A Raiz - Nature Stay and Venue

10/04/2023

And just like this, spring is upon us once again. As this new season begins, we feel reborn. Just like the animals that come out of hibernation. Just like the trees that use all the energy they stocked in winter to grow leaves and fruits.

We are dynamic, motivated, inspired, and you can find us making plans with our friends and community 🤠🧚‍♂️🧙 To be able to feel and live in sync with nature is precious nowadays.

This is the third spring we have witnessed on the land, and it is incredible to realize that we can recognize the stages of vegetation, fruit trees, and even wildflower life cycles. It is now the moment to pick dandelions and stinging nettles (a natural antihistamine!), but the tree planting period is about to end.

Although it rained a lot this fall, the atmosphere is dryer and hotter than the previous year. We barely had snow, and there hasn't been frost for a while. It means it should be a productive year for cherries (last year wasn't great due to late frost!), but the fire season also started earlier than usual.

These are some of the thoughts crossing our minds while contemplating our precious orchard and oak tree forest. Welcome spring!

09/04/2023

Oak trees nursery started in February 🌲

07/04/2023

Morning beauty.

Just a quick message to say that we are still here 💜

02/08/2022

One of the three babies that recently joined the fam.. 🐈‍⬛🌿

01/08/2022

Our daily source of inspiration 🌲

29/06/2022

How refreshing to see our place through visitors' eyes (and lens) 🌲 📸 & Chris

23/06/2022

We love our forest ❤

19/06/2022

At this time of the year, the river is calling.. 🏞️

26/04/2022

Spring ❤

24/04/2022

Sunset time on the land.

22/04/2022

Woodshed. Stacking some wood for next winter!

26/02/2022

Last week Sunday brunch.

This weekend, some clouds and light rain are breaking up this long stretch of sunny and dry days. But the land needs more water..plants, trees, animals, we all need it.

So to more rain to come, and to any war to come to its end.

11/02/2022

Finally cracking up a 3 months winter hiatus.

2021 ended up (for me, Luca) with an acute lumbago, representing for all the physical and mental labor that went into the first year of our fresh, new life up the mountains in Portugal.

We did take and are still taking our time to observe and understand the surroundings before planning permanent jobs, and is such a rewarding sensation strengthening the connection to the land.

I am slowly coming back, almost in full power, ticking tasks off our endless list. We also opened our doors up to the magic world of volunteers, and so far it is great. And also, we have a new, bigger, and better veg garden in the making. Oh yes..and we started some landscaping with hedges..and planted a second fruit orchard..and so much more is planned for this 2022!

01/02/2022

It has been more than three days that Gato hasn't come back home. He probably just found a girlfriend, but I can't prevent myself from imagining the worse... As mamas do 🙈 We already miss him terribly!

27/01/2022

View over the neighbouring town of Belmonte.

25/01/2022

The sun has been shining (almost) every day for months to the point that it feels like spring is already here. The cold nights are the only reminder that we are only in January! Beyond the property's layout on which we're working, we are doing the yearly cleaning of the whole land, section by section. After a year and a half, we are still amazed to discover hidden corners and stunning features! Clearing the land from invasive vegetation (like these bloody brambles!) helps us in the process of visualizing what we want to build and where. Besides, we are on the landscaping duties as well. Today, we bought more fruit trees (we already have around 30 planted) to create a second orchard! It's so satisfying to have the space to plant any tree you like, while imagining what the land will look like in ten years.... Especially as we would love to be close to "self-sufficient" in terms of fruits and vegetables, at least. Of course, being 100% self-sufficient is not our goal, we also intend to have enough supplies to exchange with neighbors and the local community without monetary transactions. For example, yesterday, we met up with a lady from which we regularly buy homemade creams and pomades, and we also exchanged various plants and trees. We gave her five of our baby chestnuts trees, and she offered cedar and maple trees, wild strawberries, passion fruit plants, and common evening primroses. That is the kind of spirit we are trying to foster while establishing ourselves here, as we believe there cannot be sustainable living without connecting with those around you.

22/01/2022

This is turning out to be so much fun. I mean, the whole thing already was: waking up on a mountain, reconnecting to a life surrounded by nature,  growing and eating organic food, and lately, a glorious blue sky which seems to have no cloudy breaks (so very little rain so far).

But what I mainly meant with my first sentence, is the fun and excitement we are experiencing these days while designing a first site plan layout in detail: we are talking privacy trees and hedges, paths, hide outs, secret passages to meditation platforms, nature meeting room, bathrooms and showers..and who knows..perhaps a bio-pool as well.

While bureaucracy and some other sides of the project are on a hold, we keep on exploring, and discovering new possibilities every day.

So stay in the loop for the next updates..

17/01/2022

So, you have been asking about when the building site will start, and what we are going to build.

Well, for now, we want to restore the ruins we own. One of them will be our home, and two smaller ones will be used as guest accommodation. Maybe, a cabin or two. Some preliminary drawings are completed and waiting to be submitted to the council.

That will be a significant achievement when done! In the meantime, we have had some fun putting our ideas on paper playing with the property's layout: we have plenty of hang-out spaces, hidden corners, platforms for yoga and glamping among many other things.

Hopefully, we will be able to give you a sneak peek soon!

09/01/2022

Hi!
Post well overdue..but we are here! Still high up on our mountain and more than ever commited to build our project.

The second part of 2021 had some change of plans for us and we took some time to re-centre.

Still quite a bit has happened, and we can't wait to show you what we've been up to.

We have a solid to-do list to accomplish this 2022, and keep sharing our journey with you is one of them.

📷: Viewpoint at Quinta de Vales de Cima.

31/05/2021

Home.

30/05/2021

Sunset glass of wine. Happy week end!

14/01/2021

One of the things we enjoy the most is that nature surrounds us. Forests. Valleys. Mountains. We simply need to walk out the property to find a myriad of paths and lose ourselves in other realms.. At night, we're able to listen to owls, foxes, and other animals we're not able to recognize from their sound (yet!).. Magic is all around.

15/12/2020

"Serra da Estrela" is the highest mountain range of inland Portugal.
It includes the highest point, with 1993 meters on the sea level.

The mountain range, situated between the municipalities of Seia, Manteigas, Gouveia, Guarda and Covilhã, is about 100 kilometres long, and is 30 km across at its widest point. It is formed from a huge granite ridge that once formed the southern frontier of the country.

The name translates as "Star Mountain Range", and even though it is such a beautiful and inspiring appellation, there are other reasons which contributed to our settling here. It is the beautiful rivers, and the beaches they create, the waterfalls, the native oak and chestnut forests, and the views over these which we can't get enough of, it is the misty atmosphere, and these mountain vibes that we knew we were looking for, but did not know yet, how much we would have love.

As the above would not suffice, we are lucky to have found a golden bunch of neighbours, who are evolving into good, long term friendships.

@ Gonçalo, Guarda, Portugal

10/12/2020

10/12/2020

Pictures and videos of the property 🥰

See Instagram ‘Vales de Cima’ highlights from Projeto A Raiz - Luca & Alexia (.araiz)

10/12/2020

Welcome to Quinta de Vales de Cima in the council of Gonçalo. This is where Projeto A Raiz is based.

We take you for a little tour to show you around the 5ha property we are developing in to a nature stay and events venue.

Follow the stories in our highlight section Vales de Cima. We'll walk you around the little pockets of our quinta and show you some views..

📷

10/12/2020

10/12/2020

A Raiz means "the root" in Portuguese language.

We are heading to the root of our passions where our true self lies, rediscovering our deep connection to Nature and her teachings. And we want to create a space where anyone could do just that.

This word is to represent our journey towards the creation of a fulfilling life, exploring practices and beliefs that feel right to us.

Project A Raiz has just began. Here we will share our adventures, so stick around and we'll show you what we are up to, and where we want to go.

📷

08/12/2020