We Visited the REAL Portugal

It only took us 4.5 years ...

A few months ago Denise looked at the calendar and noticed we were not traveling for 60 days. She immediately booked a hotel in Monsanto. When she told me I pulled up Google Maps and said, “Aren’t Mark and Elke’s house on the way?” We contacted Mark.

Captured from centerofportugal.com.

Castanheira de Pera

Mark and Elke lived in Vila Real de Santo António when they first landed in Portugal. We met while playing pickleball. Like many newcomers at the time, their lease included a side agreement that required them to leave their apartment in July and August.¹ They wanted to buy a house with land, so they took that time to visit central Portugal. They drew a circle around the town of Tomar, within a 30-minute drive, and began their search. They found a stone house with four bedrooms and two guest suites in an outbuilding. It sat on approximately one acre. While they envisioned some renovations (e.g. they installed a beautiful new kitchen) the houses were very livable. Oddly enough, their purchase price was identical to what we had paid for our non-inhabitable, no-land building in VRSA.²

The wall of guests. When folks come to visit Mark makes them a fish sign and Elke makes a stuffed, quilted fish to take home. We were fortunate they still had room on the wall for our names!

When they told us about their purchase I envisioned them being the only non-Portuguese in a village of 50.³ I was partly correct. They live in a very small village a short drive or bike ride from the municipal seat Castanheira de Pera in the district of Leiria.⁴ There we met lots of expats from nearby villages. They meet regularly at one of the cafes for breakfast or dinner at a very good Italian restaurant.

Mark explained that the tree debris will be removed, and the river will be dammed near that spot. A shallow cement pool has been built on the river’s edge.

River Beaches

Mark and Elke are phenomenal hosts and we enjoyed the folks we met along the way. But this post is not entirely about visiting old friends. Rather it is about a feature of Portugal we had never visited … the river beaches. When most people think about visiting Portugal in the summer they focus on its 1,794km (1,115 miles) of coastline. But for those that prefer freshwater, mountain views, waterfalls, and the quiet of the river there are more than 100 river beaches in Portugal. Some have earned a Blue Flag certification meaning they meet international standards for water quality, environmental management, safety, and accessibility.

The ones we visited offer small, gentle waterfalls … pools that fill when the river is dammed in the spring … parks … restaurants, and restroom facilities. As the water originates in the mountains it offers a refreshing break from the hot interior temperature.⁵ And all around you wooded mountain hillsides waiting to be explored.

Schist Village

We also visited a Schist Village deserted on the weekday we visited. The narrow winding streets and beautiful homes constructed of thousands of rocks split into thin slabs come alive in the summer. They also provide a weekend retreat for many city dwellers returning to the real Portugal.

27 unique villages spread out in the mountains, hidden from the daily routine. Here clocks tick slower and time has a different meaning. — centerofportugal.com

In recent years, the Beirã region of Portugal, led by the Agency for the Tourist Development of the Schist Villages, has invested in restoring 27 such villages. Homes were restored using traditional methods. Investments were made in tourist attractions, recreational facilities, restaurants offering traditional food, and shops offering local handicrafts.

Onix liked it too.

The Real Portugal

There have been many times when I have frustrated Denise by suggesting we should have stayed in Cascais explored Braga, or spent more time considering towns on the Silver Coast before settling in Algarve. Though we like walking 1 block to the center of town, I sometimes think perhaps we should have bought a house outside of town where we could have a garden and a pool. Denise HATES when I say my thoughts out loud.

But I came away from this trip thinking we had never really experienced Portugal before. I am shocked that it has taken us 4.5 years to experience it. Yes, we had once spent a day in Tomar, but this was different. It was the quiet peace …the empty winding roads … the beautiful vistas … the river beaches … the community of locals, immigrants, and weekend visitors.

The Portuguese word saudade does not have an English equivalent.

It encompasses a sense of missing someone or something, a feeling of being separated from a cherished memory or experience, and a realization that the object of longing may never be found again.

I felt saudade as we drove on to our next stop. I will remember fondly old friends and when the clocks did tick slower and each moment had a different meaning.

Já encontraram a sua casa, espero que sim…

Nanc

1. Airbnb rates for one week in the summer months can be equivalent to one month’s rent in off season. Many apartment owners require their “long-term” tenants to vacate the apartment so they can rent it at a higher rate. While SEF/AIMA sees a registered 12-month lease, the apartment dwellers know they must find another place to live for those 60 days.

2. I realize this sounds like I am jealous. That is because I am.

3. I expected them to be fluent in Portuguese and wondered how I would survive in such an environment.

4. Note during our two days with Mark and Elke they were kind enough to do “the tour”. We rarely saw another car when driving … yes this is very rural Portugal.

5. This area once recorded a temperature of 44° Celsius (112° Fahrenheit) while the typical August daytime temperature is 28° Celsius (82° Fahrenheit).