Acres of hardwood (4)

 

The living room this morning, with the new dining table, made to order, at the center. It's extendable up to 12 people.

Same story, now in the afternoon (today was our day off)

Yesterday, on the beach

 

Acres of hardwood (3)

 One day later, and somebody said, "Let there be light!"

Charlie working on the medicine cupboard in the main room, with the hallway beyond

Acres of hardwood...

 Remember our post of Nov 15? Well, we are progressing with our acres: 

The hallway, now with the beginning of Chang's new picture gallery...

...and Michael's office, with the bookcase in place, and with the silhouette of Charlie at the kitchen table beyond.

That's all?

Well, here are three drone pictures of the house: 

It's the place in the foreground

It's in the cluster of the six houses in the foreground with the town of Alcobaça in the background

The same perspective, now with the sea on the horizon.

That's all?

Not quite:

Michael, Charlie and Chang taking a break in yesterday's sunny garden

This afternoon on the Praia do Norte

It's a surfer's paradise with Guiness Book of Records surf. It was fairly quiet today, although the waves still topped four meters or more.

The museums are closed

Our friend Maud sends this:

 

The prettiest town hall in the world -- Alcobaça, Portugal

 This is where we live since three weeks:

Fog moving in...

...with Charlie and Michael walking on the boardwalk of Nazaré:

 

We thought we'd end up in a little apartment...

 ...what with all the money trouble we were in.

Instead we got a big villa with acres of oak hardwood floor:

Yes, this is the elevator

Hallway

Kitchen

Kallax, installed by Charlie

The mezzanine

Staircase

View into the living room

Remember Kylie Minogue?

 

[Verse 1]

Feel my heartbeat

It's the same old feeling coming over me tonight

Me tonight

Feel it buzzing

Said I'm never gonna call, but tonight, I think I might

Think I might

[Pre-Chorus]

Gave my heart a ride, bump in the night

No one can take me higher

Know it's been a while, baby, a while

Do you still feel the fire?

Still moving -- Michael's office as a preliminary draft

 So, we are now in place since 11 days, and there's a lot of progress. 

One observation: the locals are very special, and the more you get in contact with them the more consistent the Portuguese experience gets: most--almost all--feature a strange combination of sweetness, softness, and something that passes as natural kindness (even when it comes to bureaucrats). Chang and Michael are exchanging views every day, telling each other that they are so happy here, and even happier than the day before.

And here's the view from the bedroom this morning, at 07:50 local time: 

We moved, we moved -- into our new home

The south-easterly view from our bedroom on a rainy Sunday morning

Chang and our new friend Charlie in the off-kitchen area (still on Sunday morning). Charlie is helping us moving in, we are very grateful. 

And the picture above Chalie's head?

Well, that's Karl Marx, of course, drawn by Doekel, the daughter of a friend, with a take on a poster by the SDS ("Sozialistischer  deutscher Studentenbund"), from 50 years ago.