My friend Anja is staying here for a few days. We’re going on an adventure, looking for a little lake that was recommended in the newspaper, the Diário de Coimbra. It looked like a fairytale in the photo, but on the way we suddenly see something else fairytalish.

Abandoned and neglected houses are quite normal in Portugal

Anja lived also a long time in Portugal, even though she was forced to return to the Netherlands with the C-risis. She comes back every year, para matar saudades – to kill homesickness, as the portuguese say. She, like me, really appreciates how things are here in Portugal. Much less organised than in the Netherlands.

She has a niece-in-law, a portuguese woman in her twenties, who recently visited to the Netherlands, home country of her portuguese-dutch partner – Anja’s nephew, and was amazed by what she saw. “There are no ruins anywhere,” she said, astonished, “no abandoned houses anywhere, no neglected houses anywhere, everything is new, neat, tidy, even at the back of the houses, and freshly painted. Unbelievable!”

You regularly come across one of those deserted houses here that has been empty for a long time

Sometimes it’s hopelessly lost, because then there are so many heirs that it is no longer doable to find them. They all have to sign for the sale, and if one of them doesn’t want to, the whole thing has to be cancelled. Some houses are slowly collapsing, but those are usually the very small ones that no one finds worth the effort anymore.

We are talking about really small, right! A house of six by six where you live, sleep, cook, eat, wash and splash. If you cannot imagine that: just take six very big steps. Then you would be at the other wall. A door and a window in it, all very small and low, because a hundred years ago people were not tall. And most of them weren’t very rich.

The somewhat larger small houses are also often empty for a long time, but they are now often sold and then renovated. Especially now that many Brazilians are coming to Portugal, who buy such a house, knock down a few walls inside – or sometimes the entire house – and make it their own little paradise.

During our search for the lake we came across a wonderful find. A very large pink house with a double-winged entrance staircase, a large terrace in front of the front door, arched windows, an extension, another extension, even a turret. And a corgeous spiral staircase. Everything was open, but we didn’t dare go in, because the floors are completely rotten. Who knows what will happen if you step inside …

“Oh, what a shame” I walk around groaning, “what an eternal shame to let something like this rot away …” Anja nudges me and points upstairs: “Well, maybe they won’t let it rot … look, all the ceilings are new ….” We take a closer look up, and gosh, the entire roof has been replaced! “Oh, how nice, how good!” I exclaim with relief, “if the roof is ok, it can still be saved!”

We carefully walk around the entire house

It’s built on a mound, so everything is paved, and a black hole in the ground is indicated by a long stick. Fortunately, because we wouldn’t have seen it because of all the weeds. And who knows what will happen then when you step into that black hole …. I’m taking photos, a curtain fringe, the wainscoting, the tiles around the doorposts. Then, as the icing on the cake, we come across the kitchen.

Beautiful tiles, probably at least a hundred years old. A few large pieces are missing, but little damaged. Good quality ceramics, to survive those hundred years and probably a few decades of neglect. If you do the restoration well, it is definitely worth having the missing pieces made in a special workshop.

In front of the house, a senhora is talking to a senhor in a car

She glances at us a few times, when we see more abandoned buildings a little further on. Not that beautiful, but a very large complex. “Can I help you?” asks the senhora, as the man in the car drives away. “Do you need help?” “Well, sort of,” I answer, “we suddenly found this gem, what a beautiful house! Has it been sold?”

“Yes, indeed,” she answers cheerfully, “I sold it myself, I am an estate agent. I live right behind here. It will be an alojamento rural” – that is the portuguese version of a B&B. “Oh, how nice,” I say, “it would be a shame to let this completely deteriorate. And it is very suitable for an alojamento rural.” Anja joins in: “But now for something else… we were actually looking for a lake…”

“That was in the Diário de Coimbra?” the senhora shouts. We spontaneously point at each other: “Exactly! That one! But it can’t be found.”

And then we get a taste of that unparalleled portuguese friendly hospitable helpfulness – senhora gets in the car to help us on the right track, and a little later we are at a treasure of a lake. A well-kept secret too – nobody can find it without help.

A day full of surprises. Thank you senhora Sónia!

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We moved here in 2000 from Rotterdam, Holland to the Termas-da-Azenha, Portugal.

A big step, especially with two small children.

We are busy to rebuild one of portugals cultural heirlooms: Termas-da-Azenha, an old spa which has been turned into several holiday houses, rooms and a campsite.

You’ll find mosaics and paintings everywhere.

Since 2018 we call ourselves the first B&B&B in the world – Bed & Breakfast & Bathrobes. You can buy a home-made unique bathrobe/housecoat with us.

Each week a little blog about what is happening around us. An easy read. A few minutes in another world. A little about what it going on in Portugal. If you plan your holiday to Portugal, it might be a nice preparation

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