Cheers 🥂

 

The next time you open a bottle of wine think of Portugal.  Did you know Portugal produces half of the worlds wine corks from cork trees like the one shown here.  They remove the outer side of the tree every 9 years to make corks. The good news is the tree just grows the cork back with no harm to the tree.  

BTW; cork is used for lots of other things like; shoes, purses, and bracelets like the one I’m wearing now. 

The Studio Coffee Roaster (best coffee in Luz)

 

This is Isabella, she came to Luz, Portugal from Brazil four years ago.  She said it was a sleepy little village then.  She didn’t know one person at that time so she spent her up coming birthday all alone.  Now she has lots of friends and makes the best coffee in town!

Portugal and climate change

 

Portugal is one of the European countries with the greatest vulnerabilities to climate change.  They are particularly exposed to drought, forest fires and coastline erosion.

Over 30% of Portugals total energy consumption is provided by renewable energy.  (Compared to the US at only about 20%).  Portugal has committed to be climate neutral by 2050 and to close all coal producing facilities by 2030.

If every country did this we would provide a tremendous gift to our grandchildren.  

Hike more, worry less

 

Do not speak Spanish in Portugal

 

Portugal and Spain are friendly neighbors.  The Portuguese language is similar to Spanish, many of the words are the same and some sound the same but are spelled differently.  However I think the Portuguese like to honor their own countries uniqueness and differences.  They don’t like to be considered Spains younger sister.  If I use my Spanish (usually by accident) I feel a cool response.  The Portuguese are rarely rude but they will not welcome my unintended insult.  They would much rather I speak English.  Many of the Portuguese people speak English and at this time all children in school are now required to learn it.

Retirement; the dessert of life

 

If you do some research on the best countries in the world to retire to you will find Portugal will come up as one of the top 5 countries almost every time.  The criteria includes; cost of living, healthcare, low crime, climate and people.  “People” may be subjective however I find the Portuguese people to be very warm and friendly.  They seem to enjoy each day and value family over the rat-race of getting ahead and making a lot of money.  

BTW; The number of US residents in Portugal climbed by 45% last year and has almost tripled in the last decade.

Portugals climate

 

Portugal has a temperate climate of about 45F to 90F annually.  It also has over 300 days of sunshine a year making it a desirable place to live.  However yesterday it rained all day but we were rewarded by this beautiful rainbow when the rain finally stopped.

Ponta de Piedade

 

We climbed to the top of the cliffs by Luz and hiked along the edge to Lagos.  We visited Ponta de Piedade which displays dramatic limestone sea pillars.  They are rocks chiseled from fragile stone by savage winter storms.  We hiked down 180 steps to see them from the clear shallow waters below.  Amazing!

Luz beach

 

This is the Luz beach.  It’s a 5 minute walk down a hill from our house to get here.  There’s a boardwalk and restaurants on the left.  The hills/mountains behind are our next hike once my legs recover from our last one!

Hike to Burgau

 

We hiked 9 miles to Burgau, the village next to ours.  The trails run along the entire coast.  The coast consists of dynamic cliffs and white, sandy beaches.

Portugal and Brazil

 

Did you ever wonder why Brazil speaks Portuguese while most of Central & South America speaks Spanish?  The short story is in the 15th century Portugal and Spain were major world empires.  They sailed their ships to these areas and conquered Central and South America because they could (and for their important resources).  These countries later took back their independence however Portugal and Brazil still have an important and friendly relationship.  If you travel to Brazil you will find they not only share the same language as Portugal but also their culture, religion, music, dance etc.

Luz, Portugal

 

We hired a driver for the 3 hour journey from Lisbon to Luz, Portugal rather than taking the train.  It cost a little more but it was worth it.  Our driver was a wealth of knowledge about life in Portugal.  Luz is a small village on the southern tip of the country.  We both instantly fell in love with this home.  The living and dining rooms walk out to the patio and pool. Beyond that is a lovely view of the Atlantic Ocean.  One nice thing about Portugal is our US dollar goes a long way here.

Peace

It’s Easter Sunday and we stopped at one of the oldest churches in Portugal just as mass was about to start.  I said a prayer for peace in Ukraine……and everywhere else 💔

 

Welcome to Lisbon Portugal

 

It’s wonderful to be traveling again!  We took an over night flight from the US to Lisbon and arrived at 9am with only a few hours of sleep.  That didn’t stop us from walking through the cobble stone streets and enjoying some great food and wine!