We’re about to leave CenterParcs to head to the airport. It has been so much fun. I was supposed to take Leo on a vacation in two months, but I’m just going to come back here with the whole family. I really want Kyle to see this place and I think Leo will like having Sofia here. Sofia is more independent and social than Leo is and even she has missed having a playmate here. She keeps trying to speak Portuguese and doesn’t understand why no one responds.
We finally got a break in the rain two days ago. We went to see the animals at the petting zoo. There is also the farmer’s house which has bunnies and Guinea pigs. During certain hours you can pet them which Sofia loved. She rode a pony and did the kid’s safari. The safari was tough because she was actually driving the car so I had to help her steer around a bit.
Yesterday she did an activity called “wanna be.” They have a few of them, like wanna be a farmer and wanna be a chef. She did the chef one and it was a special holiday one. They made cookies. For that one I dropped her off at the kid’s club for 1.5 hours. I got to walk around and check things out a bit more. They have lots of fun toys in the kid’s club. I think usually the club is for kids under 4/5 unless there are planned activities but I’m not sure.
We’re sad to leave but super excited to come back in a few months. No travel plans until then but this will be our first Christmas season with a car so I’m hoping to go see some lights. We still haven’t been to Coimbra yet at Christmas time.
Recently SEF has changed to AIMA. Our residency permits are up for renewal in December and things have been a mess. I have been following posts on Americans & Friends (the Facebook group) and many people making appointments have been getting emails that they’re cancelled and to wait for further details. Some people have had success using the old SEF online renewal portal, so I gave it a try.
It was really easy. I just click renew and then they review it and 48 hours later you pay the fee- €170 as of right now. It says concluded and in theory my residency card should arrive in 5 or so weeks. I just did mine for now to see if it actually works or if I donated €170 to the universe. It says Leo’s is not eligible for online renewal so I will still have to navigate the new AIMA system to renew his. Things are a mess right now and lots of people have expired cards, so I expect the same to happen with Leo but hopefully it gets sorted out soon. It’s almost impossible to get an appointment right now.
Yesterday Sofia and I made it to Center Parcs in Belgium. This place seems amazing for small kids. They have fun stuff like a huge indoor pool, big indoor playground, a farm, and then they have planned activities like pony rides, arts & crafts, and kid’s disco. Some are free and some you have to pay for. They also have some restaurants and a small market on site.
Today we checked out a lot of the indoor stuff. They have an amazing Aqua Zone with a bunch of different pools. My favorite was the lazy river and the indoor/outdoor pool. The outdoor setting is amazing.
There is a huge indoor play area. Our favorite was the foam ball area. You gather all the balls to fill a thing in the top that eventually spills over. There is so much we haven’t even done yet. There is a farm and pony stables that I want to go see. Sofia is scheduled for pony rides on Tuesday. Today she made a stuffed animal which she really enjoyed. This place is amazing and has been a lot of fun. Tomorrow is supposed to rain but hopefully Tuesday and Wednesday will be clear.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 😉
Growing Up Expat 