They wanted to get away for a bit. Just something different for a little while, not too far, not too pretentious – just simple, straightforward, because you don’t buy a camper for nothing, after all. Just something different for a bit, not only about the
roof – roof – roof – roof – roof
“We are still without one,” says Hugh, who is a cheerful conversationalist, “but we aren’t in as bad a situation as others in our village.” I find it impressive to remain so cheerful, because their attached conservatory was blown completely into the air, with the roof following suit. They live in the part of the country that was hit hardest by the three stormy weeks of winter.
I know what they are talking about: “Fortunately, our roof is being repaired now,” I say, “Thank God I found someone who had time, and who is asking a reasonable amount. That wasn’t so easy!” A yes: “We saw that right away when we rounded the corner. It’s certainly not easy to find roofers, so lucky for you! There are a few people in our village who are in even worse shape, so we gave them priority.”
A typical example of this English couple’s friendliness. “We emigrated before Covid; we really wanted to go to Portugal, but certainly not just for the nice weather,” says Hugh, “and I have to say: thanks to the friendliness of the Portuguese, we have integrated quite well.” He speaks Portuguese, which is fairly rare among English-speaking emigrants.
Most English people assume that they didn’t go to all that trouble in the past for nothing – to teach the whole world English …
Just kidding. And that’s allowed, because this couple certainly has a sense of humor. Something that is also typical of the English, by the way. “But we were fed up with it for a bit, with that hassle with the roof,” says Hugh, “and when I read your blog post about soap, you got me!” “Hey, soap?” his wife joins the conversation—up until now she has let her sweet husband chat pleasantly, but now she wants to contribute something too. “I make soap,” she says to me, and to her husband: “You haven’t mentioned that yet.”
They really wanted to go to Portugal because the culture appealed to them, and because they are Catholic. That is not the case in England, and it is much easier here. Even though many Portuguese people no longer go to church, the entire culture is still steeped in Catholic thought. It is perfectly normal to have your children baptized, to get married in church, and to have a priest at your funeral.
But … soap! “I got a homemade bar of soap from someone once, as a present, with rosemary and some other things – delicious! And recently I received one from a Dutch friend; that smells so good too. Rapeseed soap.” She laughs: “Well, then you should come by sometime; I’ll teach you how to make soap, because I still do that often. I’ll give it to the church so they can sell it.”
“They can pay for their new roof with it,” Hugh jokes
Well, I’d be delighted to do just that. Not just yet, though, because there are all sorts of deadlines to meet – we’re getting important visitors at the end of this month. Two sisters, one brother, two brothers-in-law, one nephew, and one girlfriend are coming to visit, so the roof needs to be finished before then (going well), one house gets a new kitchen (already done), at least the underside of the next kitchen needs to be finished (busy with that), and the camping field needs to be mowed.
It’s all going to work out just fine, thanks to the professional roof repairers and our further efforts.
But that homemade soap, I’d love to come back to that sometime!
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(Disclaimer: I’m a bit tired of the keyword stuff and Google’s dictatorship. So here they are, and I’m also hoping for the cleverness of AI in this matter that it will still be found and read, but that I don’t have to force myself to use the right terms in the title and headings. #Kristin #soap #camp )
We moved here in 2000 from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to the Termas-da-Azenha, Portugal. We started to rebuild one of portugals cultural heirlooms: Termas-da-Azenha, an old spa.You’ll find mosaics and paintings everywhere. Since Covid we rent the houses for a longer period of time, not as holiday houses anymore.
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.
In the weekend we publish it on Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.