To Expat or Not to Expat
I had been thinking of becoming an expat for many years. However, my wife didn’t share the same enthusiasm. Travel? Sure. But moving? Isn’t that a bit compulsive? We had talked about Thailand, Ecuador and Mexico. My wife humored me. Thailand was too hot, Ecuador too far away from everywhere and Mexico not exactly the culture she was used to. Not to mention, we have five grandkids here in the USA. Two of them live a long ways away and the ones nearby are getting older and now have way too many friends and activities to enjoy sleepovers with us anymore. And once we shared our potential plans with them they became more excited about visiting us in Europe. And of course, we do plan on coming back to visit once a year.
A Bit of a Rocky Start
October of 2018 was our first time visiting the historic country of Portugal. First we went to Lagos down south. It didn’t start out great, though. We arrived at the Faro airport and went to the ATM only to realize that I couldn’t remember my pin number. How could I forget the same pin number that I have used for everything for a dozen years? It must have had something to do with that 17 hour flight from Portland, Oregon. I was finally able to sort it out the next day with a combination of calls to the bank back in the States and then changing something online. It was a good lesson to always be prepared when things go wrong. And believe me, they will. It’s Murphy’s Law.
Okay, putting aside the aggravation of the ATM fiasco, it was off to the train station to catch a train to Lagos. What? On strike? You have got to be kidding me! Okay, we’ll take the bus. Bus is full because the train is on strike? And the next one doesn’t leave for a few hours? ARRRGGGHH! Okay, a hundred dollar Uber ride it is then! Just get me to a bed!
Things are Looking Up
Fortunately, we arrived to our Airbnb which was roomy and sunny. Although, it was on the third floor and there was no elevator. We’re tired but we’re not invalids, so we were able to hobble up the stairs and crawl up to bed and collapse.
When we awoke, we walked to one of the most beautiful beaches we’ve ever seen. And in the days to follow we’d discover a few more with astounding rock foundations, both natural and man-made. They weren’t packed because it was October and most of the tourists had left already. The weather was delightful and the water was the perfect temperature. Oh, my wife mentioned that there were some topless gals on the beach. I hadn’t noticed. Maybe because my sunglasses were a shade too dark.
The next day we headed into the town square, also within walking distance. It was full of bustling activity and lots of reasonably priced restaurants with very good food. My daughter, Shiloh, came to visit us while we were in Lagos so that was a nice treat. We were able to share the wonderful surroundings with her. She left by train the day before we were to leave.
No Uber. No Taxi. A Footrace to the Train Station.
After consuming Lagos for a week, we left for the Alfama District in Lisbon to spend a few days. We needed to be at the train station at 6:00am so we were out in front of our apartment at 5:20am. Got downstairs and opened the Uber app only to find out that there were no drivers available at that hour. I guess I should have considered that. Lagos is not a big city. No problem. I’ll call a taxi. The business card said 24/7. All I got was a voicemail in Portuguese, which I don’t speak a word of, except Obrigado (thank you) which I could only mutter sarcastically.
It’s 5:30am now and time to start walking. No, walking is not going to do it. And we’re too old to run but we found a happy medium. Well, not exactly “happy” but we did find a pace that got us there just in the nick of time without keeling over from a heart attack. Wheeling suitcases along cobblestone roads is a challenge in itself and we were sweating profusely when we got to the train station exactly at 6:00am.
Hmmm… Not Quite Like the Brochure
Lisbon was great fun! Even though our Airbnb wasn’t quite how it was written. Here is a picture of the front of it as we walked up to it. Granted, we weren’t expecting the Taj Mahal but the inside matched the outside. It was dark and claustrophobic. There were two bicycles hanging on the wall. That was one of the reasons why we chose the place. However, I can’t imagine anyone ever having used them. The streets were hilly, cobblestoned and crowded with people, cars and trolleys. It would have been a death sentence.
We had a wonderful time in spite of the not quite accurate advertising. Spending a lot of time in the apartment was not part of our plan anyway. We walked the winding streets endlessly, getting lost often, following Google maps while it took us in circles. As amazing as Lisbon was, it was not a place that we would seriously consider living. Far too crowded and crazy. Would definitely like to visit again, though, because it is an amazing city with many things to do and see. Rick Steves can go into detail better than I can if you ever want a complete list of everything from times of museum hours to bus schedules, including costs of tickets and trolleys, and ancient history. That’s why he makes the big bucks.
Side trip to Italy. So Much Gelato, So Little Time
After Portugal, we went to Italy. Anyone can post pictures of Michelangelo’s statue of David, which was truly magnificent, but I found gelato to be the main attraction! So many gelato stands and I don’t think I passed on one of them. Florence and Siena were fabulous. The food, wine and passion of the people was an amazing experience. However, that passion was quite loud and went on until 3 or 4 in the morning right under our second story window (again no elevator, but we have found that that is to be expected in Europe unless otherwise noted). As much as we adored our time in Italy, we didn’t get the sense that we could actually live there. But when you live in Portugal, you can reasonably travel all over Europe and beyond.
Returning in March 2019
This is my first blog post. We are going back to Portugal in March for some more reconnaissance, trying to find the best place to live. We will visit Cascais, south of Lisbon, Ericeira, north of Lisbon, and back down to Lagos. I will report back with our findings and lots of pictures!