Cabo da Roca, Portugal - Polarsteps

I was sitting at a McDonalds in Lisbon with a very highly irritated look on my face. For the past 45 minutes I had been waiting for a skype call to happen for a viva voce of a course called Corporate Valuation. I know it is hard to believe. But then certain professors love pinching you right till the end. The professor was bored taking so many vivas that day and hence he decided after 45 minutes that mine was to take place the next day. A complete wastage of 45 minutes! I stepped out of the McDonalds to calm myself. I was just looking here and there when my eyes fell on a postcard hanging at a shop. The picture looked stunning. When I enquired, the shopkeeper told me that the picture was of a place called Cabo da Roca and it was a day trip from Lisbon. Aha! Perfect! I went back to my beautiful hostel and googled everything about the place and how to reach there. The next morning I took a train to Sintra, a beautiful town near Lisbon. Just outside the train station there are buses which go directly to Cabo da Roca. I hopped on one of them. After a wonderful 35 minutes ride I was at the place finally. Cabo da Roca is the western most point of the continental Europe. The view of the cliffs and the endless Atlantic Ocean is simply breathtaking. There is a huge cross monument at the site which has lines by Luís Vaz de Camões, Portugal’s greatest poet, Aqui, onde a terra se acaba e o mar começa (Here, where the land ends and the sea begins). There is an ancient lighthouse too which adds to the beauty of the place. The winds are very hard and hit you right in the face. The place is full of tourists but that didn’t stop me to find a spot and gaze at the ocean for an hour. A surreal experience! Infact, I would have stayed for an hour more had it not been for the winds. There is a tourist information center where one can purchase a certificate stating you visited Cabo da Roca. Entry to the place is absolutely free. It is a perfect day trip from Lisbon.

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Portugal