Why does our Penha Longa decision matter?

Well, it is a big one. It means we are committing to this area, Cascais/Sintra, for at least 15 months, the length of the membership. That feels odd because we were intending to travel about but let’s face it, nothing is as any of us expected and hunkering down in a beautiful place with spectacular weather and warm, friendly people isn’t a bad thing, just an adjustment of expectation. Frankly, I cannot imagine a place with better weather for the two of us. Maybe we’ve stumbled onto our little piece of heaven. If so, we are terribly lucky and we know it – I’ll be knocking on wood all day! There are negatives. It is expensive as far as Portugal goes but once we are past rents, the things we require don’t fall into those categories often. Food is very well priced, even the restaurants are well priced to American eyes. We don’t know personally about utilities yet but reported numbers are well within our budget. Insurances are so much lower it’s astonishing, as are medicines and that’s without the government subsidies which will come not so far in the future. And we have a car, unexpected to say the least, but it is lovely. We have only filled the 66L tank (19 gallon) once, about $100, and driven probably 500 miles on rough, bumpy, stop and go roads in 1st and 2nd gear (massive speedbumps and roundabouts everywhere – walkers have rightaway on any crosswalk unless it has a light of which there are very few so you hurtle to a stop often). The way we are living has us needing little of the expensive big items, furniture, appliances, etc. Internet/phone including 2 cell phone plans with 4 gigs each, high speed fiber with our average speed being 150-200mbs, Portuguese landline with 1000 free international minutes, Portuguese tv with 180 channels, many international including two American networks, for $87 a month. And the incredible golf course, with 27 holes, works out to $425 a month and includes unlimited play, unlimited carts, free locker in a what Mark says is a very nice men’s locker room, with spa (Covid closed) and sauna, and free club storage comes back after Covid – so it too is more than reasonable, substantially less than we ever paid in America. Golf is an expensive past time but Mark is retired and he will make very good use of those fees and in context, that amount is more than worth it. It makes him happy and relaxed – priceless. In other words, this life is not unaffordable for these two vagabonds and staying put is just fine.

We will be looking for a slightly bigger house and maybe a yard or I’ll talk him into that high rise. For now, we are making our little nest comfy and love the area to walk in. No businesses but stables and runners and people just walking and talking animatedly as we go by. Bom dia! Mark has changed our shower heads and now our showers even feel great! If only we could make them bigger…ahh well, crosses to bear, lol. I’ve made a friend up the road and that’s a treat. Last time she was here, we talked cheese and wine as we ate cheese and wine – we established we like pungent cheese and the green wines (very young) famous in Portugal, not necessarily together.

So we are creating our life here, in this marvelous spot.