I loved my time in the cute apartment I’d rented in Portimao, but unfortunately the weather was poor. That’s how I ended up spending a couple of hours admiring sand castles. One day I was about to go for a hike when I realized the weather was not going to change. I was actually already outside and then changed my direction. A hike I was only semi-interested in, potentially in the pouring rain, did not seem that attractive. So I quickly checked the bus time table and turned around.
I thought an indoor activity was a bit more appropriate today, but obviously I hadn’t done my research. I had seen some advertisements for an exhibition with sand sculptures and pretty much assumed it would be indoors. How else would they be able to keep the structures in good shape right?! Well… I should have done the research. Optimistically I hopped on the bus and was pleased that I had a super helpful bus driver who was happy to show me where to get off. Just as I boarded, it started to rain more heavily. When I reached the site of Sand City, somewhere along the main road going East to West, I immediately noticed there was no building.
The entrance was some sort of tent and when I arrived a lady came running towards the ticket booth. She seemed surprised to see a guest on this horrible day. I handed over my discount voucher and eventually she managed to figure out how to charge me. I noticed I was the only one in the park. The park didn’t look particularly pretty, especially since the sand sculptures were build on sandy ground and there were now some puddles forming.
I was surprised the sculptures still looked alright, even though the exposure to the elements had certainly cut off some noses and toes here and there. The major theme was ‘the world’ so you could admire sculptures of stereotypes, but also of animals from around the world. Besides this, there seemed to be some very random other sculptures, like Harry Potter and Asterix and Obelix. I was impressed with some of the works which were very detailed. They were made by artists from different places, not just in Portugal.
It was not exactly pleasant to walk around in the fall weather. It got windy and cold and occasionally it rained a bit. But I wanted to do something. There was plenty of time left to just sit and hang around the apartment. So I took my time until the first bus went back to the city about 1,5 hours later. This was not an activity I thought I’d be doing in Portugal. It may not have been the nice indoor activity I was looking for, but it was pleasant. As a kid I’d been fascinated by these sculpture festivals, but I’d never actually seen one. Building a castle on the beach will never be the same again!
