“Your guests are here,” Broes warns me, when I’m busy on the veranda of Casa Palmeira. They are expected, they have responded to last week’s blog.
Nice reactions from potential new tenants, in Portugal and abroad
I honestly have not expected so many reactions, but of course it’s great. I walk over to the family and see him with a can in his hand. I can’t help but think: “Eleven o’clock in the morning? A beer can? In the middle of winter?”
Since I am not a soda drinker, I associate cans with beer – I have seen people do that before – on a hot summer day.
I could not have been more wrong – it turns out to be a responsible-cola-can with a home-grown sansevieria (that’s a typical belgian plant) in it! As an introductory gift. How thoughtful and sweet!
“How nice! A sansevieria – a typical belgian plant, right?” It turns out that Gera and Fabian lived near Maastricht in the south of the Netherlands for a long time, before they went on an adventure with their two boys in a camper through Denmark, Sweden, France, the Spanish coast, and finally “stranded” in Portugal. There, the sons lost their hearts to the ocean, and decided to become (kite)surfers.
We sit there chatting happily for at least an hour while the boys enjoy themselves with their fingerboards, foossball and pool. Fabian is also from Rotterdam, but, like us, has little to do with it anymore. “I have a lot more to do with Portugal now,” he says with a mischievous smile, “only the language … what a disaster!”
He has that in common with volunteer Henk – who has never skipped a winter in Portugal so far but does not dare to use the language. Henk suddenly appeared on the app: “I’ll come by tomorrow for a night. I’ll explain why tomorrow.” Normally he always stays longer, and then also wants to do something useful.
Henk will never rent a house again, he’s typically not a potential new tenant
He’s been living in his camper for years, like so many dutch retirees, and can therefore move around freely. On your own with a Living-Apart-Relationship, that’s easy to do, but with a family, like Gera and Fabian, it’s a different story. Then you are a potential new tenant. They are looking for a place, near the coast (see above regarding son)s with possibilities to provide for themselves.
As new tenants they’d have that possibility, but it is a different kind of earning-a-living for them. Anyway, time to think about it.
“So… there will be no making doors this year?” I joke to Henk, as we are having drinks before dinner, “have you really become too old for that now?” Oops, that is on the edge, because Henk will be 80 this year, and the older people get, the more sensitive they are to jokes about their age. “Calm down you,” I soothe, “you are an inspiration to all of us – who wouldn’t want to be 80 like this?! But it’s a pity you’re not staying longer this year.”
A pity indeed, because before new tenants can move into the house, we have to do some repairs
Now there’s a team of men-you-can-build-on, so I suspect that will be fine! More on that the coming week.
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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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