It was with an argument that I first met Nico, when my family and I planned a stay at his house in the late summer of 1990. Nothing big, just about our stupid idea of wanting accommodation out of the blue in high season; however, and those who knew him will recognise this, my initial irritation soon turned into a deep and life-long friendship with a remarkable man in all respects.

Nico, who lived in the Algarve since 1977, bore the certain blink of geniality that makes someone a charismatic person. Most outstanding among his many talents, for sure, was his spirit of entrepreneurship, with a dash of audacity and a sprinkle of irony, which convinced me 11 years ago to start the business with him that is now Marisol.

Previously, Nico had created a surf school and a company for his windsurfing boards; worked in real estate; and as a writer, always impassioned by the chosen subject, be it local fishing tradition (resulting in the well-known “Algarve Fish Book”) or lately, his passion for good food. It may be a twist of fate that Nico passed away in his kitchen, the place he loved to be most, and it should comfort us that his passing resembles his life as a whole: fast, intense, but without suffering.

Andrea Siebert