Before any Irish readers start protesting, I can only comment on my experience in a small part of the 'green isle'
Well it certainly is green in colour, thats probably due to their huge rainfall... yes I was there during the whole of August and it generally rained at some point every day... it may have been a slight drzzle which cleared up early or a light shower in the afternoon... but it was still wet stuff falling from the sky...
The scenery was lovely, beautiful green hills, rolling countryside and lush greenery.... but the area I was in people did almost nothing to conserve this... the recycling schemes they run are not used very much, no one grew vegetables, all those huge rolling lawns, acres and ares of it... not a veggie to be seen... or a compost heap... what do they do with their rubbish... you have to pay huge amounts to take it to the tip... according to my dad, most people burn it in the yard in specially purchased bins... how disgusting...
For a very rural area, the lack of public transport was terrible... but as dad says, no one used it...in a country of quite large families, the parents buy each teenager a car as soon as they are old enough... some families having 4-5 cars !!! And the death toll of young people on the roads is shocking! in just the small town I was staying in 6 in a month, 4 in one car in one day... The roads are all small country roads, very few even as big as a duel carriage way... the police were almost non existant... . It was all very shocking, I was expecting a lovely quiet rural country, and it really wasnt... the effects of the 'Celtic Tiger' are really showing now, the cost of living has soared, food is hugely expensive, they have the highest childcare costs in THE WORLD ...
Frugal living in the Portuguese countryside,Eco-tourism, Agri tourism, recipes,family life, self sufficency, eco living, vegetable growing, tips and self help ideas for country living.
