Ola Portugal – Channeling Gumby

We haven’t even left yet and already our schedule is flexing. Our favorite house is gone. Someone swooped in and offered full-price on Friday. The owners had to take it. It was French farmhouse-meets-Washington State-meets-Spanish corn crib. We would not have offered sight unseen or before an inspection. Experience has taught me to keep real estate transactions unemotional. There was another house in the same area but the owners aren’t available to show it – pandemic. So that frees us up a bit.

I find often its in the spaces between things that the best things happen. If you think about it -it’s when you have nothing on the agenda that inspiration strikes. When you get the opportunity to re-imagine the future. So I looked at my spreadsheet, after deleting those lines, and thought What should we do on those days? And then it hit me. Duh! – Portugal! Why didn’t I think of this before?

So far, we’ve only been looking at homes in Spain. But maybe we should expand our search to Portugal. We like it there. The people are lovely. And there are other advantages to perhaps having a home in Portugal. So yesterday I reworked the agenda and pointed Jeff in a new direction ‘Go South, young man!’ And he’s running with it. Stay tuned for his take on all that. He’ll be live blogging as we go along. Perhaps we’ll change his corner to ‘Iberian Peninsula’ instead of just Spain.

It must be said that Portugal isn’t the lesser Spain-lite cousin. Culturally, gastronomically, linguistically and in a multitude of other ways, Portugal is very different. It’s the ceramic tile capitol of the world. Where do you think all those wine corks come from? And port – the little-goes-a-long-way of wines, and one of my favorite ways to end a day with some of my giant Jurassic Park papaya. I bought port glasses right when we got here. So it’s practically fate.

Long ago when I was in college, my parents won an all expense paid trip to Portugal. Their faces, when they came back were the happiest I’d ever seen them – before or since. My Dad looked like he’d touched the face of heaven and he’d have packed up and moved there in a heartbeat. I think of their descriptions of the smell of orange blossoms in the Algarve whenever we walk down the street here in Valencia engulfed in the fragrance from the orange trees that line our roads they are in full bloom.

So now, along with our days viewing homes in Galicia, we will be spending a couple of days in our neighboring country to the southwest – checking things out, talking to some local professionals, and seeing what’s what. We will keep you posted with photos and stories. I’m more than a little excited about it. Have I given up on Spain? No Way!! It’s my first love. But you never know what you’ll find when you least expect it. And Portugal is an unexpected last minute twist on our house hunting adventure. Join us and let’s see where it leads.