Living in Portugal

AIMA residency card renewal

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I renewed my residency card online back in November using the old SEF website. It says concluded but nothing else has happened so far. It wouldn’t let me renew Leo’s online so I had to schedule an appointment. It took a while to get one. The site always says there are no appointments so I checked multiple times per day and one day in December it actually showed some appointments in Lisbon so I grabbed one. It was on January 3.

Coimbra Christmas Market

I took both kids with me. We left a good 2.5 hours early but arrived late. First there was an accident on the freeway and we got stuck in traffic. Then there was an accident on one of the one way streets in Lisbon and we got stuck for at least 20 minutes. When we finally got to drive by we saw something had happened to a trolley and they were trying to repair it. Because of the accident the parking garage we planned to use wasn’t accessible.

I found a parking garage that was a 15-minute walk away. We finally made and the security guard helped us get our ticket to wait. This time was different than Setubal because the security guard wasn’t checking names. Anyone can walk in or out- you just use the machine to pick a ticket for whatever you’re waiting for.

Wonderland Lisboa

We ended up waiting for about 3 hours. I thought about leaving because we missed lunch and were hungry, but the longer we waited the more it seemed like a waste to not go to the appointment. We finally got called back and luckily the woman processing us spoke perfect English. She apologized and said that their systems were down for much of the day and everything was taking so much longer than it should.

She asked how we originally got our residency card (D7 visa) and then asked me what documents she needs. On the AIMA site they say proof of address, proof of income, proof of tax activity if applicable, and proof of social security if applicable. I gave her my lease but she said she didn’t need it since we haven’t moved.

Leiria Market

For proof of income I brought my 2022 tax return, but it’s not accurate as that year we lived largely off of savings. I brought all of my green receipts filed from last year to show that we do qualify. She said she didn’t need all of it, so I probably should have just brought 6 months worth. She copied everything and then took a picture of Leo and got his fingerprints. We paid the €170 fee by bank card. She asked for Leo’s NIF, utente, and social security numbers. I told her that Leo doesn’t have a social security number so she just took the other two.

She told us that we would hear back within 60 working days. If I don’t hear back in 60 working days I need to contact the AIMA headquarters in Lisbon. Obviously I’m really hoping it doesn’t come to that. I still haven’t heard anything back from my online renewal in November. I’m a tiny bit worried, but not too much since it hasn’t been 60 working days quite yet and of course things are going to be backed up with the holidays.

Fórum Coimbra

The whole experience felt a bit messy, which I guess is to be expected since the company has changed. In theory 2/4 of our residency cards are renewed. I still need to do Kyle and Sofia’s. I had planned on making a fun day out of the Lisbon trip but there were so many delays that we were there pretty late. On the way back to the car it was raining, so we all got soaked and just wanted to go home.

Caldas

I’m adding some pictures from the Christmas markets we went to this year. We made it to Leiria, Coimbra, and Caldas da Rainha. Coimbra was pretty nice- it was big with a lot of rides. Caldas only had a bouncy castle setup and some pedal cars. Kyle took the kids to the big Lisbon market when I was working. Christmas felt like it came and went so quickly this year. We did finally buy a Christmas tree and some ornaments this year! It was nice getting a tree again.

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.

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.

Road-trip to Nazare in our car!!

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Our car is here! We were approved for the loan and one night the dealer let us know the car was ready for pick up. They had given us an insurance quote and we decided to go with the company they used since it would be easier. They gave us 3 quotes. I don’t remember the exact amounts but the most expensive was 750+ per year and the cheapest was around 300. We decided to go with the expensive one for our first year because it’s similar to full coverage insurance.

Our car!

Buying a car in Portugal wasn’t any better or worse than in the US- both places require hours of waiting and lots of paperwork. I am really grateful that the dealership did a lot of the hard stuff for us. They got us the loan, registered the car, and got us insurance. We also have warranties and roadside assistance that works anywhere in the EU.

Unfortunately I had to work a ton the first few days we had the car and I didn’t get to use it much. Finally I have a day off today and we decided to head to Nazare. We went there once last year and have been meaning to go back. We let Sofia ditch a day of preschool so that she could come with us. It feels nice driving again! It was nerve wracking at first, but I’m adjusting. The roads here are great.

For now we’re having to avoid the toll roads since we don’t have our transponder yet. There is a company called Via Verde and they have an awesome app. You can create an account there and use it to pay for all kinds of car related things including parking and tolls. Once we get the transponder it will make driving easier since we can use the toll roads. We can probably use the roads anyway and pay either a person or get a bill in the mail, but I’m not entirely sure.

We were only in Nazare for a few hours. Finding parking was a bit harder than we thought given that it’s Wednesday and not summer. There were still plenty of people out and tons of cars looking for parking spots. We finally found a spot and headed to the beach. Last time was super foggy and we couldn’t see anything. The skies were clear today.

Nazare was fine for playing in the sand, but definitely not a beach to let the kids wade in the water or swim. The waves were pretty big and the tide looked strong. Luckily the kids were happy just playing in the sand.

We didn’t walk around town much today. It was more of a let the kids play kind of a day. Next time I want to go while the kids are in school so that we can look at some of the shops and go to the lighthouse. Given how tough it was to find parking I don’t think we will go again until late this year. I have been really wanting to see the big waves, so hopefully we can make it in November or December to see them.

Tomorrow the kids are back in school and Kyle and I are going to Tomar! I’m excited. I have been wanting to see Tomar for a long time.

I think we bought a car sight unseen

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We moved to Portugal sight unseen. Moved to Leiria sight unseen. Signed a 3 year lease for the apartment sight unseen. So we might as well buy a car sight unseen too, right?

We have been talking about buying a car for the past few weeks now. I have been pretty sick the past 2.5 weeks. Bad cough, lots of congestion, a fever on and off. I lost a lot of sleep because laying down would make me cough too much. During that time Kyle had to do pretty much everything because I had to save the little bit of strength I had for work. We had already wanted a car, but me being out of commission sealed the deal. We looked at leasing options, but just like in the states I have never been able to see the benefit of leasing over buying.

In the US when I buy a car I do tons of research. I like SUVs and I like Honda and Nissan, so I tend to start there. I look at gas mileage, safety, features. We wanted to get a hybrid here, but it’s out of our price range so we looked into diesel. We decided that we prefer diesel over gasoline because it seems like it will be more efficient and better on the car over time. So for us buying a car in Portugal meant walking into a dealership and asking if they have any automatic diesel vehicles. They had one. We bought it, lol. Maybe…

Unfortunately this is not the car we bought

The process is both similar and different than in the US. There is no test drive. They plug some numbers into a computer and show a list of monthly payment options. I forget all of the options, but they had some really long term ones, like 8+ years. We added a few warranties, which were cheap. We paid half of the down payment right up front. Then they wanted all of our info to see if we would get approved for a loan. It’s a little nerve wracking paying so much without even knowing if we will be approved. We didn’t bring any paperwork with us today, so we made do using our phone apps and screen shots. When we got home I spent over an hour getting some things together to email. I emailed bank statements and payments stubs. It would be easier if you have Portuguese income or have paid taxes in Portugal, but I am paid in USD and we haven’t paid taxes here yet, so we had to do it the harder way.

We spent just over 3 hours at the dealership and then I spent another hour or two getting everything together at home. When we left the dealership we still had no idea if we had been approved. I still don’t know right now. I figure it will probably take a few days at least. So fingers crossed that we get approved for financing! Since they don’t do credit scores over here I’m not really sure how they decide who to lend to or what the risk factors may be.

The car we (hopefully) bought is in the shop getting fixed up. They are painting it and replacing two of the tires. It’s a 2014 with 84000 kilometers. I don’t even know the make and model and I don’t even care. A car is going to give us so much freedom. We have made it work for an entire year and a half and we did it and it was fine. But we are both so excited at the thought of having a car again. It definitely brings a lot more cost, but hopefully it will be worth the trade off.

Playground inside the dealership

They did have a car in stock that’s just like ours (but not automatic or diesel) but a few years newer so they showed it to us. They said that all of the features will be the same. I really love the one they showed us. I was very adament about not getting a car when we moved here, but we’ve been here for a whole year and a half now and I think we’re ready. Having an automatic will make it easier. I can kind of drive stick, but only do it every decade or two, so my skills are pretty rusty. We keep talking about all the places we will go when we get a car. High on the list is Tomar because the bus schedule from Leiria doesn’t work, so we haven’t been able to go.

The newer model of our (hopefully) future car

I’m not too sure of the next steps. Hopefully we get a happy call or email soon. We still owe half the down payment. We transferred the first half to them, so we will probably do the same if we get approved. They said that they will drop the car off at our house, which would be awesome. Next up is shopping for car seats, and then some road trips! I guess I’m getting ahead of myself. We still have to wait to see if we even get approved. Oh, and we need to figure out how to buy car insurance. And figure out the tolls. Well, plenty to keep us busy while we wait.

Disneyland Paris and Leo’s birthday, part 2

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On Monday we headed to the main Disneyland park. We rented strollers, which I knew would be expensive but I definitely still had some sticker shock at €25 per stroller per day. In total we spent €100 on stroller rentals. I’m trying not to think about that 😂

We started in Fantasy Land, where a lot of the little kid rides are. Leo threw an epic fit right away and kept telling us to hold him. We figured out pretty quickly that he just really hates the cold. He is much whinier in below freezing temps and just wants to be held all the time. I think Leo wants some warm vacations. We were hoping to go on a few kid friendly dark rides to build them up to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, but they did great on Peter Pan so we thought they were probably ready. Peter Pan was a cute ride. Leo fell asleep when we put him in the stroller, so then we walked around a bit.

Disneyland has 5 different lands/areas. We didn’t have a plan the first day and it all felt a little scattered. We went to each area of the park, but didn’t really get to see a ton of it. I definitely couldn’t tell you where anything is. We did go on the main rides I really wanted to do like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Toy Story one. The kids thought Pirates was a bit scary but they did good. They loved the Toy Story ride.

Agrabah Cafe

We had lunch at Agrabah Cafe because I had heard that it’s pretty good. To get a birthday cake you have to reserve one at a buffet or sit down restaurant. I knew Disney would be expensive, but the prices for the buffet were pretty crazy. €40 per adult, €23 per kid, and €35 for the cake. The food was fine, the service was awful, and the decorations were great. Seeing them sing Happy Birthday to Leo was awesome.

Our original plan was to go to Disneyland on Monday, stay at the hotel on Tuesday, and go back to the same park on Wednesday. We changed our minds and decided to try the second park on Wednesday. I’m glad we did because we had more fun that day and really got to know the park.

The other park is Walt Disney Studios Park. There were a ton of rides there that we could all do together. One of our favorite areas was the Ratatouille section. The ride was cute and well done and the area around it was nice. They have food stands down the main area. The food there was also amazing and seemed better priced than anywhere else in the parks. And everyone ate there. With two picky toddlers it’s hard to find a place everyone will eat.

We also saw the Stitch show, which was really cute. Sofia especially loved it and keeps talking about it. I think it was a lot easier because the park was smaller. We spent the same amount of time there as we had in the main park. Both parks had a lot of dead ends. I knew to expect it at the Studios Park since it’s likely not finished yet, but I was surprised by all of the dead ends at the main park. Also, there was a decent amount closed or being refurbished. The biggest disappointment was It’s a Small World. It was my favorite ride as a kid and I know Sofia would love it. It was closed the entire time we were there.

Overall we had a lot of fun and I definitely plan on repeating this trip in a few years. But probably not in February. I think we will try for Spring. The nice thing about February is that the crowds and wait times are low, but it’s also cold and it seems like too much is closed. Our last two amusement park trips have taught us that we want a smaller park with more toddler rides. There is one in the Netherlands that I think fits the bill if I can figure out how to make that trip work…

Disneyland Paris & Leo’s Birthday, Part 1

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We kicked off our vacation on Saturday with a 1 night stay in Lisbon. We stayed at a hotel literally across the street from the airport. On Sunday our fight left around 8 something, so it was really nice to get up and just walk across the street to the airport. On Saturday afternoon we used the metro at the airport to head to the aquarium. We got to ride the cable car that had been closed last year. I’m terrified of heights, but I have really loved the cable cars rides we have gone on since moving to Portugal. The views are always stunning. As always, it was fun getting to be in Lisbon.

On Sunday we flew into Paris. It’s the first time in a long time that our fight left on time. Normally we take a bus or train to where we need to go, but there’s no direct train. We would have to take 3 trains and make 2 transfers. We had extra bags because we couldn’t do laundry this trip. Since it was already an expensive trip we decided to splurge and we hired a chauffeur. It was amazing. The driver met us at baggage claim, took all our bags and loaded them all into the car. And then we got a direct ride to our hotel.

We stayed at Explorer’s Hotel, which is about 10 minutes from Disney and 45 minutes from Orly airport. I picked this hotel because of the awesome indoor activities for kids. They have a great pool and a 3 story indoor play area. There’s also an outdoor playground which we did end up using for about 10 minutes one day. It was between 28 and 38 degrees during our stay. It wasn’t too bad in the sun, but the playground was in the shade so it gets cold pretty quickly.

On Sunday we got to the hotel early afternoon, so the kids got to play a lot and we went swimming. They warmed to the pool pretty quickly. We really wanted to go back, but we were just too exhausted. The hotel has a pizza place and snack bar type place. All of the food there was super overpriced and terrible. Luckily we figured that out the first day and we were able to order food through Uber Eats. It was still super expensive, but at least it tasted great.

The hotel also has a shuttle to Disneyland Paris. Both parks and Disney Village are all connected, as is the train station. It was pretty easy to get to and from the hotel and Disney. Kyle even took the shuttle to Disney Village to pick up dinner a few times.

Well, that’s part 1 of our trip. We just got home a few minutes ago. It was a super long day of a 1.5 hour car ride to the airport, 2 hour flight, 20 minute car ride, 2 hour bus ride, and 10 minute car ride. But everything left on time! So even though it was a super long day it went pretty smoothly. I have a ton of work tomorrow and Saturday, so I will post part 2 in a few days to talk about the parks.

We will definitely do this trip again in a few years. We will stay at the same hotel in Lisbon and if it’s winter or spring we will stay in the Explorer’s hotel again. If it’s warm or hot out we would try a Disney Hotel to see what it’s like, but it would be hard for a hotel to beat Explorer’s if you have small kids.

2023 Travel Plans

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Brrrr, it has been really cold in Portugal. It’s been an extra rainy year and we finally have a break from the rain, but it has been freezing. Literally! In the mornings when we walk the kids to school it has been 30 degrees (farenheight because I still don’t quite know celcius yet). It heats up to about 50 or so during the day, but the mornings are so cold!

Rufino

Leo started preschool. He is just going 2 days a week so far. It has been really nice to have that break and be able to get some things done or just relax without being needed constantly. And we end up really missing them, so we really appreciate picking them up and seeing them again. Leo is in the baby room since he is 2. Once he turns 3 next week he will move to Sofia’s room. I think they will both like it more when they’re in the same room together.

In 6 days we leave for Paris! Well, more like passing through Paris. We’re going to Disneyland Paris, which is about 45 minutes outside of Paris. We want this trip to be easy, so we won’t really be venturing into Paris. It’s definitely on our list to visit one day. I’m really excited for Disneyland. Sofia is 4 and Leo will be turning 3. I know they probably won’t remember this trip, but I do think that they’re at the age where they will really love and appreciate it. Leo doesn’t cry anymore when he see’s people dressed up. He will be so excited to see Mickey.

We have a few confirmed trips this year and a few I’m still figuring out. There’s probably one or two that I don’t even know about yet. Before we had kids Kyle and I went on a few cruises. It was a good compromise because Kyle likes to relax on vacation and I like to sightsee. Sightseeing is a bit too stressful with the kids, so I have been trying to figure out how to travel easier and smarter. We decided to try a cruise with the kids. They’ll both be old enough for the cruise daycare program and they will be in the same room because their ages are so close.

We have been talking about a cruise for years, but we wanted to wait until the kids qualify for onboard daycare and until we felt a little safer. I know they will both be cautious around the railings, although we will obviously still watch them really closely. The cruise will be with MSC and it goes to France, Spain, and Italy. I picked it more for the ship than the itinerary. The ship has a water park for the kids that looks like fun. The cruise is a week long and leaves from Barcelona, so we will be in Barcelona for a night again. One of these days we’ll actually stay and see the city. I couldn’t find any flights home that worked, so we decided to take the train to Valencia and stay there for a few nights after the cruise. It will be a huge trip and we will be gone for almost 2 weeks. That trip is already booked and we’re definitely going.

Rufino cuddling with Bailey to stay warm

At some point before the cruise we will head up north to visit Viana do Castelo, Portugal. We also want to go to Viseu at some point because we know some people there and want to check out the city. We’re hoping to move to northern Portugal this year- ideally around the summer. We’ve been keeping an eye on apartments in Braga and Guimaraes but haven’t seen any that work for us yet.

In December we’re planning on going to Vienna, Austria. Kyle’s sister will be living there, so that’s the original reason we started planning the trip. I saw that Vienna has a great Christmas Market, so now I’m even more excited to go. At least we learned from our Belgium trip. I bought long underwear and scarves for everyone. We will really get to test it out next week because it’s going to be cold in France. I’m excited! Ever since we got back from Belgium I have been really antsy and wanting to travel somewhere again.