Those of you who've been following me for a while, will be aware of the fact that, after spending four months in The Netherlands, I recently returned to the little town where my house resides - Cold Mountain ( Monte Frio ), Portugal
I'm happy to be back, but - as usual - I'm here with mixed feelings.
Not just because I'm Dutch and I always feel like I'm leaving friends and family ( my younger brother, younger sister and parents ) behind, but also because of how many of the town's people are feeling, the energy that they are giving off.
Being hypersensitive ( and having been depressed and burnt out for quite a while in the not too distant past ), I started realizing more and more that this 'negative' / heavy energy was rubbing off on me. I was wondering why I felt bad, being in such a great place, and then the light bulb switched on. It was the overall energy and I can do more about it than I'd been aware of up till now.
Believe me, this picturesque little mountain town, with apparently 200 inhabitants in Summer ( it seems like there are way less people at the moment ), might seem like paradise for those who just see my pictures or who visit it on a day trip. In reality, it's not. The grass is always greener on the other side. If you spend enough time in a place, and you've got an eye for details, you get to know the 'dark side' sooner or later. Many people here are suffering, most have lived a rough life and that's clearly visible.
This isn't meant to be a negative post, I don't want to throw a pity party here, but the point that I'm trying to make, is that I'm feeling how many people are struggling here and I realized that it's affecting me more than I like and - more importantly - that I want to AND CAN help out.
The awesome thing is that I'm now aware that I can indeed help out this community ( and my town's restaurant in particular ) by blogging about this place - I intend to do this in the most positive way possible - by sharing stories, pictures, possibly little videos ( if I manage to find my tiny Gopro camera that I seem to have lost months ago in my house ) and by gifting the entire payout of these posts to the town's one and only café/bar/restaurant, over time.
BACK TO TODAY
When one of the restaurant's owners / proprietor's, who's also the cook ( it's run by a couple and the woman's mother ), told me how much they had been - and still are - struggling in the last couple of months, my heart started aching.
I told the guy that I felt guilty for not having been there ( for them ) in the last four months. He replied that he understood, that it's important to visit family and friends. I agreed but added that I really wanted to help them out - from now on - and not just by buying their drinks and food.
At first I thought of just 'sponsoring' the place with some monthly money, so it will be easier to pay their bills ( electricity, TV, Internet, phone and so on ) but then I realized that I can help them in a way more powerful way, thanks to the power of the blockchain.
So this afternoon I created a Hive account named @terrabela-mf
Terra Bela ( Beautiful Earth ) is the name of the restaurant and mf is short for Monte Frio ( not for the vulgar meaning that some of you might think of ).
If the username could have been more than 16 characters I would have called the account terrabela-montefrio but alas.
So, aside from my usual creative blogging, I will - from now on - be posting about the town of Monte Frio and its restaurant. Although gifts to @terrabela-mf are welcome, I'd appreciate upvotes, shares and - even more fun - comments.
I'll think of a way to get the people of the restaurant on board too but I'll need to talk with them about it first. For now I'll do all the work. They have helped me out a lot since my arrival here, in the Summer of 2018 and now it's time to help them out.
Expect a first post from the @terrabela-mf account soonish.
I thank you, in advance, for your help.
Much love,
Vincent
The picture above this post was taken by me on a walk around town, yesterday night during the golden hour ( no filters or photoshopping ). It shows a picknick table across the road near the restaurant. The view from there is pretty amazing
I also decided to add two pictures of my parents - with their permission - while on their visit to Portugal, in June last year. The first shows them enjoying a coffee at restaurante Terra Bela, the second shows them staring at me, while I enjoy the view behind them. And, as I don't want to stay invisible, here's a picture with the three of us out there, back then.
