, in the middle of a pandemic. And it was home to the continent’s premier surfing spot. There was no better place to escape the surreal reality of 2021.
Our ride to Ericeira was uneventul if not for the timing. Sintra, inexplicably to my American senses, went to sleep at 7pm. Following were two frantic hours searching for the bus to Ericeira, while carrying all of our luggage, which ended with us resigning to taking an expensive taxi ride.
The driver was a middle-aged Portuguese man who wore a slightly wrinkled brown hat that only men of a certain age can pull off. He wore no face mask (neither did we). The ride itself was easy and smooth, a lonely car on the flat road cutting through the evening dark as the distinct smell of ocean air became more noticeable, and a small town popping up every now and then.
Another frantic moment occurred in Ericeira, when the directions led to a one-way cobblestoned street that dead-ended in front of a whitewashed church. There was no hotel in sight. Fortunately the hotel owner anticipated this and the receptionist quickly found us. I was too exhausted to do anything except fall asleep afterwards.
Easing into Ericeira
Ericeira is a place for strolling. Granted, this is the case for most European towns, but Ericeira makes you long to continue looking around. It is interesting yet uninterested. You end up wanting more, Ericeira being the crush who won’t give you the light of day. The town is pretty, full of intriguing independent shops and restaurants, and it knows.
Lunch on the first day was energizing. We took advantage of early drink specials over octopus salad and Thai food. Ericeria is a Portuguese town with so much that isn’t Portuguese. At least 6 languages were being spoken in the tables next to us. Chattering and the clinking of glasses highlighted a laid-back character, contrary to the anxiety, fright and uncertainty that the rest of the world was experiencing.
Or, for that matter, what Manuel I and his family certainly experienced.
By all accounts it was a quick exile. On October 5, 1910, a pallid Manuel and his agitated Queen Amelia scuttled onto a getaway boat surrounded by silent onlookers. The council president of Mafra (the municipality in which Ericeira is located) documented that the King and Queen walked over fishing baskets and crates to the boat. Today that beach, Praia de Pescadores, is still a fishing area, but flip-flops are the principal footwear.
The Surf Class
There are no obvious markers to this important day in Portuguese history, the day the monarchy was abolished. Instead, Ericeira’s status as Europe’s surf capital is the draw. There are only 11 Surf Reserves in the world and Ericeira is one of them. This puts Ericeira in the same class as Malibu and Noosa.
And it’s deserving. One would need more than a month to surf every beach in the town. There’s also the fact that Ericeira, the royal escape route, is now an escape from reality for vagabonds, backpackers and surfers, all searching for the next wave or the next versions of themselves. The vibe alone makes it the quintessential surf town.
Packs of surf classes are easily spotted since everyone is wearing squishy black wetsuits as they walk to the water.
Cold and Choppy
The beginner class I took was no different. The best beach conditions that day were adjacent to a rocky area, and the dearth of decent swells made it even more crowded. The best of us got in only two waves.
It was more common that after paddling like mad with two numb hands, students would position their feet onto the board and fall back into the sea. The choppy wave had already left and disappeared into nothing; its legacy was a sinus burn provdided from water going up the nose during a fantastically fast fall. The chill had the unintended effect of waking you up better than a red eye coffee.
It took two hot showers to feel warm again. Yet the regret of not staying in Ericeira longer would not leave. Today was rough, but the hope of a better wave is always around the corner, just one tide away. The beach is in a constant state of change and renewal, giving a healthy dose of optimism.
Running: The Best Way to Sunset
By far the most popular event in town was bearing witness to the day’s end. There are 40 beaches in Ericeira and each one is full of watchers as sunset nears. Multiple approaches work to appreciate this event, easily the most popular in town. People claim spots on the beaches, seawalls, and restaurants overlooking the Atlantic. The latter is at a premium when Covid worries are non-existent. But the greedy go on a fun-paced jog, getting in parts of the event in at least 3 beaches in just one evening.
The background chatter and beer drinking is at a lull compared to lunch time as sneakers hit pavement and move around small packs of sedentary spectators. White façades glitter with the yellow, orange and eventually red of the sun rays. The houses appear to be works of art framed in blue, and they distract from the reason for the run. Every minute their hues change along with the sky and water, never the same for too long.
Finally it’s over and the metamorphosis is complete. Ericeira turns into its nighttime version and people head to dinner. Their shared experience stays with them.
My Escape to Ericeira: A Reset
It was people just living their lives. This was what the future could hold. No more Covid anxiety, no more societies being divided by how individuals react to a novel virus. It was possible, because here it was already happening.
When our subconscious is made so acutely aware of how mortal we and our societies are, staying the same course as before is an impossibility. It’s like God hit the reset button on our brains. Similarly, the rejuvenation one feels after unwinding and surfing for days frees up our creative energy.
We may find ourselves thinking things, and believing ourselves capable of things, that we never did before. In that Ericeira teaches us the importance of change’s euphemistic cousin: Renewal.
