Discovering Seixal - along the bay and along the marsh

The day is clear, the sun covers everything in warmth. The Seixal bay, spreading over two long kilometers is speckled with boats sliding gently in the bright waters. I am at Praça 1º de Maio, the start of Avenida da República, the avenue which accompanies the entire stretch of the riverside. At the first few meters away from the historic town of Seixal, the walls show a mural, inspired on the April 25 revolution and its values. Urban art really seems to have a strong presence around these parts, with exhibitions, murals, and galleries. Leaving the village behind, I try to escape the tar road and get closer to the pleasant riverside pathway, which extends along the entire bank aswell.

Seixal

2840 Seixal, Portugal

Grass lawns and a welcoming esplanade by a pier mark the first meters. The path itself looks like a yellow road, ponctuated by strange black beams at regular intervals, which sometimes seem to crackle from the heat. Between it and the main road, there is a simple cobble division with some trees, with a bench appearing from time to time. The long distance the pathway covers offers a great circuit for jogging, cycling, or a simple stroll, with a fantastic view of the west side of the municipality and the many boats, floating along the entirety of the bay or sailing away. Taking advantage of those same sights, the Fórum Cultural do Seixal, with its library, exhibition gallery and auditorium, sits at the top of a sloping lawn, about 500 meters from the old village. The stairway down the grass leads to a sort of open-air sports park, with fitness equipment and ramps.

I pass by the forum hill, hearing the melodica and drums that a young man is playing nearby. The yellow riverside path sees a lot of movement; there are many who pass by me, running or taking a walk. I am taking my time, noticing the garden that is appearing ahead. The grass bed is very wide, shaped in a wavy manner to follow the silhouette of the shoreline. Here the yellow road becomes red, drawn in an arch, and strongly contrasting with the fresh green grass. Crossing the arch and entering the river, behind a row of palmtrees, there is a small pier, where some teenagers speak loudly. This is a great place to relax and have a snack by the river. After the curve, the sandstrip below the riverside wall widens up greatly, and it becomes a sort of thin mire, shining in the sun and extending throughout the rest of the river bank. The seagulls have made it their gathering spot.

To my right, the residential area of Seixal has been following the entirety of the pathway. I need to find a way back to the ferry docks, where I arrived a couple hours ago, and so I decide to go through the neighbourhood to reach the opposite side, closer to the Barreiro canal, to the east. So I start climbing up, in Avenida José Afonso. Along its slope the similar appartments show up, the local school, a few markets and cafes. The road then turns left to an older-looking part of the village. The housing progressively gets smaller, and more picturesque. The walls are an old pastel, the yards are more common. Roads now share the terrain with a few crop areas, and looking in the distance, they spread all the way up to the steel factories of the Paio Pires parish. Now, at the outskirts of the village, the streets smell like the countryside. A group of elderly men, sitting on an old bus stop, would make for a great postcard photo.

It is well into the afternoon. I have left the urban area completely, a dirt track is taking me inside the farmlands. On the other side of the wall, when there is one, are the farms and plantations, with its partitions, fences and greenhouses made out of the materials available. Between the lush trees and plants that envelop the trail, I can spot big houses, the remains of what must have been owned by some landlord of older times. At Rua da Quinta do Álamo, the sun gets covered by the tall branches of trees and the plentyful shade is very welcome. Something else appears in between the treetops, the lights of one of Benfica's training football fields. The trail goes behind the entire training facility, and so I hear the voices of athletes to my left, while on the right the marsh begins to grow.

This side of the land has mostly been left to nature. The humidity is very noticeable, and so are the mosquitoes following me! The soil, mixed with the constant flow of the river waters, forms a wide marsh, from which thick shrubs pop out, profusely. Soon the entire landscape becomes like this, and the only constructions in sight are ancient factories and tidal mills, nowadays in ruins. After a few twists and turns, the trail stretches straight up in the direction of the Tejo and the docks, at the entrance of the Barreiro and the Seixal canals, passing by the Hidrogaphic Institute and a few isolated houses.

The docks are not very far, and I still have 10 minutes before the ferry arrives. The inner edge of the riverside is an open field of undergrowth, where father and son play with a blue kite. The sky, and the approaching parking lot of the docks, are tinted with the yellow light of the falling sun. The tide has lowered greatly, revealing islets of wet sand, where people search for shellfish. The wind blowing in the treetops is louder than the rolling waves, vigourous for a second, then weakening.