{"id":277,"date":"2022-07-28T21:34:02","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T21:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/nazare-portugal\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T22:34:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T22:34:01","slug":"nazare-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/nazare-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Nazar\u00e9, Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>The Swing<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>by Robert Louis Stevenson<\/p>\n<p><i>How do you like to go up in a swing,<br \/>\nUp in the air so blue?<br \/>\nOh, I do think it the pleasantest thing<br \/>\nEver a child can do!<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Up in the air and over the wall,<br \/>\nTill I can see so wide,<br \/>\nRivers and trees and cattle and all<br \/>\nOver the countryside\u2014<\/p>\n<p><i>Till I look down on the garden green,<br \/>\nDown on the roof so brown\u2014<br \/>\nUp in the air I go flying again,<br \/>\nUp in the air and down!<\/i><\/p>\n<p>As a child, one of my favorite poems was Robert Louis Stevenson\u2019s\u00a0\u201cThe Swing.\u201d I read that poem until I had it memorized. Reciting it made me feel as if I were swinging in that very moment. I\u2019ve always loved the rhythm and freedom of swinging. Even as an adult, I find time to swing whenever I get a chance. So, when we encountered an\u00a0\u201curban swing\u201d on our recent trip to Portugal, I knew I had to take my turn flying out over the beachside town of Nazar\u00e9.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"tmblr-full\" data-orig-width=\"640\" data-orig-height=\"480\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/64.media.tumblr.com\/12b0482a0e2e4dda4ddaba7c5b5c39de\/a022b50933bbbf84-32\/s540x810\/17b87c321b4d21800968d7dd5279b1c2180b57b3.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"image\" data-orig-width=\"640\" data-orig-height=\"480\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>We hadn\u2019t set out to find a swing. Instead, we were on our way up the steep stairs to the iconic clifftop point above the world\u2019s largest waves. In 2011, Nazar\u00e9 became famous when Garrett McNamara surfed a 70-foot wave, the biggest ever surfed at the time. In 2020,\u00a0Sebastian Steudtner set a new world record, surfing an 86-foot wave in the now famous Nazar\u00e9. Although I\u2019m not a surfer, I knew I had to see this amazing big wave paradise.\u00a0As a native Floridian, I\u2019ve always been drawn to the sea. Even just sitting on the beach, the power of the waves washes through my senses like an immersive meditation experience. I watch their mesmerizing folding, smell and feel the salty air, and hear their crashing breaks against the shore. Even when the water is too cold for wading (as it was in Nazar\u00e9), I can almost taste gritty, sandy salt on my lips.<\/p>\n<p>We began our short trek from the town at Nazar\u00e9 beach to the top of the cliff that overlooks the beach with the big waves. We expected lots of stairs, hot sun, and lots of resting stops. We didn\u2019t expect a swing. But then, there it was,\u00a0the Baloico de Ladeira swing.\u00a0Even if I hadn\u2019t needed a break from the steep ascent, I would have stopped and waited for my turn. When the family ahead of us finally finished their turns, I walked out on the hot sand, sat on the wooden seat, and wrapped my hands around the ropes on either side.\u00a0Before pushing off, I sat still, taking in the sparkling blue water, white-sand beach, and red-tiled roofs at my feet.<\/p>\n<p>And then, liftoff. My sandaled feet cleared the edge, and I soared above the vibrant colors below. As I flew, the first lines of The Swing floated through my brain. <i>How do you like to go up in a swing? Up in the air so blue? <\/i>I smiled at the perfection of the moment.<\/p>\n<p>Soon, a line\u00a0formed for a turn on the swing, and I relinquished my place on the wooden seat.\u00a0As we returned to the path up the hill, a woman older than me clambered onto the swing. Although I never saw her swinging, a giddy laugh told me she\u2019d pushed off. Like a child, she couldn\u2019t help herself. We heard her whooping and laughing until we rounded the next bend.\u00a0Adults turned to children. That\u2019s the gift of the swing.\u00a0Even in the middle of a long, hot trek, we could take a break to wonder at the immense beauty of our surroundings, let go of our cares, and fly.<\/p>\n<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, we made it to the top.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"tmblr-full\" data-orig-width=\"640\" data-orig-height=\"480\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/64.media.tumblr.com\/76b51862926be3bdc751112bdce928ff\/a022b50933bbbf84-f2\/s540x810\/911174f3e802403746cc3e1fb8b67ef95dcc1b32.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"image\" data-orig-width=\"640\" data-orig-height=\"480\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Despite strong winds, I stopped to peer over a viewpoint.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"tmblr-full\" data-orig-width=\"640\" data-orig-height=\"480\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/64.media.tumblr.com\/9afa3b8862d14ffa3db7708c6180e686\/a022b50933bbbf84-f8\/s540x810\/c97ecbefde321e5318c652f1e306b4e13d43eb55.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"image\" data-orig-width=\"640\" data-orig-height=\"480\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>And then I pushed through the wind on a trail toward the end of the cliff.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"tmblr-full\" data-orig-width=\"640\" data-orig-height=\"480\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/64.media.tumblr.com\/aaa6817c2939183466c9190b4d17264b\/a022b50933bbbf84-af\/s540x810\/36ddd00dac4e2b3e3c8988da68e45a11297eb805.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"image\" data-orig-width=\"640\" data-orig-height=\"480\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>At the end of the trail, I stood at the point, marveling at the power of the ocean and the unique hydrology that creates some of the world\u2019s largest waves.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"tmblr-full\" data-orig-width=\"480\" data-orig-height=\"640\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/64.media.tumblr.com\/aae1433e288b6bdcc31b85b80a8969d2\/a022b50933bbbf84-aa\/s540x810\/55437a006bf5f832651190b5b2854fa66e73dbdf.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"image\" data-orig-width=\"480\" data-orig-height=\"640\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>To my left, Nazar\u00e9 canyon lay deep below the water, surfacing as the sandy beach.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"tmblr-full\" data-orig-width=\"480\" data-orig-height=\"640\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/64.media.tumblr.com\/fb38940455f014c064744f280796160a\/a022b50933bbbf84-31\/s540x810\/69e9678714f7e8c1bc528cc814aa69ad8bf98aef.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"image\" data-orig-width=\"480\" data-orig-height=\"640\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>To my right, I saw the deserted north beach. Although the season wasn\u2019t right for the giant waves, the tumultuous sea hinted at the powerful forces that would create those waves once again in a few short months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson How do you like to go up in a swing, Up in the air so blue? Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing Ever a child can do!&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[30,31,25,32,29],"class_list":["post-277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-nazare","tag-ocean","tag-portugal","tag-swinging","tag-travel"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nazar\u00e9, Portugal - Monica J. 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