It can’t be more silly than this: ‘Let us start building a wall’, said the constructor. Because if there is no wall, the energy meters can not be attached, and energy can not be connected. Without meters they will not dig a trench in the road to get you connected to water. Without electricity and…

It looks like nothing is happening. The summer holidays are over, kids are back in school and work and the building preps recommence. While I am working in Rijswijk, Luís is constantly busy in Vilar. Negotiations, options, quotations, alternatives, networking, a million questions and learning an awful lot of new things. Even new words in…

People are finding alternatives for their summer holiday in Covid-19 times. Our land is roasting under the August heat. The earth needs to settle, and needs some showers of rain to glue the dust back into place. No workers around, so we decide to have a little vacation ourselves on the nearby beaches, about 25…

And then suddenly everything shifts! The permit for removal of the cork trees. The definite building permit. A date for ground preparations. The Portuguese frontiers open up in this mean Corona-era! We are leaving for Vilar and we are ready to roll… As soon as we hear the building permit is on it’s way, Luís…

There are four young cork trees on our property. They are seedlings and they stand in our way: if we leave them, we’ll have to construct our bedroom around a tree. Not very convenient….Cork trees are an endangered species in Portugal. Because of frequent wildfires many of the cork trees in this country were destroyed.…

The wild Atlantic Ocean does hardly offer refreshment in the summer. Cold and high waves roll over the beach and drag back everything they encounter on their way. Only when you are strapped in a wet suit and are an experienced surfer, you could consider to choose a battle. For the rest of us it…

Our house in Amsterdam is sold! Now we really are accelerating. We need a new address in The Netherlands.

After a lot of asking around, we managed to find another house, in the same village. We have seen a few properties, but most of them were even older and more dingy than our actual house. Or even more expensive. Or we were supposed to share the wardrobe on the landing with the home owner.…

Vilar is a village in the municipality of Cadaval. It is not a remarkable place and this is just for the better. You will not encounter any tourists. For the locals there is a number of small bars and quite a few little shops. You won’t recognize them all immediately. When on a stroll through…

Indispensible… your everyday coffee shots. There are at least five bars in this small village where you can reload your energy with cafein. We walk to the intersection. At the bar on this hotspot you find the older guys chillin’. We try and have a chat, catch some sun on the bench in front while…