faro feels like a dream but also a little too real

so i mean, maybe you’ve heard of faro? maybe not. it’s that tiny spot where the atlantic hits this weird cliff and the buildings just sort of lean into the wind. last night, i parked my bike next to a bar with a porch light flickering like it was ashamed of itself. the wifi was acting up, but i didn’t care. i was here.

then it started raining. not the gentle drizzle kind, but the i-just-got-dumped-on-by-the-ocean kind. i checked the weather on my phone and it said 16 degrees, which is apparently the same as every other day here. humidity’s at 58%, which means my hair looked like a drowned squirrel. i’m a digital nomad, not a hairdresser. what even is humidity?

the neighbors? they’re all either sleeping or crying in their apartments. i heard a baby crying through the wall at 3am and then a dog barking at 4am like it was performing in a play. i asked one guy who looked like he’d survived a war how he’d survived living here. he said something about ‘the peace of chaos.’ i don’t know what that means, but he also sold me licorice from a black plastic bag. that’s my kind of neighbor.

i saw a review once that said ‘don’t trust the locals’ about the seafood market. another said it was ‘the best tuna in europe.’ conflicting. i ended up buying some frozen tuna fillets from a guy who looked like a wizard and had a machine that shot them onto a plate. it was okay? i ate it with bread. maybe it was haunted. who knows?

someone told me the old part of town is cursed because of that lighthouse. i didn’t believe them until i saw a seagull carrying a salt shaker. was that a curse? was that just a really committed seagull? i didn’t ask. i couldn’t find the lighthouse anyway. the maps app kept sending me to a beach that didn’t exist.

i took some bad photos. the first one was of my sandwich at noon. the second was of a street sign that said ‘don’t blink’ in broken english. the third was of the sky at sunset, which looked like someone spilled watercolor paint on a canvas. i posted them all. no captions. just chaos.

linkedin post etiquette aside, here are a few links that might help: tripadvisor faro guide, yelp local bars, this random faro forum. they’re probably outdated, but who cares?

i’m leaving tomorrow. the locals warned me not to stay past midnight because of ‘the fog that creeps up’. probably the same fog that’s been here since 2012. i don’t care. i’m a digital nomad. i’m also a coward. i packed my bag. it’s full of regrets and one pair of socks. maybe i’ll find them at the next beach. or maybe i’ll just sleep in my bike seat.

if you get bored, Lisbon’s not too far. like, maybe an hour drive or something. i might go. or i might not. who knows? the money’s tight. i’m a budget traveler now. i’ve been here too long.

p.s. the temperature min and max were both 16.04. that’s suspicious. like, is time holding out? or is this some kind of prank? i checked again. still 16.04. i’m gonna call it magical. maybe the ocean is blessing me. or maybe i’m hallucinating from too much salt. who knows?

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