16 years ago, before the wheels of the plane touched the ground, I knew I had found my place on earth. Since then I have been going regularly to Portugal, driving my car through every corner and village, exploring the country and later sharing my love for Portugal with my daughter Klaudia. So when I found this old stone house in the middle of nowhere, it was a foregone conclusion that I would buy it. And in honour of my daughter, it got the name Casa da Klaudia.

This place is untouched by mass tourism, although it's halfway between Lisbon and Porto. Our village has 20 houses and older women still wear traditional colourful Portuguese skirts with petticoats, decorate chapels and the biggest attraction during the day here is the walking of a herd of goats by our neighbour. Here you can relax in an 100 year old barn with fossil prints in the wall, sit under palm trees or bid for fresh fish at the market straight from the cutter as if it were a Sotheby's auction house. You could also get in the car and in 20 minutes lay on a beach by the ocean, or reach Porto or Lisboa in 1.5 - 2 hours.

I invite you to my beloved place on earth.

Welcome to our Portuguese hideaway. An old stone house in a tiny village lies more or less - halfway between Lisboa and Porto and 20 minutes by car from a fabulous beach.

We renovated the house with love and curiosity about what further treasure it would reveal to us. Here you can enjoy your sight on old wooden beams, clay plasterwork that our Portuguese neighbour was teaching us how to make, an old chimney outlet with a shelf more than 100-years-old next to it and an original chest with white and blue tiles that used to store wood. And there is also a sideboard, which my daughter and I haggled more than a kilometre from the antique market to the car on our own backs.

The house is ideal for four people (plus two children - then they sleep on the sofa bed). It has two independent bedrooms with their own bathrooms and a separate entrance.
There is a shared kitchen, a renovated more than 100-year-old barn with a glass-enclosed entrance, a bar from fiat, books and board games (in Polish) and an outdoor jacuzzi.

You can walk around the garden, where our neighbour also helped us and shared with us the secrets of planting palms, oranges, olives...

It is 5 km to the nearest shop. On the way to the ocean you can shop at a larger market.

Definitely take a look at the fish market. It takes place once a week, when the fishermen come back on their boats, put up colourful tablecloths and set the fish and seafood on them. And then the real fun begins, where you can watch and learn how to bid from the old-skilled.

Life flows differently here, more slowly, and you can fully enjoy it.
There are Polish books in the house, board games, a barn where you can enjoy a siesta or sit in the evenings with a glass of wine and never-ending conversations.
You can stroll through the village, head to the ocean and enjoy lying on the beach.

And when you miss the hustle and bustle of the big cities and mass tourism, our house will give you a wide range of options: it is located between Lisbon (two hours by car) and Porto (one and a half hours by car).

Places to visit on day trips are plentiful; we will help you and describe everything in a message before you arrive.

And here we mention just a few:
- SPA - 6 km from the village, a new hotel with a wide range of services has been built on the site of an old sanatorium with health springs
- the beautiful town of Soure - 13 km
- the university town of Coimbra - 37 km
- Fatima - 60 km

Nearby is the Montemor - o - Velho castle (13 km), Ereira beach located on the Mondego river (9 km; if you don't like the ocean) and extensive rice fields.

We recommend going to the fishing village of Costa de Lavos by the ocean - 19 km.
If one prefers a more touristy experience, then Figueira da Foz awaits (27 km) with great restaurants.