When we decided to move to Portugal, one thing was certain: we are not going to live in the middle of nowhere. As born city children (Jeannette in Amstelveen and Pieter in Haarlem) we like some sounds around us. But not too much of course.
And that is why our village Arelho is a great place! It is the ideal combination: the tranquility of a small village, but at the same time there is plenty going on around us. The smiling fellow villagers on the terrace of the café (a hundred metres from our Quinta), the church choir practicing in the village hall, the baker who comes by honking to praise his fresh rolls and the farmer who harvests his grapes, because after all we live in an agricultural environment.
And then all the animals! Roosters and chickens, dogs and cats, goats and sheep, horses and donkeys, birds and butterflies: we’ve got it all in the village and of course they let themselves be heard once in a while (except those butterflies of course).
“So for my rest I don’t have to come to Quinta dos Pernobes?” I hear you thinking now. Sure you do! Arelho remains a village where not much happens. So if you lie by the pool with a book and a tractor drives by, you think ‘hey, a tractor’ and read on. Just because it’s holiday time and village life is passing you by. Enjoy!