Home - It Takes Dutch Courage

Welcome!

We’re Rene and Gaby. We are both Dutch, and moved to the UK in 2011. Since then, both the country and we ourselves have changed so much that we have decided that it was time to start another part of our journey.

In February of 2023 we set off to Portugal to start something new. We’re now in a wonderful seaside village just South of Porto, but are looking to buy our next home in Central Portugal rather soon.

On this website, we will share our progress on what will likely be an exciting DIY and learning journey.

Blog

Feliz Ano Novo: It’s 2024 and we’re -almost- buying a house!

Feliz or Bom Ano Novo! Happy new year! I hope...

Buying a House in Portugal: Road Trippin’, Box Tickin’, Signature Flickin’…?

Our life is basically one big Excel workbook, or Notion...

On the home stretch…?

It has been a while since we updated the blog....

Life in Espinho so far

We aren’t the type of people to clog your inboxes,...

Other stuff

Our Beer

Portugal

House Search

ittakesdutchcourage

Even when things don't go to plan, there's always

Even when things don't go to plan, there's always something nice to find!

We had planned to do a longer hike around Lapa dos Dinheiros, but our friends' car ran a flat tire and needed to be towed. They had planned to drive to Porto tomorrow, but... As we were going there anyway, we changed plans, took them with us today, of course, and found this wonderful stroll on the way back.

Great change from a more challenging snowy hike around Torre yesterday 😶😂

❤️ 🥾

#portugalhiking #trilhosecaminhadas #portugal #hiking #lovehiking #riotorto

We keep running on! No big build-ups, no half mara

We keep running on!
No big build-ups, no half marathon aspirations, just slowly building up the distance and not forcing anything. Wasn't the most energetic of runs for either of us, but we put 11.5km on the counter in 6.09min/km pace.

Hopefully enjoying the flat runs while they last too, as the hopeful move location is anything but flat.

We're still waiting on good news on the house purchase. When we made the offer back in August we were first scared into thinking it might be sorted in a month, but the opposite is turning out to be true. Every few weeks there's minor movement, and we're just waiting for the final shuffle.

🥾 18km ⬆️ 800m ⌚ 4h50m Portugal has so

🥾 18km
⬆️ 800m
⌚ 4h50m

Portugal has so many wonderful trails! This time we were around @aroucamunicipio @aroucageopark walking the 18km long PR1 - Caminhos do Montemuro.

Depending on which way around you are going, it has either an unforgiving up or downhill. For us, clockwise, it was up. No rest for the wicked!

We set off around 12, had lunch near the top and got back just before 5pm.

The route as advertised on their official website isn't entirely correct, and we recommend you simply use the trail markers which are well-placed 85% of the time as that will navigate you around a bit of maintenance road for the windmills at the top.

It was on our list for a while, but reminded of it by @trilhosecaminhadas a few weeks ago, so put it on the "really have to do it soon!"-list.

#portugal #portugalhiking #hiking #hikingportugal #trilhos #trilhosecaminhadas #Arouca #aroucageopark

Absolutely wonderful to see the gorgeous ladies @c

Absolutely wonderful to see the gorgeous ladies @caroline_chapman_10 and H, who, in true teenager fashion, refuses pictures, in Porto this week ❤️

The predicted weather was shit, but we were strolling through this gorgeous city without jackets, the vinho verde tasted wonderful sat at Ribeira and we regretted not bringing sunscreen 😂☀️❤️

Another gorgeous hike in @serras.do.porto yesterda

Another gorgeous hike in @serras.do.porto yesterday ❤️

We went with the PR8 PRD today, advertised as around 19km. We didn't know yet we could download the .gpx tracks from the official website (stupid!!!) so we used someone else's from @alltrails as guidance. It wasn't the best for a 100% accurate PR8 follow, but served well as a rough plan until 2/3 in when we missed a marker.

Added around 2km to our route taking in some parts of the PR4, so in the end we got back to the car with 21km on our watches.

Want to give these hikes a go yourself? Have a look here: https://dev-trailexplorer.primelayer.pt/percursos

You can also download the GPX files from there!!

#Porto #portugal #portugalhiking #hikingaroundporto #hikingportugal #outdoorlife #walking #hillwalking #serrasdoporto #trilhasecaminhadas

Sun was out, so there was no excuse. With the wond

Sun was out, so there was no excuse. With the wonderful Senhora do Salto starting point for multiple Pequenas Rotas at 24 from home we set off to explore PR9 Trilho Histórico in @serras.do.porto ❤️ 16km, 666m descent!

☀️ Saying goodbye to 2023 with a wonderful hik

☀️ Saying goodbye to 2023 with a wonderful hike in @serras.do.porto today, just 25 minutes from home as the sun finally came out to play today ❤️

🏔️ PR10 is a great mix of different trails and views, and the december sunshine that came out was so lovely that we only needed a long sleeve. 14km and 500m of ascent.

✨ As for 2023, it's been good, exciting and tiring. Moved countries once again, settling into a new environment, searching for a home, learning a new language. More of that is to come in 2024, although we hope to finally be able to say the house purchase is finalised very soon....

🎇 Happy and healthy new year to you and yours!

🍂 Autumn in Portugal is still doing hikes in yo

🍂 Autumn in Portugal is still doing hikes in your T-shirt in December when the sun is out. There's a window of between 12 and 3 where the sun's power is strong enough to actually feel warm, so it was the perfect conditions and time for a lovely stroll around Vale de Cambra, just 40 minutes from home ❤️

🏡 Our current home in Espinho that is. We're still in the waiting process for our new home near de Serra da Estrela, but hopefully more on that soon.

#portugal🇵🇹 #hikingadventures #hikingportugal #portugaltrails #hiking #hikingtrails

Cat post. Just because. #cat

Cat post.

Just because.

#cat

🖊️ New blog post! 🚨 Go to www.itakesdutch

🖊️ New blog post! 🚨

Go to www.itakesdutchcourage.com for a new update, probably a sign of more to come 😏

#portugal #movinghouse #movingtoPortugal #househunting #housesearch

Back from an absolutely wonderful week at @tocadar

Back from an absolutely wonderful week at @tocadaraposacamping for lots of hiking, exploring, lovely beers, home cooked food, and lots of sleeping in ❤️

Such a wonderful part of Portugal that we hope to soon call home. So many trails to explore...!!

#portugal #portugalhiking #portugalcamping #hikingportugal #hikingholiday

We've been a bit quiet! And sometimes that's just

We've been a bit quiet! And sometimes that's just fine.

Very busy finding our way here in Portugal and in our new life and its rhythm. Language course and full-time work taking a lot of time, but things are settling a bit more soon.

Probably getting a new blog out this weekend, and hopefully some wonderful stories of travel adventures in the next few weeks, exploring more potential places to live.

Until then: cheers 🥂!

🚗 yesterday we went on our first house hunt roa

🚗 yesterday we went on our first house hunt road trip !

🍇 We drove around the lower areas of the Douro, closest to Porto, and for one potential candidate we moved a bit northward of that to the vicinity of Vila Real.

📌 We had managed to pinpoint the locations of 7 homes (many don't specific the exact address) and had a respectful peek around.

🪓 This trip helped us axe 6 out of 7 of the ones we visited from our list, and I think if we're being honest, even the one remaining isn't going to be the house we're going to put an offer in for... And that's a good sign! Because one of the axed ones seemed so lovely on digital paper...

📜 Our 'who knows' list on Idealista is still very long and varied in price, project size and location, and we need to narrow it down. We need to still make some important decisions for our wish list (and wish not list), and some good ones have come out of this short road trip. Such as the balance between quiet, isolated and too crowded, needing to know whether the sun will set too early behind a hill/mountain, and being very clear of the size and geography of any land that comes with it.

🚗 Next weekend we're doing a longer trip down south towards the Sertã area where we also have quite a few on our list!

#home #housemove #househunting #househunters #portugal #portugal🇵🇹

🎈 🎂 Happy Birthday to the floofiest of floof

🎈 🎂 Happy Birthday to the floofiest of floofs 🎂 🎈

It's Lily's 7th birthday today, or approximate of that, as she was rescued from a house full of cats and nobody really knows. But still. This is on her file.

Here's to another year with the annoyiest but still our floofiest Lily! ❤️

#cat #catbirthday #meow

After a week of severe cold for Gaby and some erra

After a week of severe cold for Gaby and some errands yesterday, today we just had to go properly outside.

We finally used the car for its main purpose, which is driving us to gorgeous places to explore.

A 14km hike in lush sunshine, some much needed clouds to cool down, and more than enough views to enjoy the Serra do Camouco.

#hiking #hikingportugal #hikingaroundporto

Our first proper hike here since moving. We have a

Our first proper hike here since moving. We have a car now to take us places, and the weather was just too good to let this opportunity slide.

🧳Two weeks of family visits have come to an end

🧳Two weeks of family visits have come to an end!

☀️ The weather has been glorious as well, so a lot of outdoor enjoyment for them, even though we had to work ourselves during the week.

👀 The visits also meant showing people around the places in Porto that we've so far discovered ourselves. We still have a lot to find out for ourselves, but the area around the river and the Ponte D. Luis I never gets old.

❤️ The views, the by Gustav Eiffel designed bridge, the Port houses and the narrow steep streets. And of course treating ourselves to a wonderful board at @tabua_rasa afterwards. 🧀

#porto #portofoodguide #exploreporto #portugal #portugal🇵🇹 #portwine

@visitporto @visitportugal @visitportoandnorth

Our first taste of our first Portugal brew.... A

Our first taste of our first Portugal brew....

A familiar brew, our Weizener called "Make that the Cat Weiss". We did find the base malt to be less crushed, so that probably was the reason behind the ABV being around 2% down at 3.3%, but it's still surprisingly flavourful and the colour, as you can see, is just lush ❤️

#homebrewery #homebrewed #homebrew #homebrewedbeer

Lovely afternoon/evening in Porto ❤️ We still

Lovely afternoon/evening in Porto ❤️

We still have loads to discover. Today we mainly rediscovered a few places like @cervejanortada and @colossusmfg , but added @the_wine_box to it, which was lovely.

As far as birthday weekends go, it's quite OK ❤️

This is one of the reasons we moved. Absolutely w

This is one of the reasons we moved. Absolutely wonderful day from home. 20 degrees and a breeze along the coast for a nice 10-mile walk, followed by drinks in a surely >23 degrees garden just chilling and enjoying the sunshine.

What a time to be alive. ❤️ 🌞

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