Our Porto Visit!
Our real estate agent, Declan, met us to give us the keys and show us around! It was so nice to meet him in person and he helped us SO MUCH! Here we are on our balcony right after we finally made it!
Shane and I packed 8 bags on Thursday and flew to Porto!
Shane had never been so he wanted to see it. We wanted to get a few essentials because there is a ton still up in the air - we haven’t gotten our visas approved so we don’t really know when we are going to be able to go. Shane is still trying to work for a few more months and he might be stuck in Chicago, and I might have to go by myself, or the other way around!, and we wanted to make sure the apartment was livable in case one of us was there with 3 pets and chaos.
We have also been paying double rent for 3 months! Might as well take a mini break and stay at our apartment!
It was pretty amazing to see our apartment for the first time! It was lightly furnished but we were worried about getting a mattress in time to sleep on, but Declan walked us to a mattress store and they had one in stock we were able to carry back to our apartment, so that was the first thing we did! Gotta figure it out lol
We also snuck in some beers of course!
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We spent a lot of time doing this! Carrying wild shit down the street and on the train.
Our priorities were making sure the cats and Royal would he set up so if one of us came without the other, that person wouldn’t be panicking trying to run around finding stuff. So we bought enough so that no one would be panicking!
We also really got the lay of the land! Where we live in Gaia is only a 5 minute walk from the D train that runs through Gaia to downtown Porto, and is only 3 stops away! We took the train a ton and it was super quick and easy - only about 20-25 minutes total from our front door to city center Porto.
We also absolutely picked the right neighborhood to live in! Gaia is SO much more quiet, there are so many fewer people/tourists, the streets are generally wider, there is more green space - all perfect for our nervous dog Royal!
There are also tons of things in Gaia - we found a lot of cafes and restaurants to go to, tons of stores. The only thing we couldn’t find is a craft beer bar which we knew would be an issue! It’s just not as big of a thing in wine/port country. BUT there were 3 we visited in Porto that were great! They’re just a 45 minute walk or 25 minute train away. It’s really not bad! And if that’s our only “complaint” I’d say we nailed it.
We even found a dog friendly park pretty close to our house with this weird playground with a giant Pinocchio! Also, those coffees and pastries were a total of 4 euros.
Look how happy Shane looks!
Shane was a REAL task master, which is what it took to get me to go shopping. I fucking hate shopping. We visited fucking TWO MALLS, the department store by our house COUNTLESS times, and a ton of dollar store equivalent stores to buy essentials, shop for a couch, a second mattress, etc etc etc but finally we did make our way to the Gaia beachfront and it was really spectacular! It’s about a 15 minute Uber from our house. And I think we’ll be visiting a lot! It’s got a beautiful boardwalk and tons of bars and restaurants.
A couple Super Bocks helped us buy this PURPLE COUCH lol
We really struggled to find a couch that was the right size and feel and after looking at MANY COUCHES, comfort, size, and prize trumped color.
So! It really was an amazing trip!
It’s really scary, though! It’s hard for me to just go on faith that we really will just be approved if we jump through all the hoops. Even though that’s what everyone says. And it’s hard not to second guess all of your decisions at every obstacle. But! Like my mom said when I called her on Saturday while Shane was taking a much needed nap - this is how you feel when you choose a wild path for yourself.
No courage without fear! If it was easy everyone would do it. These have been my mantras since I decided to start my own business in 2007. And my second business in 2021. And all those years in between! And now that I’m moving my family to Portugal!
Hopefully the next update I’ve got for this blog is that our visas were approved and we have a REAL move date and not just an aspirational move date of November 10th. FINGERS CROSSED! I gotta visit my purple couch!
