The art of searching for comfort

When the cold begins to slowly settle in Europe, the inevitable question arises: where to go? Some people want mild days, enough light to deceive the calendar, and the feeling that the cooler seasons can be lived without endless layers of clothing.

In the Iberian Peninsula, cold is not a sentence. Lisbon offers terrace lunches in the middle of autumn. Seville keeps the sun shining while the rest of the Old Continent is cloaked in less inviting tones. In the south of Portugal – the Alentejo, the Algarve –, or in Spain, as in Andalusia, slow walks along dormant vineyards or towns free from the tyranny of time are a normal thing.

Now, there is time. Time to wander the streets without masses, to enjoy museums that feel like they belong only to us, to sit in a square and watch life pass by. The Iberian low season is not about extremes, it is about little nuances.

There’s a place I love, where you can feel the rebirth of Nature after summer and before winter: Alqueva and Monsaraz, in the Alentejo.

In Monsaraz, autumn arrives like a shade over a white wall. The village that in summer glows under a brutal sun finally softens, its narrow streets breathe again and the great lake of Alqueva turns from a mirror of fire into a calm expanse of water. Days bring light that no longer punishes, and nights ask only for a sweater and a step onto the terraces, where silence stretches as far as the horizon.

The landscape shifts tone: vines turn red and gold, the holm oaks regain depth, and the plain stops vibrating with heat to reveal details hidden by the summer glare. Life slows down and evenings invite long conversations outside, now without the typical urgency of seeking shelter from the sun.

At the table, the change is perfectly clear. Game season is on, stews gain body and the first new wines arrive. There is bread from the wood oven, and fresh cheeses, and the olive oil that taste of fruit crushed days before. The market fills with pomegranates, and chestnuts, and persimmons, all signs of a season that resets the senses.

Alqueva and Monsaraz offer this balance: autumn and winter you can actually live in, clear skies and cool nights without extremes. A quiet shelter where the rhythm of the seasons doesn’t feel like a burden, but a call to action to stay outside a little longer, even when the calendar insists it’s time to go in.