It is under the porch that the “surprise dinners” take place, where guests only have to choose the main ingredient and put themselves in the hands of the chef, and it is also under the porch that the owners are happy to share their story. Marta was technical director in a pharmacy in Lisbon, Tiago was a consultant in a financial company, in 2016 they had a son and decided to change their lives. Marta’s parents joined the adventure and thus opened the Conversas de Alpendre (which means “Conversations under the porch”), a rural tourism overlooking the sea, two kilometers from the beaches of Cacela Velha.
In the old farmhouse they gave birth to 12 lodgings, with very different characteristics: nine suites with various typologies; an apartment with 70 square meters, ideal for families; a tree house, all in wood and made on top of a carob tree, 6.5 meters high; and also a cabin with private pool – “on the outside it looks like a pile of logs for the fireplace, inside is a luxury room”.
Luxury, in this case, is to respect the local materials and jump between rustic and modern, with the right to an outdoor saltwater pool, heated. In this change of life, the owners also planted a vegetable garden and an orange grove that is already beginning to bear fruit. One more thing to know – and taste – on the porch, of course.