Still not a great deal of progress on the house, so not a lot to report there. We spent the first couple of days back from the UK, sorting a few things out and catching up with friends. Then we were off on more house-sitting adventures…
Two hours drive (stopping for a snack) is all it took to reach our next location. This was another one of those nice ones where you get a decent amount of time to meet the hosts and their pets (or in this case pet) before commencing the sit. Our new hosts own a townhouse in Coja, allowing for some flexibility either side of the sit, which is such a great arrangement to have on both sides. We stayed a couple of days there, meeting the owners Heidi & Mike and their lovely dog Tan. We were very impressed with Coja. It’s got a lovely little plaza area on the Main Street with a number of cafés, restaurants and tavernas, as well as all the amenities you could need. It is a lovely spacious village and has a really nice Praia Fluvial (river beach), and the water was still very warm. There had been a bit of rain the day before we arrived, but was a scorching 33 degrees when we walked to the beach to explore. We are still rubbish at organizing ourselves though, we were so keen to explore we forgot to take our swimming stuff or put any sun cream on. A real schoolboy error! When we reached the river, it was very quiet. There were only a few people enjoying the waters, but we sat and cooled our feet off. We were surrounded by many small fishes and felt the occasional soft nibble! Such a weird experience.
The following day we went over to Mouronho to meet our hosts again. We spent the day getting familiarised with the house and all the quirks that owners get used to but we would need to know about to make the sit go smoothly. We also got a lovely forrest walk in with Tan and learned all about him and how he was rescued. They have really done a fantastic job with him, and he is really now a part of their family and is a really easy-going dog and so friendly.
We then spent another night in the town house and in the evening explored the wider village and finished off with a lovely local wine before a good nights rest. The following day, once we were up and packed to go to Mouronho, our hosts were already on their way to the airport. The rest of the day was spent in slow time in the house, the routines etc, then popped into Arganil for some essential supplies.
The following morning the local Yoga class turned up, we said our hellos and then let them do their thing in the downstairs studio. We didn’t join in that class, but tune in to our next blog to see if we joined in the following week.
Once Tan has had his morning walk and been fed, he usually goes off to find a comfortable spot to cool off in the hot weather. It’s then a case of filling the day with something useful. The whole of this part of central Portugal is new to us so we tend to have a look at Google Maps and see what is of interest and take off to check things out.
This first week we decided to keep things local and not too far. We loved the local river beach at Mouronho on the River Alva. So impressed were we, we’ve visited twice, soaking in the sun and going for refreshing swims. The first swim was the most interesting, with a near-death experience for poor Netty! As Wayne had finished flying his drone and taking some photos, the river level had risen about a foot or so covering the dam arms. That meant when you were in the water, you couldn’t see the sides where the river flowed. Which was slowly over the sides or more quickly in the centre. Annette swam over to see if she could see the edges and ended up at the centre part where the current is strongest. She put her feet up to see if she could stand and the current ripped her legs over the top, and only by grabbing the edge stopped herself from being washed over the waterfall. By this time Wayne had swim over as he could see she was in some distress. He managed to get into the same position and together edged towards the sides where the current was less, and stepped up onto the walkway. The water was still over the top here, but much less of a force and easy to walk beck to the bank. A lesson learned, and we both survived to tell the tale!
We also explored a bit further into the mountains too. The morning after some rain, we went out to Fraga de Penas, a local beauty spot with cascading waterfalls and had a very nice picnic there. We also stopped off in Benfeita on the way back which is a nice portuguese mountain-side village.
We also had a morning where the water went off in the house, but a quick walk down to the technical wall showed it was the mains supply to the house and nothing interior to the building or land. Annette also heard some workmen digging on the road to the village. We then deduced that logically it was that that caused the stoppage. As we were needing more supplies (the tonic water was all gone!), we decided to head into Arganil and explore the town, in the hope that by the time we returned the works would have finished and water would be back on. This proved to be sound logic. As we pulled into the drive, we could see the work had completed and the water pressure was indeed back on in the house! Common sense prevailed and there was no need to worry the hosts.
We even managed to attend our only festival this year. Unfortunately it was a ‘Soup’ festival. Wayne’s not keen on soups, so when we presented our bowls, Wayne asked for a fruit salad. however the fruit salad turned up in a plastic tub, and his bowl was filled with a fish soup. So poor Annette had to down two portions of the soup while Wayne wandered off to get a bifanna and beer, or two!
Well folks…That’s it for this week. Hope to see you back for next weeks installment. Hopefully no near-death events to report!
Our Portuguese Life 