Part 2 - Our Land..
We purchased the land in March 2019.
We feel very happy to now have our little piece of land in such a beautiful part of Portugal, almost exactly in the centre as you look at Portugal on a map. It is very peaceful and quiet, and has a lovely view across the Serra de Estrella mountains. The area is mainly farming land - the bye-gone village locals would have walked to work on their land, growing fruit and vegetables on their little plot, living a somewhat self reliant, many would say 'good' life. Our little piece of land (just under 2 acres) is about two minutes walk from the nearest village, which at a guess, has a population of about twenty people, and about ten minutes walk from the other nearest village with a larger population, somewhere in the region of maybe fifty people.
The land itself is on quite a steep incline, this works nicely for checking out the beautiful views of the mountains and the big sky. The top third of the land is flat, perfect for parking our van and at the early part of the year I imagine it will be a Honey Bee haven as it is covered like a wildflower meadow, this area is also where the 16 or so Olive trees are situated. The middle section is quite overgrown, it was originally covered in trees, probably Eucalyptus or Pine, these have since been removed leaving us with the clear vista, and also lots of wood to harvest for heating via our wood stove (eventually). This section also has a well, although we are not yet sure if it will produce water. The bottom third of the land is quite flat and quite overgrown, and it's quite difficult to see where our land starts and the neighbours land ends, but plans are that this will be where we will plant our fruit trees, have our Hugelkultur beds and our potting shed.
Our original and simple plans for the land, as a park-up for our van, somewhat quickly turned into something a little more grand. But these plans had to be put on hold for nearly a year as we still had, and have, strong ties with the UK. But having the land gives us focus, something to work towards and look forward to, something to make plans for and think about, working out the best ways it can work for us, feed us, give us enjoyment, relaxation, and I am sure some hard work too. Our journey back home to the north-east of England was a long one, but it was a happy one, as we had now made a huge step into life in Portugal...