Wrong path turned out just right

by Katarina Cickaric (Serbia)

I didn't expect to find Serbia

Last year I went to Portugal to visit my dad who lives in Algarve, which is a province in the south part of this beautiful country. I invited my good friend from Germany to visit me because I wanted to have some company along the way. My friend arrived and we didnt waste any time to explore the mysterious rocky beaches and check out marvelous scenery. We rented a car, packed some snacks and rode away. We were keen on visiting a popular tourist city called Lagos, which has some really nice architecture and beaches. Now the messy part comes. On the other side of Algarve province, was also a small town called Lagoa. Because I wasn't that familiar with Portugal I was certain Lagoa was the place we planned to go to. We put the wrong city in the navigation! We didn't notice anything wrong until we realized the trip took longer than we expected. We brushed it off though. We finally arrived at our destination and we were in shock! We expected a place full of tourists and loud streets, but we were in a tiny town with not a soul in sight. We realized that we mixed up the cities and drove to a totally different part of Portugal. I was frustrated but my friend calmed me down and we made a decision to make the best out of it and explore this tiny ghost town. The houses were all white with blue and yellow windows layered on cobblestone streets. There was a church that was a piece of art, small parks with cute decorations and flowers. The city was on a hill surrounded by a blue ocean, so no matter where you are, you can see the epic view of the water. It was unreal how beautiful this place was. It was strangly empty and silence was making us feel uneasy. After awhile we noticed some people talking in the distance. We approached the place and it was a really cozy looking restaurant. The old portuguese couple welcomed us and we sat down to eat after a long walk around the town. The owners didn't speak any english. My portuguese wasn't perfect but I was able to keep a conversation going. The owners were bringing so much food,from appetizers to a main course to desserts. We tried everything from octopus tapas to tasty sardines, also some good portuguese wine and portuguese custerd cakes. They wanted us to try everything. They were super sweet and the food was delicious. I was curious to know why this town was so empty. They told me that the city had the biggest factory of sardines in the whole province 50 years ago. It was blomming. But overtime Portugal had went trough a crisis and factories closed. People lost a lot of jobs and most of them migrated to capital cities. The two of them loved this town too much and couldn't leave, even though they are struggling financially. We were touched by the story. We finished are wining and dining and the people didnt want to take our money. My friend went to the bathroom and while they weren't looking, put some money bellow napkins on the counter. We said our goodbyes and thanked them for their hospitality. We went back home full of contentment. I am so happy we made that huge mistake. Without mixing up the places we would never discover such a charming city and meet this lovely people. Me and my friend always laugh when we bring this up. Such a beautiful memory to have. I really hope the two of us stay clumsy like this and have more of these unexpected stories to tell.