The Eucalyptus Dance

by Ken Barlow

At fifty plus Ken & Sue fell in love with a small rural Portuguese mountain village on their first holiday together and took a decision changing their lives for ever.

298 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 2011

Reviews

[Graeme Cumming · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Eucalyptus Dance tells the true story of a couple moving to Portugal to start a new life there. Anyone considering buying a property abroad - especially if they're planning to do any development work - needs to read this first. Overcoming the challenges of a foreign bureacracy are issues that can be forgotten about in the enthusiasm to follow your dream, and this book is a solid reminder that dreams should be followed, but with eyes wide open. That possibly sounds a little negative, but the book isn't. It traces every step of Ken and Sue's progress - sharing the good and the bad - until they achieve their objective. The description of life in rural Portugal is a delight, with larger than life characters and situations and circumstances that would sound too far-fetched in a work of fiction. Having now visited the village and stayed in the holiday home they've built, I can vouch for the unorthodox access to the nearest major road! Read the book, then visit the area. Strongly recommend both.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account of a couples move to Portugal, their ups and their downs of moving to a country where they don't really speak the language or understand the local customs. A great read.