Waking up still buzzing from our adventures in Idanha a Nova and our supper looking at the views from CasaBo, we decide to go out for the day to visit another plot of land in a completely different area. The necessity to test our feelings about CasaBo seems sensible but, in reality, is probably stupid.
What are we hoping to find? That we don’t love CasaBo as much as we thought? It seems unlikely. Anyway, we have this booking in the diary that didn’t get cancelled by all the activity around CasaBo, so we decide to drive the two hours to Alcorochel, a little village in the Torres Novas region of Portugal.
This is a beautiful drive across Portugal, truly beautiful, and yet not beautiful enough. You see once you are in love you just can’t see beyond it. Well, that is my belief and I am sticking to it. The area around Castelo Branco has just captured our hearts and has them in a lovely warm cushioned box.
Whatever happens with CasaBo we know that this is the region of the country that we want to live in. The drive gives us time to think and talk about things. We try and put everything that has happened into perspective. We go all the way back to the start and the motivation to buy a piece of land.
We wanted a piece of land to live on. Somewhere we could put TUT and feel at home. We love living in TUT and have only spent five nights not sleeping in our campervan since we collected it in May 2019. Even during lockdown, we stayed in TUT. Then we look at the future and building our dream home. It becomes apparent that we have got a few things mixed up.
Looking at the situation differently, it dawns on us that, even if we do not get planning permission, we have been officially told we can live in our campervan, working the land at CasaBo. If we were to spend the next five years using CasaBo as our base to live and explore Europe, and ourselves, wouldn’t that be a worthwhile exercise? The answer is most definitely yes. Problem solved. We are going to buy this land regardless and let the chips fall where they may, and we can reassess in five years’ time.
That seems to make everything more manageable mentally. Moving from the thought of forever, to the next five years only, takes all the pressure off. We get supremely excited and although we know now that we are going to put an offer in on CasaBo, we still do the visit in Alcorochel.
This plot is wrong on so many levels. The land is covered in thorny bushes, the view is wonderful but not one that works for us, the village of Alcorochel does not stir us. We thank the owner for showing us around and get on with the long journey home.
More good news is that whilst driving back, we manage to book meetings with a lawyer and with the estate agent for tomorrow. This whole project is starting to gain momentum and we are floating in a sea of love and adrenaline. Roll on tomorrow, it should be a belter!