Sunday, January 22, 2017

January 2017 blog 3 — Our First Offer


Shepard with his sheep walking past Quinta Da Luz
Our last couple of days staying at Quinta da Luz up in the Serra da Estrela were spent looking at a couple of more properties, and revisiting the one that we liked most a few more times. 
Quinta Da Luz from back garden



Rory and Hugo hanging out in the Gazebo in Quinta da luz garden
The owners of the Quinta da luz bed and breakfast, Gregory and Caroline were also nice enough to bring us to their other project, where Harvey met another friend! This time a Vietnamese pig! So now he has a pony girlfriend — Carlotta — and a Vietnamese pig bestie. Hugo hasn’t been quite as social… I know, shocking.
Harvey and his new piggy friend
On our last morning in the Serra da Estrela, we arranged with the estate agent to meet the owner of the Mimosa overgrown property that we couldn’t stop thinking and talking about. The owner spoke only Portuguese, but Rory managed to communicate pretty well with him. The two of them traipsed through the property, the owner with a scythe/sickle in hand to clear the way. He pointed out 2 additional water mines and clarified some questions. We came to realize that we love the piece of property more every time we visit it, and this visit was no different.
view of river from bridge next to property
Overgrown river frontage of the property 

We decided on our way home, that afternoon, to make one last stop into the estate agent to make an offer on it. The agent called the owner and put him on speaker, and after some back and forth we agreed on a price. There are many more steps to take, of which I’ll spare you the boring details. But all in all we’re pretty excited about the potential of the hidden gem becoming ours.


Dirt track lined with Mimosa trees down to property
When we arrived back in Tomar on Tuesday night, although ecstatic with how our property hunt week had concluded, we were completely pooped! Harvey and Hugo included. 
Bags packed on our way back to Tomar
Car naps on our way home
Recuperating at our home in Tomar
 We’ve spent the week recuperating and resettling here in Tomar. There has been a cold front through southern Europe, so although it’s been nice and sunny it’s been a chilly week! Although Saturday it warmed up enough to justify taking a drive to the beach for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
Surf watching - Nazare
Saturday Views - Nazare

Beach kisses - Nazare

Playtime at the beach - Nazare
We’ve put property hunting on the back burner with hopes to take steps forward with the one we have an accepted offer on. Meanwhile I’ve also been teaching Rory and our friend Antony, who runs the campsite, some yoga in the afternoons. I also tried a different type of yoga I hadn’t tried before called Qigong with a friend I met at the concert last week. She has started teaching it every Saturday morning. 

It’s also about time we to put our energy and focus into learning Portuguese… So Bom Dia!!!!
๐Ÿ˜Ž๐Ÿ˜Ž Nazare

Sunday, January 15, 2017

January 2017 blog 2 — Serra da Estrela

Spending Sunday evening at the local venue to see “Miss Lady Emma” was a great way to start week 2 here in Portugal. She’s a musician who packed up her life into a camper back in June 2016 and has been touring Europe since picking up gigs in pubs and small venues. Check her out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LadyMissEmmaMusic/ and youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/LadyMissEmma. She was amazing live, and quite inspiring too!
After a week of settling in Tomar, it was time to get a move on with viewing properties. We had quite a few that sparked our interest up near the Serra da Estrela region which is about 2 hours north east from Tomar. Thankfully, we found an awesome Bed and Breakfast near the village of Seia to stay for the week. Not only is the location ideal for the property hunting, but also the hosts Gregory and Carolina have been amazingly helpful and wonderful to us. Not to mention the food is delicious, most of it straight from their garden! http://www.pureportugalholidays.com/property/quinta-da-luz/
http://quintadaluz.org/
 
The first couple of days trying to get acquainted with the area and weed out the properties that didn’t fit our criteria felt overwhelming at times. And we quite literally hit a bump in the road down the dirt track to the very first property we viewed. Thankfully the resultant clicking noise sounding from our ’93 merc. was an easy and cheap fix. A trip the following morning to the local mechanic, and she’s back to running like a charm.

We’ve seen some beautiful spots along our hunt, but only one seems to tick all of the boxes on our wish list, and it really just feels right when we’re there. Our first visit to the property was a foggy wet Thursday. It was tricky enough to figure out the GPS coordinates the estate agent gave us to discover it on our own. But eventually we found the ruin sitting 4 terraces up from the Rio Seia which borders one side of the property. All of the land is pretty overgrown with Mimosa trees, which was part of the difficulty in finding it. However, under all the Mimosa are gorgeous stone walled terraces that climb up the property. And the sounds of the river make the place majestic. We’re pretty excited about this one, but we still have a few more days in the area to continue our search and see a few more.




Oh and Hugo and Harvey have been troopers through it all! We got them some nice sheep wool blankies for the back seat. Harvey especially has embraced the adventure in hiking around these beautiful pieces of land!! Hugo doesn't mind adventuring where there isn't too much brush and otherwise has needed to be carried at times. But really he seems to prefer his cozy blanket in the back.


Saturday, January 7, 2017

January 2017 blog 1 — First Week of Getting Settled

Arriving in Lisbon last Saturday, New Year’s Eve morning, was exciting to say the least. Although after an overnight flight of neither of us sleeping, it was time for a nap so that we would be fresh to ring in the New Year at midnight Lisboa style. 


We stayed in a great little top floor airbnb in Bairro Alto, and enjoyed a dinner in a small hole in the wall Portuguese styled restaurant and rang in 2017 with the provided sparklers in hand. 


After New Years it was time to check out of our airbnb and head to Tomar for a slightly more permanent accommodation. We came across Camping Redondo during our first visit to Portugal back in August. In a small village called Poรงo Redondo just outside of the town Tomar sits a Campismo with a perfect Bella Vista Chalet that we’ll call home during our property hunt. Hugo and Harvey are settling in well which has entailed making friends with the ponies out back, as well as the 2 doggies who live here — Sabado (meaning Saturday) and Sabrinha. Living in the countryside is an adjustment for all of us, but we’re enjoying it to say the least.


First on the agenda was to buy a car. We wound up with a sleek looking 1993 Mercedes. Next on the agenda is getting through viewing some 12 properties up in the Serra de Estrela area of Portugal. Stay tuned.