Póvoa de Varzim is one of those cities that we immediately fell in love with. Its location by the sea and all the surrounding structures invite you to relax and disconnect from the big city centers. I invited the beautiful and talented Ana Rita Pacheco to this session and it was my first experience photographing oriental dances. An experience that I hope to repeat soon with her 🙂

Póvoa da Varzim is a Portuguese city in Northern Portugal and sub-region of Greater Porto, 30 km from its city centre. It sits in a sandy coastal plain, a cuspate foreland, halfway between the Minho and Douro rivers. In 2001, there were 63,470 inhabitants, with 42,396 living in the city proper. Permanent settlement in Póvoa de Varzim dates back to around four to six thousand years ago; around 900 BC, unrest in the region led to the establishment of Cividade de Terroso, a fortified city, which developed maritime trade routes with the civilizations of classical antiquity. Póvoa de Varzim has been a well-known beach resort for over three centuries, the most popular in Northern Portugal, which unfolded an influential literary culture and historical artistic patronage in music and theater.