We have returned the keys to the barn/shed at CasaBo to Remax in Castelo Branco and we spend the night by my favourite football field in Oledo. This pitch has grass about two feet deep and sheep grazing on it. It is very easy to fall asleep to sound of sheep grazing, some with bells around their necks.
We decide to try the municipal swimming pool in Idanha-a-Nova for a different swimming pool and get a most pleasant surprise. It is a fantastic outdoor pool set inside a park, with loads of natural cover provided by randomly placed trees. There is a wonderful little terrace café and all it costs is €2.50 each. This place is spotless, and we spend a happy few hours just sunbathing, swimming, chatting and dreaming. In the UK, you’d pay David Lloyd sports club rates for this level of facility. We love dreaming.
Out of the blue we get a phone call from a Portuguese number. Kimberley tentatively answers it and starts a conversation with a company based in Portugal that sells property and organises mortgages. It turns out if we want to arrange for a mortgage for a new build, then it can be arranged. We could place 60% of the value of the land into a mortgage if we want to. We are not sure if we want to do that currently. We don’t even have the land yet, but it is nice to have the option.
We decide that a visit to Monfortinho on the border of Spain is in order. Monfortinho is famous for its thermal springs. I’m not sure bathing in hot water is what’s needed on a baking hot day, but we decide to scope out the area. The route is along a part of the Castelo Branco region we have not explored yet. One of the things we love about life and travelling is that there is always more to explore. The land here is different again with large plains interspersed with large granite hills. The thermal spa looks lovely but is not really our kind of thing, so we continue on our long loop.
The next stop is Zebreira where we stop for a coffee. We have found out that the money to purchase the land is now cleared and in our lawyer’s account. We just need a date now. Since Jacque’s visit yesterday it is becoming easier and easier to visualise what we are going to do with CasaBo. One difficulty we can see is that turning the existing granite barn into a two bedroom home and staying within the legalities of Portuguese property law, may mean the bedrooms are small. After some discussion, we decide to just have one large beautiful bedroom. This is our dream home so sometimes we will need to make a selfish decision or two.
We want to have visitors though – friends and family – so we are ging to have to find a remedy. Our dream home on CasaBo is going to have large verandas or terraces which will basically be outdoor living spaces where we can all spend time together. It feels that it would be better that our visitors have their own space rather than a room in the house. So, solving this will become a new project all of its own, and no doubt we will be researching that later.
We continue on our loop back to Idanha-a-Nova with a visit to Idanha-a-Velha which is a quaint old village from which you can see Monsanto. It is so beautiful that we decide we will give it more time.
The day is concluded with a meal out at Ze do Pipo where I have the most fantastic steak and we discuss plans and get excited all over again. Oh, and we find a potential solution for you – our guests.