still in the south :: aldeia da pedralva

while i don’t have the time to go search for beautiful corners in lisbon, i shall leave you with southern corners of this country! this summer, as you may have read here somewhere, we traveled to the southwest coast of portugal, which is mainly known for excellent food, amazing beaches and really relaxed mood, and most preferably not as crowded as algarve in this time of the year. for ages i wanted to visit this side of the country, but it was only when mr twiggs came into my life that we started to spend new year’s eve there, then a weekend in the summer and this year we went again for a full week! it is my favourite spot without a doubt! if you’re traveling to portugal during summer months and you’re willing to drive somewhere else other than lisbon, do go to the southwest coast! it’s really amazing and it feels so much like summer! it’s wide and hot, and the chances of finding one amazing small beach, maybe even not crowded at all, are really high! we found one really wide, there were a lot of cars, but as it was so wide, you didn’t get the crowded feeling at all… and no cell phone network (bonus!!!).

one spot i wanted to visit again was aldeia da pedralva. now the story behind this really small village is pretty interesting and filled with entrepreneurship all over it. so there was this village, really old, old houses falling apart… but somehow 4 guys saw its charm, so what did they do? they invested (one million euros each, so they say) and rebuilt the whole village! it took them 2 years to find the owners of the abandoned houses, they were in portugal, france, germany… and now it’s such a charming place, where you can eat (there are these delicious pizzas on a particular restaurant, that you need to book in advance, that i haven’t had the chance to taste, but there is at least another beautiful place where you can eat, you can book one of those houses and several outdoor activities. and of course, you can always just drive to the closest beach and enjoy the sun!

this place above was where we had our lunch that day! i was amazed! everything was so pretty and it seemed that every detail was well taken care of. and it was not that pricey either and our salads were delicious and people really friendly! when i find these really nice places, i’m always a bit scared in the beginning because i’m always afraid that something will let me down, as it’s so usual around here in portugal. here there are a lot of improvements to do when it comes to customer service, sometimes those really easy things, like being nice to your customer is hard to find. i have no idea what goes through ones mind when they are not nice to the ones who actually make that place possible…

we intend to book a house for us somewhere in the fall or spring next year. it should be such a beautiful place in these seasons and still so quiet! so this is my suggestion for all of you who don’t know this place and leave in portugal, and all of you that plan on some vacations in this magnificent country of mine! explore all the houses and activities on their website!