As you may have known/guessed we have been without the internet for some time now. It is funny to realise how dependent we have become on it and how much we use it. We do have a dongle (mobile internet) but there is no signal at the campsite so not much help. hopefully next year we will have it back.
The fact is also that we do not have much to report. We are still waiting to hear back from the architect as he is yet to receive the results of the typography. The bad weather was meant to have caused some delays, but that was over a week ago now.
We were also told by the architect that our land is classed as ecological, which means we cannot extend the building that is there and that there will be a lot of restrictions. We are a little annoyed at this as we asked the lawyer to make sure this was not the case before we decided to buy the land. Luckily the house that is there is not tiny and it will not really change our plan for the main house, but looks like there will definitely not be any log cabins or any other guest accommodation.
We have been trying to stay busy and not get too impatient, as this seems to be Portuguese way. We have managed to clear some more of the weeds off the land and also cleared some of the house out, after finding out we did not need a license to light fires in the garden from October - May. We had a spell of very nice weather which meant everything was dry and burnt a lot easier so we tried to get a lot done then. Mind you, the spell of nice weather coincided with the car being broke, which of course meant there was no way for us to get up to the land.
There's another story, the car.... We thought it was just a bit of damp getting in the engine after the (very) heavy rains we had, but even after drying it out the car kept misfiring. We noticed that the insulation on one of the leads had split so decided to try and get new leads and sparkplugs. We headed off to the local "carshop" and asked them how much it would cost. They did not have parts for Land Rovers but recommended someone who did, at a price of £150+. The same parts in the UK were £30.... So we ended up ordering them from Atkinsons in the UK(they are brilliant!!!!) and they sent them over for us, which took about a week. After fitting the new plugs/leads the car ran better but not perfect. Glenn then noticed a hole in one of the 4 ignition coils. So we went in search for a new set of these 8as apparently you cannot just buy one)..... And got quoted €500+, while again for the same product in the UK we'd pay £145.... Anyway, Glenn improvised and the car is now back to more or less normal....
The other day we drove up to a town nearby, Alcobaca, and were very happily surprised when we saw the huge church/monastery in the middle of the square. It was a fantastic old building and it was absolutely massive, so we spent over an hour just walking around all the different parts of the stunning historical buildings. The architecture was amazing and the sheer size of it was very impressive.
The rest of the town was a little odd, there was a mix of really scruffy houses, with really old well kept buildings and then new built blocks of flats, all in a completely random kind of order, but it was cute and all in all we had a good day!
Wednesday night we went to Obidos to enjoy the Christmas village they have set up every year, with an ice rink, fake snowmen, lots of stalls selling cakes, bread and souvenirs and an ice bar. We did not go ice skating but decided to give the ice bar a go. We got dressed in a big thick cape and got some gloves to go in. It was not too cold in there, -4, (which I know sounds like summer to everyone in Sweden right now) but the humidity was 98% so it felt pretty cold! And when we stepped back into the +12 degrees outside it felt WARM!
Last night we went for dinner at our new favourite Irish bar and got a bottle of wine for free, which we very much appreciated and enjoyed! Jennifer and Aad in there are too nice to us!! We have decided that's where we will go for New Year's Eve and hope a few more people have the same idea. The average age in this town has been lowered quite severely by us so it is not the most happening place at the moment, but am sure we will have a good night anyhow.
Well, best go and start preparing that Turkey and the rest of the Christmas dinner.
Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas with good company, good food and lots of fun.
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