Author: bashleyf

Ponte de Lima

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We are back home in Leiria today. It’s nice being back in our apartment, but I already really miss Northern Portugal and all of the things to do around there. The kids keep asking to go back to our hotel, lol. Sofia went back to school today. She really didn’t want to, but it probably helps that tomorrow is her birthday and they’ll celebrate with a cake at school.

We went to Ponte de Lima again a few days ago. The festival was over but they still had a few carnival rides going, so the kids got to go on a few rides. They were so excited.

We walked around a bit on both sides of the bridge. On the side away from the city center is a park with a garden and playground. I love walking over the bridge- it’s so beautiful and peaceful.

We didn’t really venture much from the river. I can’t wait to visit again to walk around some more and see more of the city. We heard quite a bit of English there, which surprised me given how small the city is. I didn’t think it would be on most people’s radar.

Sometime in between our two Ponte de Lima visits I took the kids to the Porto zoo. I can’t see going often, but it’s definitely worth a visit or two. The kids loved it and had a lot of fun. Next month we’re taking them to the Lisbon zoo and I’m really excited about that. We went once when we first moved to Portugal, but the kids were so young then. They’re old enough now to get more excited about seeing the animals.

Now that we’re home it’s time to really start looking for an apartment. We’re both nervous about moving- it will be another big first. I have no idea where to buy boxes, how to hire movers, or any of that. But we will figure it out. We both agree after this trip that it will be worth it. We love Amarante, Viana do Castelo, Ponte de Lima, Braga, Porto, and Guimaraes and we can’t wait to be closer to all of those places.

Amarante

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Kyle read about underrated places in Portugal a while ago and Amarante was on the list. He has been wanting to go for a long time, but it’s easier to get to from the north so we weren’t able to go until today.

Amarante

Kyle definitely undersold it 😂 He said that he was hoping to go get a few pretty pictures. It turned out to be even more beautiful than either of us expected. It’s also a little bigger than we expected- not big by any means, but more than just a few pictures.

I’m excited to move north, but I will really miss some places, like Obidos. Amarante is charming and unique, so I will be happy to add that to my list of amazing nearby places.

We walked around Amarante for an hour or so and then we went to Guimaraes. We have only been to Guimaraes once and I remember that I loved it. I might have even liked it more than Braga, I’m not really sure. They’re both great places.

I loved Guimaraes even more when we drove around today. It’s a great combination of new and old. The driving isn’t bad or too stressful. Yesterday I drove around Braga during rush hour and it was a lot busier than I’m used to. Guimaraes was busy in the city center, but not too bad. We went to the city park. It had a great playground and lots of green space.

Kyle really liked Guimaraes today too, so I’m happy about that. Viana do Castelo and Guimaraes are the top contenders to live. Guimaraes is definitely bigger and the location is great. Really easy and quick access to Braga and Porto. And Amarante. We are already looking forward to a day trip there one day when the kids are in school. If you have the chance to go to Amarante I highly recommend it!

Viana do Castelo

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We had a change of plans today, so Kyle and Leo decided to stay in Barcelos and Sofia and I headed to Viana do Castelo to check out the city center.

We all went together last week and saw one of the best playgrounds we have seen in a long time. It’s huge and right by the water. The kids had a blast and each kept running off to try something new. We could take them to that playground for years and it would never get old.

I love that there are walking and biking trails around the city, especially next to the water. The city is pretty flat and easy to walk around.

We also checked out the mall, which is attached to the train station. The mall is fine- it’s nothing special but has all of the stores we need. It also has a cute little train playground for the kids.

We also went to Santiario do Sagrado Caracao de Jesus Monte de Santa Luzia and took the elevator up there. The views were amazing and worth the trip.

Today Sofia and I wanted to see the city square and Praca do Republica. It’s really pretty and the pedestrian only area is a good size.

I loved Ponte de Lima and I’m excited to see it again, but I think Viana do Castelo makes more sense for us and will be more likely. It’s bigger and has more housing. When I looked in Ponte de Lima there was literally 1 apartment listed in our budget. Viana do Castelo doesn’t have a huge inventory, but it does have more than Ponte de Lima. It will be tough to find a place but I really hope we can.

Viana do Castelo has lots of water views, great waterfront paths, an amazing playground (and probably many more playgrounds), a mall, a train station, and a super charming downtown. We noticed how warm it was yesterday in Ponte de Lima, but in Viana do Castelo there is a nice breeze. I also love the proximity to Braga and Porto.

I have been on two day trips to Viana do Castelo now and I feel like I have seen the major sites but still don’t have a great feel for the city. I know there was more to downtown than what we saw. I really like the city and I’m excited to get to explore more of it.

Barcelos

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We’re on our Northern Portugal road trip. It’s a working trip for me and I worked the past two days. I had today off and we may have gone a little overboard, lol. We are staying in Barcelos, about 10-15 minutes outside of the city center. The house we’re staying in is nice and the property is beautiful, but we don’t really like the area. It’s good to know because Barcelos is in a great location and we were wondering if we would like it. Today we ventured into the city center, which is pretty, but I think the city has been ruined for us (at least for now) due to our first impressions.

The roads in the area we’re in are pretty bad. A lot of them are cobblestone and there are so many blind turns. It feels like every time we turn there is a mirror to help us see if cars are coming. There are some really awkward angles and turns to make. We have driven quite a bit around the Silver Coast and Lisbon area and I haven’t really seen roads like this anywhere else yet.

Before we moved to Portugal I read posts from expats complaining about the driving here. It has never bothered us. We lived in Florida for 7 years and the driving there is some of the worst I have seen. Portugal is much better than Florida driving. Well, in Barcelos we finally are experiencing some of other people’s complaints. In Barcelos we get tailgated no matter how fast we are driving. The speed limit, 10+ over really doesn’t matter. Someone will come along and tailgate you. And they get pretty close. It’s really frustrating and annoying.

Anyway, it has been a few days of that. Also the area we’re staying in is more run down than we have really seen. So we had been having a bad impression of Barcelos for a few days before we got to see the center. Like I said, the center is pretty nice, but Barcelos is not for us. And that’s okay.

After visitng the city center, we decided to head to Ponte de Lima because I have been excited to see it. I love it. It has moved to number one on my places I want to live list. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to work out because it seems really hard to find an apartment there, but we can try. We stumbled upon a huge festival there by accident. We’re going to return later this week, after the festival to get a better feel for the city. I’ll do a seperate blog post on Ponte de Lima after our second visit.

We went to Viana do Castelo last week, but we just saw an awesome playground and the mall, so we plan on returning there this week too. I’ll write a blog post about Viana after our second visit too. Tomorrow I think we are heading to Amarante. Kyle has been wanting to visit for a long time because it looks like a beautiful town.

Getting into a car accident in Portugal part 2

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Well, everything moved a lot quicker than I expected. Within a few days of submitting the accident report to insurance they called us. I hate answering numbers I don’t know and I was also at work, so I got to use that as an excuse for not answering. Luckily the guy from the insurance company sent me a text through WhatsApp. I wish everyone would do that when I don’t answer! 😂

He had already scheduled an inspection for us two days later and the insurance adjuster was going to meet Kyle there. Luckily the date and time worked for us…I’m not sure what happens if it doesn’t. The paperwork was reviewed, the shop ordered some parts and that was that.

About a day later I got a text and email saying that we are approved for repairs and the claim is now closed. The estimate was for 1500 euro! That’s way more than I thought it would be. Luckily we won’t pay anything. We’re just waiting to hear back from the shop about the parts. They said it will take about a day to repair. If all goes as planned then this will have been extremely easy.

Our kids’ school is closed this week for summer break. They are going through a frustrating phase where they intentionally annoy each other and then hurt each other. Leo has been biting Sofia a lot and Sofia scratched him hard enough to draw blood on his face. There has been tons of screaming and crying. They’re both having a tough time with emotions right now. We’re getting through it but some days (like today) it feels like our heads are barely above water. I know we will all get through this, but this is probably one of the toughest times we’ve had and it definitely makes us miss having family nearby.

Anyway, I’ve been doing what I do whenever I get stressed- planning a trip! Kyle and Leo are a bit more traveled out than me and Sofia, so Kyle suggested I take Sofia on a trip somewhere. I was thinking Spain or Italy, but then I read a blog post about Center Parcs resorts. I have never been a resort kind of person, but these places look amazing! They remind me of the sleep away camps I loved when I was younger- but instead of sending Sofia away I get to go with her!

Fun at the mall

We’re going to one of the Center Parcs in Belgium in late November. I imagine they will have Christmas lights up by then. So Sofia and I will be freezing for 5 days this winter 🥶 I guess it’s good Leo and Kyle will be staying in warm Portugal. I’m really excited. I loved having an indoor playground and pool at the hotel when we went to Disneyland Paris and the Center Parcs resort will be like that but so much bigger. They also offer activities, like pony riding, face painting, and all kinds of other fun things.

I have been trying to stay home and save money but it just isn’t working out 😂 Next week we head to Northern Portugal and in November Sofia and I head to Belgium.

Getting into a car accident in Portugal

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Unfortunately we have been learning all about what to do when you get into an accident in Portugal. Kyle was leaving the mall and there is an awkward area where two lanes come together from different levels. There is a mirror so that they can (theoretically) see each other. Kyle left the parking garage and was waiting to turn onto the street when another driver came down the ramp. He didn’t see Kyle and side swiped him pretty good. Luckily there were no injuries and the cars are drivable. It looks worse in person because the bumper is coming off a bit.

We really should have looked into things more before we started driving. When you get into an accident in the EU you have to fill out some forms detailing what happened. Each driver signs it and then sends it to the insurance companies. From what I understand the police are not typically called in Portugal unless the drivers are in disagreement, although I’m not completely sure on that. The other driver was at fault and he admitted it.

He was driving a work van and Kyle didn’t have the paperwork, so the guy’s boss met with Kyle the next day to fill out the paperwork. It was a little scary for a while because the boss didn’t bring the paperwork and thought Kyle was at fault and the other driver should have called the police. For a second it seemed like he was trying to set Kyle up to take the fall. Kyle showed him where the accident took place and explained what happened. The other guy had a stop sign and Kyle didn’t, so it’s pretty obvious…So the guy admitted his driver was at fault and said so in the forms.

After Kyle and the guy each filled out identical forms and signed them, we then had to get them to our insurance company. From my understanding each person takes a copy of the incident report and sends it to their insurance company. Kyle just got off the phone with our insurance company and he is emailing them the forms. The next step will be for them to send an adjuster out to our house to inspect the damage. From there they will send us a list of authorized repair shops. We take it to get estimates and let our insurance company know. They approve the repairs and we go get them done. At least this is all according to Google, lol. I’ll update as we go, but for now we will wait to hear back from the insurance company.

Here’s a picture of the blank accident report. It’s easy to find online. I guess they also have copies of them in government buildings and those ones have carbon copies. We’re going to go on the hunt to find some later, but for now we just printed some online and will put them in the car. It looks like this is standard in all of the EU and you can easily find the forms translated into various languages.

In expat groups people always ask if they can get by in Portugal without knowing the language. Kyle and I can finally have basic conversations in Portuguese (super basic, lol) but we have gotten really luckily when it comes to bigger things. The two people involved in the accident spoke some English and the insurance agent Kyle talked to spoke great English. We have made it almost 2 year so far with English, google translator, and some basic Portuguese. We found a tutor we like on italki who does classes with the both of us together and we have been learning a ton from her. Maybe we will have to have a class that focuses on driving and words to know in accidents or when we get pulled over.

Pombal

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The pope is visiting Portugal this week. He’s in Lisbon right now, but things have been pretty busy throughout the country. Two days ago we went to Batalha and the Leiria mall and both were significantly more crowded than normal. On Saturday the pope goes to Fatima, which is only about 15 minutes from us. We plan on staying home because I think there will be way too many people out in the area.

We wanted to go out today, but not have to deal with the crowds. We went to Pombal a month or two ago but we were too tired to really walk around and we knew we wanted to go back again. Since it’s not a touristy city and there aren’t any major religious monuments (that we know of) we figured it was a safe day to go.

It turns out that we had gone the wrong way last time because the city was a lot bigger than we expected. That’s not to say that it’s big, but big enough to kill a few hours. They have a market, lots of cafes, and green space scattered around. They also have a castle at the top of a hill. We weren’t up for walking up the hill, so we’ll have to drive there one of these days.

Before waking around downtown we had lunch just outside the city at a fondue restaurant. The food was pretty good. We haven’t had fondue since we were in the US so it was a fun experience. It got us thinking about fondue and Kyle tried to find some more places. Looks like there are a few in Porto. One of these days we’ll go try one.

We head up north for our trip in just over a month and we’re excited. I can’t wait to see Viana do Castelo and Ponte de Lima. They both look great. And I can’t wait to go back to Braga and Guimaraes. Until then we’re going to do a bunch of day trips around here. We have been meaning to check out Torres Vedras and Peniche, so maybe one of those will be next.

Agueda and the Umbrella Sky Project

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Before we moved to Portugal I was looking for some pictures for my blog and I found the picture of all the umbrellas. I finally figured out that the picture was taken in Agueda. It has been on my list of places to visit but we decided to wait until July when they have the art festival AguitAgueda and the Umbrella Sky Project. I’m not sure if the umbrellas are up all the time, but they are definitely up every July.

It’s a cute town and somewhere that I would have explored anyway, but it’s even more charming with all of the umbrellas and colorful things around. We have been lucky because the weather has been on the cooler side this year, so we’re able to enjoy more of the summer festivals and activities this year.

We don’t have a ton of plans for the rest of the year. I have just been working to fund our move to northern Portugal next year. I know I have always talked about Braga and it has always been the place for us, but things have been changing a bit since we got a car. When we moved to Portugal I didn’t want a car, so I wanted a walkable city with lots of things to do and a train station so that we could leave easily. I wanted to be really close to a city center. Braga has all of that.

With a car it’s okay if we’re a little further from city center. I want to be somewhere walkable, ideally within walking distance of a market, a playground, a restaurant, and the kid’s school. In some ways a smaller town might work because things will be closer and ideally easier to walk to. I definitely still love Braga, but I want to look at a few more places. I can’t remember where I first heard of Viana do Castelo, but it looks really cute there and I could see us living there. We also like Ponte de Lima and want to check it out. If we’re in a smaller city we might be able to get a little house with a yard. Living in an apartment has been fine, but a house has its draws too.

All of this to say that we just booked a trip up to Northern Portugal in the fall. We will be staying in a house in Barcelos for just under 2 weeks. We’re definitely going to Viana do Castelo and Ponte de Lima. I want to go back to Guimaraes and I’m sure we’ll add a few more places to look at. Braga is still very much on our list, but with the car we would probably choose somewhere a little further from city center since apartments in the city center are getting more expensive.

Tomar and Festa dos Tabuleiros

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Festa dos Tabuleiros is a festival in Tomar that takes place every 4 years. I first read about it a few months ago and when I saw that it’s happening this year I knew we had to go. We have been looking for a reason to go back to Tomar and this seemed like the perfect one. The festival takes place over 10 days in July. Since Leiria Kids is next weekend, we decided that today was the perfect day for Tomar.

We really love Tomar and were wondering why we didn’t move there. Then we started looking at temperatures and figured it out pretty quickly. About an hour ago we were walking in Tomar and my watch said it was 90 degrees, or 32 celcius. We just got back to Leiria and it’s 75 or 23 here, so quite a big difference. And it must be even hotter in Tomar now. Tomar is a beautiful city, but it’s hot and there isn’t a ton of shade outside of the park there.

Anyway, we made it to Tomar in time for the parade at 10 this morning. Today was the kids parade and they were all so adorable. I’m glad we were able to see the parade. When I look at pictures on Google I see lots of pictures of beautifully decorated streets, but we didn’t see any of those today. Then again, we didn’t walk around town all that much either. We walked to the parade and then we went across the street to the park. They had some bouncy houses for the kids and they had tons of fun and got some energy out. We were going to get lunch, but everywhere was so crowded so we came home instead.

Sometimes I plan all kinds of things and want to see and do so much, but then the reality when we get there is that it’s just too hot or we’re just too tired. I’m really glad we got to see the parade, and one of these days we will see one the amazing decorated streets. Right now is AguitAgueda up by Aveiro. That’s where they have the street full of umbrellas. We are definitely going to see that before it ends!

If you’re thinking about checking out the Festa dos Tabuleiros I would definitely say to go. We only got to see a tiny part of it. Maybe in 4 years we can come back and see more! Tomar is a beautiful city and always worth a visit.

Valencia

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After years and years of researching Valencia we finally made it here and get to see if I was right. When I was looking at Spain I knew right away that Valencia would be our spot. I didn’t even really look into anywhere else because I knew we would love Valencia. I was right! This city is amazing. It’s beautiful and lively but not as overwhelming as Barcelona and other big cities feel. It seems really bike friendly- I love all of the bike lanes around the city.

We are on an almost 2 week trip. It started with a night in Porto, then a night in Barcelona, and then 7 nights on the cruise. We were supposed to spend 4 nights in Valencia, but our original fight got cancelled so instead we will spend 3 nights here and then 1 in Lisbon.

We took a few cruises before kids so we wanted to see what it would be like now. We didn’t love it, but the kids had fun. We both agree that 7 nights is too long and we will skip MSC next time. I want to try 3-5 nights on Disney or Celebrity. We did go to a few ports we love like La Spezia, Italy and Palma de Mallorca, Spain. I’m really hoping to make it back to Palma one of these days.

On Saturday we docked in Barcelona and took the 3 hour train ride to Valencia. We already know we want to come back to Valencia for at least a week. But maybe when it’s a bit cooler. It’s already getting warm here and it feels much more humid than central Portugal.

It’s interesting to see the city that could have been- the life that could have been. We had decided on Valencia for years before choosing Portugal instead. I love Valencia, but Portugal feels like home. I could see living in Spain one day, or maybe Italy. Who knows? But I do want to raise my kids in Portugal. We just need to find a spot there that we love and see ourselves staying in for years to come.

There is so much in Valencia that we didn’t do this trip. We’re all pretty exhausted. We did go to the Science Museum. We only made it to one exhibit, which was the one for young kids. The kids loved it. We didn’t even see any of the other exhibits because they wanted to spend all their time there. We didn’t go to the Aquarium or zoo, so hopefully we can see those next time. We did make it to Gulliver Parc, which is really unique. Sofia loved it but Leo was a little nervous.

This is one of the first times I’m really excited to go home. A week before our trip our vet called and said she had rescued a few cats and wanted to know if we wanted one of them. We got a girl kitten who is about 2 months old. We named her Lua. Her mom was feral, so Lua hasn’t been around people a lot. I had been working hard to gain her trust and she was really starting to come out of her shell right when we left. We had just introduced her to Rufino. I have never had two cats at the same time! Lua is at home with a pet sitter and probably loves not having toddlers around right now.

We miss all of the pets a lot this trip. This trip has been fun, but we’re all ready to get back. No more big trips this year. I need to work and save some money. We will be taking some trips around Portugal though. Somehow we are all traveled out for the moment. I’m sure after spending a month or two at home I’ll start thinking about another trip 😉

Lua