Greetings from Porto.
We're busy getting packed for a short visit to CA for the holidays so I thought I would close out the year with my last update for 2022. Looking forward to seeing family and friends and celebrating Christmas.
Early last week we made a trip to Lisbon. Unfortunately for us, the two nights we were there were also the two nights that Lisbon had some of their worst rain ever. After arriving by train we took an Uber to our hotel. Along the way we passed by the waterfront and noticed this huge building, or so we thought anyway. It wasn't until we were almost past the building that we realized it was a cruise ship...the biggest cruise ship we've ever seen. It was the Epic, part of the NCL line, which carries 4100 passengers, 1724 crew, and has over 2000 rooms. I had to google it because it was so Incredible. Personally I would be afraid to sail on something that big. That evening we headed out to the big historic square near the waterfront just as the rain started, so we found a place to have a drink and snack to wait it out, but the rain got even worse, so after two drinks, we decided to stay and order dinner. Once we were ready to leave, we then had to make our way over to another street (we were on a pedestrian only street) where we could call for an Uber. The rain continued to come down in buckets. After two unsuccessful tries with Uber with neither driver able to even find the street we were on, we made our way over to a bus stop to wait for a bus that could get us close to the hotel. The rain never let up. By the time we got back to our room, my UGGS, the only shoes I brought, were completely ruined, having soaked through to my socks and feet. The next morning I had to use the blow dryer to dry the insides enough for me to wear them to a shoe store, buy a new pair of boots, and toss the UGGS in the trash. The next night we went down to the same area because I'd been hoping to get photos of all the Christmas lights that I missed the night before. This time we decided to get photos first, as there was rain in the forecast again. After taking photos we found a place to have dinner and once again, the rain started. And again it was coming down in buckets. We managed to get a taxi and got back to the hotel in better shape than the previous night. It continued to rain all night along with thunder and lightning. The following day, sunny and clear, we were taking a walk around the neighborhood and saw that many small businesses had been flooded, one even was pumping water out into the street. I later learned that an invalid woman living in a basement apartment drowned and one major tunnel had almost 10 feet of water. We walked over to Time Out Market, a wonderful stop in Lisbon (and featured on "Somebody Feed Phil" on Netflix) to wander around and have lunch before catching the train back to Porto. Next time we decide to visit Lisbon, we'll do it at a different time of year.
Back in Porto, Ron, whose home we're buying, invited us out for a day to show us a little arts district here that we were unaware of. First stop was a tea garden/cafe for some tea and cakes. Then we visited a number of galleries and met some of the people Ron has gotten to know since he's been living in Porto. We finished up the day going to Ron's favorite restaurant in the Foz (the area where the river and the ocean meet) and had dinner at his favorite little restaurant, a family owned place. We had a great day, and he's such an enjoyable chap.
This past Monday we closed on our new flat. Buying real estate in Portugal is a different experience. The morning of closing we had to go to our bank and obtain a bank check, Cheque Bancario, (similar to a cashiers check) made out to Ron. You are required by law to present a bank check drawn on a Portuguese bank account. We were all there...Ron, the two of us and both of our realtors. A notary is required by law to read the deed out loud before anyone can sign the documents, and it must be read in Portuguese. Neither Ron nor the two of us understands Portuguese, so our realtor then had to translate everything into English for us. We didn't have to sign nearly the number of pages that we've had to sign in the U.S., so from that standpoint, it was easier. Once we finished, we went out to lunch and then Ron invited us over later in the day to celebrate with a nice Prosecco that he'd obtained. The three of us then went to dinner at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant.
Believe it or not, now we get to apply for a three-year break from paying property taxes. We did have to pay 6% of the purchase price in taxes at closing and our future property taxes are in the $600/annually range.
Yesterday as we were walking to the bus stop we ran into a couple, Andrew and Nicole, whom we met at the Thanksgiving dinner we attended. They recently moved to Porto from Little Rock, Arkansas, bringing their two teenage children with them. Turns out they live across the street from our rental...small world (again). After chatting with them a bit we agreed to get together in January for dinner.
Last night we went to an InterNations event here in Porto. I joined InterNations last year before we moved and we've only attended one event thus far which was back in February in Cascais where we made friends with a couple from Maine. The photography group of InterNations Porto was taking a walking tour of the historic downtown area to capture all the Christmas lights. We had a great time and the people we met were so nice. Our tour guide, David, is also from the Netherlands originally and moved to Porto in September. Others were from Angola, Brazil and the U.S. The weather was beautiful, and we walked around for about three hours. I've posted many of my photos on Instagram but I'm also attaching some to this email for those who don't use Instagram.
One last thing...did you know that Portuguese is the third most spoken language in the world? Brazil has the largest population that speaks Portuguese, followed by Angola and Mozambique. Portuguese is actually the official language in seven countries. This was quite surprising to learn because when you think of Portugal, it's not a big country in size, however, Portugal was once a world power and had many colonies around the world.
Off to bed. Tomorrow we fly.
Boas Festas!
