Tuesday 19 March 2013

A County House in Portugal



The little stone house we rented for a few weeks is situated at the end of a country lane, just off a cobbled road that curves through a forest of ecualyptus and pine trees, a few miles outside Figuiera dos Vinhos, a lovely village about 2 hours north of Lisbon.



When we arrived, in the middle of February, it was cool and wet.  A few days before we arrived there are been a terrific storm in the area which had brought down a number of large trees, knocking out the power lines and the phones.


However, by the time we arrived power had been restored and we found a supply of candles and oil lamps in the house in case of any further outages.  We made a light supper of soup, bread and cheese and sat by the fire listening to the wind in the trees.

We arrived at night, and the car's headlights had only revealed the edge of the forest and stone walls, common to this region of Portugal.  It wasn't until the next morning, when we awoke to the sunlight filtering through the shutters and the faint sounds of barking dogs in the distance that the beauty of our location was revealed.  

The house sits at the end of a long drive, surrounded by farmland and orchards of orange, fig and olive trees, well above the village nestled in the valley below. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.









More to come...





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