We are excited beyond belief as we get up this morning. Today we are going to Rusticasa, a company that we hope are going to build our dream home. Of course, we may be going about this in a way that is completely back to front, but how would we know, and would we care if it was? Probably not. You see we know we are in this time, in this place, for a reason. We think we know the reason, but it does not matter whether the reason is one that we know or one that has yet to be revealed to us.
Let me clarify. We think we are here because we are visiting the probable builders of our dream home. However, what if the reason we are here is simply because by heading to the far northwest of the country first, it gave us the perfect entrance into Portugal over the Rio Minho on the Ponte Internacional – a stunning entry that we knew nothing about. Wouldn’t that be enough of a reason? Well, of course it would. You see Kimberley and I know we don’t have to worry about ‘the hows’. In fact, trying to work out how to do something often stops that very thing from happening. Just set the destination, in this case our dream home, and take lots of baby steps towards it. Trust the journey.
Today’s baby step is visiting Rusticasa with excitement and happy hearts. We are met by the lovely Leonor whose command of the English language is so good that we do not need to worry that the whole visit might have to be done with a mixture of Google translate and sign language. We just want to get a good feeling about these guys. We want to learn about how they go about building the house and the various stages of the process and we want to get their advice on the order of things.
So, what did we know after the meeting that we didn’t know before? Firstly, they can build it any way we want. Secondly, some ‘camaras’ (local councils) will allow timber structures, and some will not. A bit like England then. Oh, and the planning all lies with the local council. They suggest that when we have found a bit of land, the important thing is to find a really good local architect and ensure that the camara will allow your structure to be built. Warning taken on board, we say our goodbyes and go away to chat and think.
Chatting and dreaming should only be done in Portugal with a fantastic coffee and a Pastel de Nata so we stroll to the main square and do just that. We become super clear that the priority is going to be the land. Rusticasa can build whatever we want as long as they have good architect’s plans. So, land first, which is lucky because next week we are looking at our first piece of land and the week after, we have days filled with land visits. The reason there are only one or two next week is because we are going to travel slowly down the top half of the N2 spice trail. A suggestion made by Carl from ‘Expats Portugal’ who is a big part of why we are here. More on that next week.
What a fantastic week it has been.