Although he drives me crazy at times, I totally lucked out when I fell in love with a Portuguese man who is passionately in love with this/his incredible country, who knows many of its secret and most beautiful places, and who wants to share them with me.

Just when I think there can’t  possibly be any new ones for me to discover, least of all close to home, he takes me on a short drive and just as the sun is beginning to set we walk across some fields and into a forest, where my jaw drops and I stand in awe in front of a huge and ancient chestnut tree. This is my idea of heaven and paradise, an enchanted and most sacred sanctuary, and we find ourselves talking in whispers, unable to keep the smiles from our faces.