How it began.
“Why Portugal? We have been getting this question every week for years. In this blog I will let you know why we moved here. It is of course a logical question, people are curious and secretly want to take the step to emigrate themselves. What stops you? Your job, the children, grandchildren, your aging parents you don’t want to leave behind? We met after both of us had already lived abroad. And believe me: after that it’s hard to stay in the Netherlands, to get used to it again. Something like ´you’ve smelled it…..´ We also found Holland busy, lots of obligations, not enough sunshine. My hobby is horses, so we also wanted a lot of land. Unaffordable in the Netherlands. When we were on vacation in France, we quickly fell in love with a beautiful farm. We bought it, moved and had great plans. Yet we couldn’t really get used to it. We sold it when we were expecting our first daughter and decided to continue looking for something a better fit. By now we had a second daughter and after much travel and research we ended up in the Algarve. The children were young, turned quickly and so we picked up Portuguese life. After four years we discovered that it was not the real Portugal and we looked further, but in Portugal, because this is where we wanted to stay. So after some more wandering we ended up in Travanca de Lagos. A village in the municipality of Oliveira do Hospital, region of central Portugal. Also called the Beiras. A very different world from the south! Tough granite houses, everything much greener, many rivers, a beautiful mountain range on the horizon, the Serra da Estrela with snow in winter and many small cozy villages. Our estate Quinta do Moreira used to be a large area in the valley between Travanca de Lagos and Andorinha. Through many inheritances, the patches of land and houses have been divided and only a small part of the once large area of this quinta remains. We have already bought back many pieces of land to make it a larger whole again. The two ruins we bought had been abandoned and homeless for a long time. Many villagers lived there, played there, grew up there and know a lot about it. We bravely began work on the first ruin, which is now called Villa Clementina. It is now a combination of old and new, with lots of luxury and a private pool. With thick granite walls, of course! 
We love Portugal for its space, mentality, beautiful nature and of course the many hours of sunshine! Eating out, the child-friendliness in cafes and restaurants, the hospitality, versatility and village life with still social care and control. Life here is calmer, less rushed. Therefore Portugal. It gives us exactly what we were looking for.