base menu 2 et 3
Trafaria, Fishes and Dynamite.
Photography by Claudine Boeglin
If alike me, you embrace the poetics of decay, Trafaria’s facades as silent witnesses of a complex history will have your heart sink. This little village gazing at Belem on Lisbon South Bank, is the ferry stop and point of departure to cycle along the stretch of beach known as Costa da Caparica. Google declares the road over 30 minutes (10km) from Trafaria to the elegant Princesa beach restaurant, but so many stops and detours will add to the journey.
My thoughts constantly went back to the dynamite factory that marks Tarfaria with an odd Lynchian edge. Back in the days it was a
fishing village with tiny white tents aligned neatly as if a regiment of sailors. And still a secretive seafood destination for Portuguese families on Sundays. So, tiptoe your way through the village and head to the surfers’ area. Alike Alcochete, Trafaria is a place where Portuguese breath out of tourism. Kids and dogs dig holes and build shacks, and something in the air is so real and so tender, you escape as a thief, guilty of having been there all together.
Photography Claudine Boeglin @dandyvagabond
Photography and text Claudine Boeglin
