quick trip to Portugal

We have just returned from a very busy 3 days in Portugal.Had to fly to Faro as there were no Porto flights from the north of England (start again in March).Monday was all bank and property business.We did a 'Casa  pronto' at the local Conservatoria .....so we did the deeds ,paid all taxes did registration ,listened to every tiny bit of the contract of sale being read out ,first in Portuguese and then again in English .Signed our signatures and initialled numerous documents,numerous times....it took 3 hours in total sitting in one room with 11 people (including all interested parties and family members as the selling of a property has inheritance issues at times).I was the legal owner of a farm house (new deed change ) and 6 different articles(1 more more than before??) of land and completely knackered.My head was spinning as I had tried to keep up with the Portuguese that was been spoken but got lost many times.We had one moment of panic when the notary demanded a energy efficiently  certificate or pay a 2500e fine!!Eventually after calls to Lisboa,Coimbra and Leira it was decided that this cert was not after all needed.
We then had dinner with friends at www.portugalsmallholding.org   we met old and new friends and enjoyed a tasty bean stew (thanks to Andy) in the lovely new kitchen.
Tuesday was taken up in the morning with looking for a place to rent for a few months while we get the basic infrastructure established on our Quinta.It was moderately successful...as in many cases in Portugal things are not always as you would expect so it was not as clear cut as we thought.hey ho!Tuesday afternoon we went to www.quintacabecadomato.blogspot.com where our friend Wendy www.permaculturinginportugal.net had arranged a gathering to celebrate Aonghas . There was good food to eat ,music to listen to and people to talk with.It was a peaceful and gentle day with very little rain.After this it was off to another friends house to watch the football and eat more food with a little wine.
Wednesday was back in to talk with our solicitor,who I would recommend, collect papers and pay the bill.Goodbyes were said to many and of we drove to Faro -6 hours south!!A night at the Ibis hotel in Faro was really pleasant and so was the meal we had in Faro old town.After a decent sleep we jumped on a plane and were at home by 3pm.I am so tired I cannot think any longer so plans and ideas will have to wait until the next few entries.