I thought that I won't have a sight at the Ria Fermosa because the day before I didn't have the time nor the energy to walk to the Natural Park, but arriving in Faro by train had me unprepared. When I looked outside the window this beautiful landmark of land and water just blew my mind away.
I arrived with an empty stomach so I decided to go to this really cool and hipster brunch place where the waitresses were dressed up like lumberjacks and everybody else just looked like a butcher - but in a cool hip way.
I was having my gallon of ice coffee when I got a text from my couchsurfing host who invited me to spend the day at the beach with two of his friends and his dog (who will attack you at the first meeting but in ten minutes just turns into a friendly cat). I can proudly say that I didn't get a sunburn, which is a big thing for me.
If I can advise you something about an Erasmus mobility that is that always try to go out your way to spend some time with locals - even better if they are your age. I felt like I just turned into a totally Portuguese student, with the beach and the bright blue skies and so much to be happy about. The Portuguese music playing from the phone was making such a friendly atmosphere and everybody was supportive and happy to exercise their English.
When we returned to the center I decided to let Marcos rest a bit and went for a walk on my own. I planned to discover the Chapel of Bones but unfortunately it was closed.
Nonetheless, while having an early dinner at a local dining place, Marcos texted me that he really advises for me to start walking towards the Marinha. So I did and I caught a sunset so beautiful I just couldn't stop smiling.
This turned out the best couchsurfing experience ever as I could catch the Faro carneval with a bunch of Brazilians who came here to study all sorts of subjects, happy to be in Europe.
Long story short, we had some drinks and danced to the beat of some Latin music and here's a short footage of me being happily tipsy thinking I'm one of them.
I'm sorry for the hectic posting schedule, I wouldn't expect to have such a busy and amazing time here haha (flex - check)