 |
| Universidade de Coimbra |
Weird title, I know, however we learned an interesting fact when touring the historic library at Universidade de Coimbra a few days ago. This university was founded in 1290 in Lisbon and was moved to Coimbra in the 1500's, when Coimbra was the capital of Portugal. It's one of the oldest universities in the world and is highly ranked. They have a medical school, law school, arts, science and technology. Our immigration attorney is a graduate of the law school. Many famous Portuguese writers and poets are among the graduates. The library houses over 60,000 books dating from the 1400's to the 1800's, so no John Grisham or JK Rawlings books here, though this library was also an inspiration for the Harry Potter series (as was the Livraria Lello bookstore in Porto). Sadly, no one is allowed to take photos inside the library, which is quite spectacular. So, back to my title... In order to preserve these ancient books from moths, which eat paper, the library keeps bats up in the rafters. Every night the bats come out of hiding and eat all the moths. To protect all the beautiful tables/furnishings inside, they are covered each night with leather drapes to protect everything from the bat droppings. Organic pest control.
 |
| Must be willing to climb and descend numerous stairs and ramps on this excursion |
 |
| Tourist loaded gondolas move along the canals |
Prior to arriving in Coimbra, we visited Aveiro, the "Venice of Portugal." Canals weave through part of the town and there are many opportunities to take a gondola ride, which of course we did. Photos are on Instagram. Aveiro is also home to all the famous striped houses along the beach, however, you will not see them by taking a gondola ride. And you cannot walk to the beach to see them....it is way too far and difficult to get there on foot. We instead took the local bus to get to the shore, which took less than 20 minutes. It's quite a quaint area and the houses are adorable. The central historic district of Aveiro is quite charming and worth a visit. The "love bridges" can be found along the river downtown and are very colorful. Couples write their names on a ribbon and tie it to the railings to profess their love. Similar but more colorful than the padlocks that couples attach to railings in Lisbon to proclaim their love. In keeping with the colorful ribbons, there is a shopping mall downtown that has colored ribbons tied to netting that covers the main walkways....this is honestly quite a colorful town. And again, we traveled by bus to get from Porto to these towns....inexpensive and easy and all are direct routes.
 |
| Some of the famous striped houses along the Aveiro shore |
Every day is not a holiday for us, just so you know. Late last week we became tax paying citizens, which is a process like everything else, though not as complicated as some things. As I mentioned in a previous email, we have some household goods that are being shipped to us...though we still don't know exactly when. Prior to leaving AZ we had an international moving company come to pack up a number of our things...no furniture, but lots of dishes, crystal, pots and pans, my Mac, etc. Mostly things that are meaningful to us. We are allowed to have items shipped within the first year of living here, duty free, as long as they have been in our possession for a minimum of 6 months. Last week, while signing more forms so that our goods can be placed on a ship, we also learned that we must become tax paying citizens before our goods arrive in order to avoid paying duty. And, for any of you who might be contemplating a move overseas, shipping goods is no small undertaking. It requires a detailed list of every item and its value. They prefer to see receipts for everything, but who has that? Fortunately I did have receipts for my computer and some other valuable items but certainly not for most items, many of which have been in our possession since the 80's. That list must be sent to the Consulate in triplicate for review and approval, at which time they provide a Baggage Certificate which must be turned over to the shipping company before your goods can be shipped.
And one more thing on the topic of shipping goods overseas, while sitting in the hotel bar in Aveiro last week I couldn't help but overhear a conversation between two couples from the U.S....one couple has already moved to Portugal and the other couple is in the process of exploring areas and trying to decide whether to buy or rent initially. They were discussing shipping goods and I was rather astonished to hear that the one couple spent $120,000 to ship their goods to Portugal! And they didn't ship a car because they are doing the same things we're doing and relying on public transportation. I can't even wrap my head around that figure. The other couple is planning to ship their boat here. In contrast, our shipment came in around $7,000.
Yesterday we had a meeting with our new accountant so we could get a better sense of the tax process here. We are filing to become Non Habitual Residents (the title makes no sense but who am I to quibble with the IRS here). Portugal and the U.S. have an agreement that prevents anyone from being double-taxed, so if you are contemplating a move somewhere overseas, be sure to check for that. We have to apply for the NHR within our first year, which will allow us to keep our taxes low for the first 10 years of residency. Yes, you have to pay taxes wherever you move while still paying taxes in the U.S.
A few more curiosities to share:
Last week while taking a bus downtown we passed by a huge crowd of people in the street. We felt like we were missing some great event until we realized that they were all waiting to get into Livraria Lello, the famous bookstore. It is August and all of Europe is on vacation...the crowds have been big everywhere. If you ever plan to visit Porto and want to see the bookstore I highly recommend that you go to their website and buy a ticket (crazy, I know) so you can avoid waiting in lines, because there is always a line outside. You get the money back as a discount if you buy anything.
 |
| Livraria Lello: Another day of crowds |
Hot water heaters are most often found in the kitchen, though sometimes in the separate laundry area off the kitchen, should one exist. They are much smaller than what you would find in the U.S. and are typically not hidden from view. Washing machines are most often found in the kitchen. Garbage disposals don't exist here. At least one bathroom, should you have more than one, will have a bidet.
That's all the news from here. Hope you are all in good health and enjoying the summer.
Adeus, abraços e beijos,
MaryLou
If you missed either of my earlier Portugal update emails just let me know and I will send those to you. I keep finding email addresses missing in my contacts list. Also, if you know of someone who would like to be added to my distribution list, just let me know and I will add them. Again, I always send these out BCC so you won't be inundated with responses from others.
 |
| A colorful display of fish demanding entrance at the window, of course |
 |
| Love ribbons on a bridge railing |
 |
| Enjoying our gondola ride |
 |
| Shopping mall courtyard capturing ribbon theme |