bom dia (Hello) from Burgau 🙋♀️🙋♂️
Living in Burgau… Well not actually living in… but close to it. This was our second time in Burgau, the first was in February 2019 (House Sitting in Burgau, Portugal). This second time was a bit of an emergency. Our previous host – now friend – rang us while we were travelling in France and asked us to look after her house and Doggies again.
It was a completely unexpected health emergency. As we are digital grey nomads with no particular agenda, and we weren’t already on a house sit and only had tentative plans to caravan to Italy, we did what anyone would do, arranged to store our van and headed for Portugal. 🚙
We travelled back to Burgau quick time, so not exactly meandering. We knew it was going to be a two or three day trip. We were in Perpignan in the south of France (see A Day in Perpignan) and planned the route via Valencia . We stayed in Valencia for two nights give us enough time to have an overnight rest and a full day to have a good look around (see Walkabout in Valencia). Leaving Valencia we drove straight across Spain through Seville (sadly no stop this time) then across the almost invisible Portugal border and on to Burgau. So not exactly meandering… funny how that happens 🤔.
Burgau in the Algarve – Our House Sit
When I say living in Burgau it almost is true. Over the last two years, we have lived like a local in Burgau for many months at a time. So how did this happen? Well, my wife came across a website called Trusted House Sitters. Burgau was one of the first of many house sits through them. You won’t find our Burgau sit on THS though. It is beyond our friend’s tech capability. Her call to get us back would have to give you confidence in our house sitting and pet sitting abilities 😇
Our second house sit in Portugal in 2019 was in Colares a little north of Lisbon on the coast next to the amazing Sintra.
(see https://anotherdaymeandering.com/2019/12/19/house-sitting-colares-lisbon/)
We have the kind permission of the owner to write this blog on her house and tell you that this beautiful house is presently on the market. Our friend wants to downsize to a smaller property. I am sure it will find a lovely family to enjoy it. It’s such a beautiful place to live. Following is the listing.
https://www.engelvoelkers.com/en-pt/property/romantic-coastal-living-4032306.1402401_exp/
The Doggies – Lucy and Milo
Trusted House Sitters 🐶 🐱 🏠 – Supports our Travels
Fabian and I have been members of Trusted House Sitters since 2015 and have travelled to such places as Spain, Portugal, France, Thailand, Australia, Ireland and England. Why did we join? Well, that’s easy, we love to travel, we love our furry friends and we get to stay in some beautiful homes and villages absolutely free. We live like a local and all we have to do is love our house owners’ animals while they travel worry-free. So would you say that we are happy? Yes, we love it and we just love the people that we have met so far.
And Now Back to Burgau – The Village
You can’t get much quieter than the village during the off season and even during peak season it not all that busy. Plenty of restaurants and cafes so you are not likely to go hungry. [outside covid !!!] Our daily walk with the doggies did take us through the village to pick up fresh hot bread for lunch.
Burgau The Beach ⛱
Great beach for swimming. Shallow with sandy bottom. We swam most days during the summer, but the water was warmer towards late summer and the start of autumn. Much too cold for us in the winter months but often we’d see surfers enjoying the waves. There is a great little cafe called Brizze on the steep hill up from the beach. A good halfway spot for a cold beer or a vino verde.
Doggie Walks
This part of Portugal has great cliff walks. Burgau to Luz and Luz to Lagos. Poor old Lucy can’t walk too far so we would drive to various points to start from and wander a bit so she got to enjoy herself without overdoing it. She loved it. The views along the cliff are stunning as you can see. They were always excited to hear the car keys rattling.
