Coimbra, part 2

March 3, 2022August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

I titled this Coimbra, part 2 but really it should be titled Portugal dos Pequenitos. Todays forecast was for rain, rain, and more rain. Originally we planned to kill some time at the mall and then go to exploratorio, which looks a lot like a kids museum. We could see the mall from the bus station, so we walked there. We were planning on getting a taxi from the mall to the exploratorio, but Leo was melting down and needed a nap, so we decided to make the 35 minute walk so that he would fall asleep in his stroller.

About halfway through our walk, we stumbled upon Portugal dos Pequenitos. We could see some miniature buildings and knew it was for kids, but we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. We figured we might kill an hour and then head to the exploratorio, but the place was way bigger than I thought it would be. Leo and Sofia didn’t want to leave, so we spent hours there. Luckily the weather forecast was wrong. It was windy, but no rain while we were there.

Portugal dos Pequenitos must have at least a hundred buildings. Mini houses, palaces, and buildings. All of them are the perfect size for kids. Leo and Sofia had so much fun going into all of them. There was even a playground, but for once the kids didn’t care because the rest of the park was so much cooler. I’m not sure what the best age ranges would be, but it was definitely age 2 and age 3 approved. They had so much fun. It’s a little pricey, but it was worth it for us.

We wanted to get a snack, so Kyle found a well reviewed bakery nearby. Luckily it was across the bridge, so we got to see some amazing views as we headed into town. Coimbra must be one of the most dramatic cities to drive/walk into. Walking over the bridge into Coimbra is a great experience.

The view from the bridge as we walked into Coimbra

The bakery happened to be Pastelaria Briosa, which we see in all the videos. I remember watching a walking tour video of Coimbra on YouTube when we were in the states. They stopped at the bakery to show a picture of the window. I told Kyle that we would go there and I would remember the video, and I did! We tried a bunch of things. They had a chocolate cake that was amazing.

We walked through the pedestrian only area and happened to find a cab once we reached the street. We decided to just take a bus back because the train still didn’t leave for another 2 hours. All together we were out for 11 hours today. It was a long day. We figured out a schedule that will let us be in Coimbra for about 3 hours. It involves a morning bus and an afternoon train. It seems a lot more doable than 11 hour days. We still have tons we want to do and see in Coimbra, so it looks like there will be tons of smaller trips in our future.

Ukraine news break (Coimbra part 1)

March 3, 2022August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Right now we’re on the bus leaving Leiria. We’re finally headed to Coimbra. The train schedule between Leiria and Coimbra isn’t ideal, so we decided to try the bus instead. It costs a lot more and isn’t quite as fun as the train. The train has bathrooms and we’re free to move around a bit more. But the bus will get us there too.

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine I have been glued to the news. Probably to an unhealthy degree. Well, okay, it has definitely been unhealthy. There has been plenty of conflict in my lifetime, but this feels different. I’m not entirely sure why. Part of it is because, for the first time in my life, I am living on a continent where war is taking place. It’s still so far away, but not as far away as if I lived in the US. That part is kind of surreal.

Maybe it’s because I have kids now, and it’s so much easier to imagine the terror people must feel knowing their kids are in danger. I know how lucky Kyle and I are. We had the means and the freedom to leave our country to start somewhere else. It’s also a choice that we chose- it was not forced upon us. And if we had to flee Portugal for some reason, we have the means to do so. So many people didn’t have the means to leave Ukraine. I get stressed out just watching the news. I can’t imagine how stressful their lives have become. All in the span of a week.

And what about the ones who were able to flee? Many of them are without their husbands or family members, as so many stayed behind to fight. How do they just start over? How do they handle the stress of not knowing if they will ever see their loved one again? How do they go from a dual parent household to just one? How do they handle the sudden loss of income? I can’t imagine how hard this must be for those who are personally involved. There is so much death and it is so senseless. I hope there can be peace soon, but it just doesn’t seem likely. It seems like there is going to be a lot more senseless death.

Anyway, there is part one of my blog post. I’m ready to take a break from the news for the day. I’m excited to finally see Coimbra. I’ll finish part two tonight on the train ride home, or tomorrow if I’m too tired.

Sao Martinho do Porto

February 21, 2022August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Kyle first noticed the Sao Martinho do Porto train stop when we went to Caldas da Rainha for the first time. He looked at the town online and saw that the beach is kind of a cove. This beach is great for kids because it’s more sheltered than other beaches, so the water isn’t as rough. I know late February isn’t exactly beach weather, but we’re ready to get out. We were going to go to Coimbra but the bus/train schedules there are not the best for us. Also, we’re struggling a bit with Sofia and don’t want to commit to the huge outing that Coimbra would be.

I’m sure that what Sofia is going through is normal, but it’s trying for us all. She’s just about 3.5 and I think she’s trying to learn how to deal with emotions. I get it- emotions are tough even for me sometimes, let alone a toddler. She has been having multiple outbursts during the day, which just isn’t like her. We’re trying to support her the best we can, but we’re all feeling a little worn down right now. She has been doing a great job of naming her emotions. She can identify when she is sad, and she pretends to be angry sometimes, so she seems to know what those ones feel like.

It was nice to see the beach again. Obviously it’s off season, so a lot was closed in town. We knew it would be a small town, and it was. This was the first time we got kind of bored before the train came. We will definitely go back in the summer, it will be a great beach for the kids to splash around. You can see the waves crashing at the entrance of the cove. They look so big, but by the time they get to the beach they are so much smaller.

Today we just walked along the strip next to the water. Sofia played in the sand for a while and then we got lunch and ice cream. I have been meaning to mail a few things to the US and today I finally remembered to bring them and mail them.

We have a few trips planned this year. In late March we’re headed back to Lisbon to go to the Alice In Wonderland event in Belem. I’m excited to go to an event. We have been traveling around, seeing awesome stuff, but an event will be fun.

In May we’re headed to Porto for 4 days and Braga for 3. That’s the trip I’m really excited about. I know I sound like a broken record by now, but I have always felt that Braga is a great fit for us and I’m really excited to see it.

I’m looking at a trip somewhere in September or December. September is Sofia’s birthday and my and Kyle’s wedding anniversary. It has always been the month we take a big trip. The weather is good, but places aren’t as crowded as in the summer. December would be amazing because we love Christmas lights and the holiday markets. I’ve been looking at Ireland, Brussels, Madeira, Italy…there are too many places. For now I’m just watching the prices. I have seen a few sales for €20 to different places in Europe. I can’t believe how low some of the prices get.

Leiria Castle and Leo turns 2!

February 7, 2022August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Today is Leo’s birthday! Somehow he is already two years old. For his birthday we decided to take a trip to Leiria castle. It’s about time- we always see the castle in the background. It sits up on a hill and is visible from most of the city. It has a really cool elevator that goes up and down the hill to the castle. Unfortunately, it was broken when we tried to take it up. There was a guy stuck in there, and Kyle and I were able to pry the doors open and get him out. He was really grateful. He was much calmer than I would have been stuck in an elevator.

We walked up to the castle. It was a lot of steps and hills that we hadn’t counted on, but I got some great pictures I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. We were also reminded, yet again, of how helpful Portuguese people are. Kyle was carrying a stroller and a backpack, and I was carrying a stroller and holding Leo’s hand. A man came up and asked if we needed help, and then held Sofia’s hand as she walked up the stairs. She got a kick out of it.

I’m not sure what I was expecting of the castle, but it was more amazing than I expected. First, it was cheap! 2.10 per adult, and the kids are free. The views were amazing. I feel like that should have been obvious since it sits on top of a hill, but I guess I never imagined what the views would look like. The kids walked around the entire grounds and got pretty tired. Luckily the elevator was working by the time we went back down. It was a really cool ride down. I can’t wait to go again and ride the elevator up the hill.

From there we walked downtown, to our favorite burger place. Leo’s favorite meal is a cheeseburger. The birds there were insane. They would dive down onto the table and steal our food. We would try swatting at them to scare them away, but some of them weren’t scared at all and actually ended up getting swatted. I have never seen birds as courageous and annoying as these ones. It wasn’t just our table either, they were attacking anyone with anything edible on the table.

One bird swooped down and grabbed Leo’s burger. It fell on the ground and they all swarmed and it was over. We just got up and let them win. There were too many of them and they were everywhere. Sofia started crying. We let her chase the birds and she got over it. She loves chasing birds. The restaurant was awesome and cooked us a new burger for Leo and packaged it to go for us. They apologized profusely, which is really sweet, but also so unnecessary because it’s not their fault that the birds there are some kind of weird burger loving kamikaze birds. They make the best burgers and fries in town, and I guess the birds know this. Next time we will eat inside.

Next up was our favorite ice cream place. Sofia loves their boba smoothies, and I love their coffee. They called it an iced coffee, but it’s really a shot of espresso mixed with vanilla ice cream, and topped with candy. It’s amazing. When it heats up I’m going to walk down there all the time for those things. After that we headed home and Leo got to open some presents. It was a great day and the weather was perfect. It was Leo’s birthday, but it ended up being pretty much my ideal day. Maybe I’ll pick all of this stuff for my birthday too 😃

Batalha part 2

January 28, 2022August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Today Sofia and I went to Batalha to check out the monastery. She seemed excited, but got whiney and bored pretty quickly. I may not have seen everything, but I think I saw most of it. The unfinished chapel was my favorite part.

I’ll have to go to Batalha again on my own one day to spend more time in the monastery. I really like Batalha. It has one of our favorite coffee places. It’s just in a square with a view of the monastery. The coffee is good, and they always have a snack for the kids.

One of my favorite places to get a coffee

I knew that I would like Portugal, I probably even knew that I would love it. What surprises me is how much I love it, and how distinct so many places are. I love Lisbon because it’s big and urban. It’s old and new, and so charming and beautiful. When we were there, Kyle had said that there is a view everywhere and he’s right. Lisbon is full of stunning views. I love Sintra because it’s magical and charming. All of the palaces there are amazing and, much like the rest of Portugal, they are distinct.

Obidos is very different from Sintra but has that same magical quality. They both feel plucked from time and I could easily see them as the background to a fairytale. They are both unique. I see pictures on Instagram of Sintra and Obidos and I immediately know where they were taken.

Batalha is also charming and cute. I love how the monastery takes center stage and makes a beautiful backdrop to the city. Their park is one of my favorites. It’s along the river. They have two playgrounds, a dog park, a bathroom, and a place to play soccer. The town is small and easy to navigate on foot. It’s also the flattest place we have been in Portugal, making it easy to navigate with strollers.

Caldas da Rainha is, to me, not as overtly charming as some of the other places, but it is the only one I would consider living in. I love that their train station is so central to everything. It’s super easy to take the train into town, walk to the playground, the outdoor market, the park, and restaurants. The food there is amazing. Caldas has a lot of what I want for daily life.

I do think that we will likely move north next year. That makes exploring the Silver Coast this year even more fun. I love all of these places that I hadn’t even given a ton of thought to. I have given a ton of thought to Porto and Braga, so I wonder how I will feel about them when I see them. I’m happy that we love Portugal so much. Literally my only issue so far is that I don’t speak the language, and obviously that is my fault, not Portugals.

Once it warms up a bit, we will start some beach trips. I can’t wait to see Nazare. We already love Portugal, and we haven’t even gone to the beach yet (other than our day trip to Cascais). There are so many cute towns nearby worth exploring. I love that we are getting to travel and do new things again. And I love that we already have some comfort and familiarity in a foreign country.

Obidos

January 25, 2022August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Today we finally left the house. Yay! We haven’t really been out since Setubal and we have been going a bit stir crazy. We have been wanting to go to Obidos, and since it’s a small town it seemed like a good place for our first outing in over a month.

I know a lot of people love Obidos, so I was excited to see it. I read a blog and the writer said it was one of the most charming places she has ever been. I agree with that- Obidos is charming, beautiful, adorable, and unique. I would definitely recommend that everyone visit. We already can’t wait to go back.

We took the train from Leiria. The Obidos station is the smallest we have seen. It’s also in a really beautiful rural setting. You can see the city walls from the station. It’s a bit of a trek from the station up to the city. It’s not far, but it is up. And up. You can take plenty of breaks and admire the beautiful view.

As you walk into the city, the walls and the view take center stage. At some point you round a corner and see how cute the town itself is. Everything about Obidos is photogenic.

There are tons of places you can walk on top of the city walls. I tried to do it, but I’m really afraid of heights so I didn’t make it far. And by not far, I mean I made it up the steps and that’s about it, lol. I wish I could walk the walls, they are so interesting and offer amazing views.

It was a great day to go to Obidos. The weather was good and there weren’t too many tourists. I’ve heard that Obidos can get pretty crowded in the summer, so it was nice to see it without many people. They have a summer market and the Christmas festival, so we will definitely be going to Obidos multiple times.

It was so nice to get out of the house. Like I have said in past posts, we love our apartment, but it’s far from things. It’s hard to live there without a car. Leaving the house is always a bit of a trek. We’re excited to find our spot to settle down in. I think it will come down to Coimbra or Braga. I think that Porto will be our favorite city, but it’s more expensive than we can do long term. Wherever we go next, I want to stay for at least 5 years.

In the next week or two, we’re hoping to head to Coimbra to check it out. There was a part of Lisbon that we didn’t get to check out before. It’s Belem, and they’re having an Alice in Wonderland light display right now. I think we’re going to head down to Lisbon some time in the next month or two. Then a month or two later we’re hoping to go check out Porto and Braga. We’re ready to get back to traveling. Since international travel is a bit harder right now, it’s the perfect time to travel around Portugal.

Caldas da Rainha

December 16, 2021August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / 4 Comments

Our pallets are here! They arrived today. Our apartment building has a steep driveway down to the garages. We were really hoping they would be able to put the pallets in our garage since we really have no other way of moving them. It was a bit dicey, but they were able to do it. It’s a huge relief having the pallets in the garage. We can take the boxes out as we’re ready and they’re not in our way. We have already unpacked some of the kids toys and books, so they’re very happy. The pallets arrived in good condition. It kind of feels like Christmas!

Yesterday we decided to take the train to Caldas da Rainha. It was on my short list of places to live, so I was excited to go check it out. The Leiria train station is a bit out of the way, so we took an Uber there. We bought tickets using the CP app. It was just over 5 euro per adult- the kids were free. When we got to the train station we saw that there is a spot for Line 1, Line 2, and Line 3. We looked everywhere, but we couldn’t find anything to indicate which line to take. In Lisbon they have an automated screen that tells you the destination, the time of departure, and the line. We had to ask and were directed to Line 1. It was the same when we came home- nothing to indicate which line to take. We can always ask, but no one else has to, so we’re definitely missing something.

Anyways, the train ride took about 40 minutes. The train was really comfortable and we got our very own car since not many people were on the train. The train also has a bathroom! We have a 2+ hour train ride to Lisbon on Sunday and it was nice seeing what the train ride would be like. Sofia and Leo did great.

We got off the train at Caldas and almost immediately ran into a playground. We let the kids burn off some energy and set off to find the main square. When we got there, they had a market set up. That’s something we haven’t seen yet in Leiria, though I’m guessing they must have one. Kyle got a giant orange, Sofia a banana, and Leo an apple for 80 cents total. Kyle says the oranges out here are the best. I don’t like oranges, so I’ll take his word for it.

After the market we walked around the park a bit. I can’t remember the name, but it’s a beautiful park with the abandoned hospital. Caldas da Rainha felt smaller and more compact than Leiria (which it is), but not as small as Batalha. I think we saw all of Batalha while we were there, but we definitely did not see all of Caldas.

We could definitely see ourselves living in Caldas. It seems a lot easier to manage without a car. It’s cute and has its charms. I love the market. The food we had there was really good (though that has been true of everywhere we have gone on the Silver Coast). It’s nice to know that my judgement was correct- I thought Caldas was somewhere we might like to live and I was right. At the same time, visiting Caldas made me more aware of what I like about Leiria. I like the main square in downtown Leiria. I love the river and the walking/biking trail that goes along it.

Also, Caldas was the first place I really noticed the dog poop. A lot of people complain about dog poop on the sidewalks in Lisbon, but we didn’t really notice a lot. In Caldas I noticed it more. And it smelled like dog poop fairly often. I kept checking my shoe, sure that I must have stepped in some, but I didn’t. Kyle pointed out that, apart from the big park, we didn’t see any other green space in Caldas. There seems to be more in Leiria. But we could still seeing ourselves living in Caldas. There are a lot of pros there.

Batalha

December 12, 2021August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / 1 Comment

We’ve been busy making our apartment home, which has been good timing since the days have been gloomy with some rain on and off. Today the forecast said there was a 0% chance of rain, so we decided that it was time to get out of the house.

Kyle has been seeing some pictures of what turned out to be the Batalha Monastery. I had never heard of Batalha, but it’s 15 minutes away from our apartment so we decided to check out the town and monastery.

Batalha is a small, very walkable town. The main area didn’t have any hills- a rarity in Portugal! The monastery is right in the middle of town and makes a beautiful backdrop. There is a park nearby with playgrounds, a river going through it, and a basketball court.

We didn’t go inside of the monastery because it has a sign outside that says to be quiet inside. Sofia and Leo are not into being quiet right now, so we’ll have to go back some time without them to explore the inside.

I love that Portugal is made up of so many amazing towns. One of the reasons we moved to Leiria is its proximity to other towns we want to see. Caldas da Rainha, Nazare, Tomar, and Obidos are all towns nearby that I really want to see. And those are just the ones I know of. Like I said, I had never heard of Batalha, but I loved it. I look forward to going there again.

One of the reasons we moved to Portugal is so that we can explore the rest of Europe. That’s still high on our list, but with the increased Covid regulations it might be harder over the next several months. I’m glad that there are so many places within Portugal that we want to see. Madeira Island is high on my list for next year. So are Coimbra and Porto. Porto looks so amazing in pictures and I can’t wait to see it in person.

There is still so much we need to learn. Public transportation around Lisbon was easy, but we need to learn it around here. There is a bus station downtown, and Leiria has a train station somewhere too. I guess we will have to learn next weekend when we head to Setubal!

Coming back to our apartment today was great. We had a lot of big and exciting days in Lisbon, but we always returned to an apartment that was too small for us and wasn’t home. Coming back to our apartment today really felt like home and I love that so much. Our apartment is further from town than I want, but other than that I really love the apartment. I can definitely see living here for 3 years, exploring Portugal, and finding the town/city we want to live in long term. The next few years are going to be a lot of fun.

Settling into Leiria

November 27, 2021August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

It has been a rough week or so, but things are starting to settle down and get better. Earlier this week we left Sintra and came to Leiria. We stayed for 3 nights at a hotel right by our new apartment. That was a tough transition because there was so little space. We rented two hotel rooms, but it was still a tight squeeze and we missed having a kitchen and refrigerator. We moved into our apartment a few days ago. Before we did so, we were able to buy mattresses for everyone. That’s all the furniture we have at the moment.

Things went wrong with the apartment pretty much immediately. Kyle noticed that there was no hot water. He contacted the landlord and she told him to just turn on the water heater. He tried for 2 hours, but it wouldn’t work. He called her again and she agreed to come over. After some time she figured out that the gas line outside of the apartment had not been connected.

At that point we had hot water, which was great, but we still couldn’t get the radiators to work. They use hot water to heat the house. That first night was pretty bad because the house was freezing. We all bundled up as much as we could, but we were still cold. At bedtime we realized that none of the bedroom doors close, which sounds super trivial but matters to me since we have such young kids and don’t want them wandering the house alone right now. At 3 in the morning Leo found his way into our room. Poor guy was probably freezing.

At that point, Kyle went to try the radiators again and he noticed that the water heater was pouring water out. He called the landlord and she told him how to shut the water off. So then we were freezing and had no water. And Leo wouldn’t go back to sleep.

I think that leads to yesterday. I was super grumpy and hated everything. I hated the apartment, I hated Leiria. I was just exhausted and frustrated. The day before yesterday we had a few frustrating encounters and some people were rude to us. People told us it was a fluke and that people in Leiria are usually nice, but I was still feeling weird about those interactions. So back to yesterday- we decided that a fun day was in order, so we put off shopping and trying to furnish our apartment.

We went to downtown Leiria and spent the day walking around. They have the Christmas stuff all set up and it just adds to the charm. When we first got to Leiria I really missed the charm and beauty of Sintra and Lisbon. Well, downtown Leiria is charming. I like it there. Our apartment is a bit further than I want, but once we settle in it won’t be such a big deal.

One of our last stops yesterday was an ice cream/ coffee shop. They have some of the best coffee I have ever had. They also have boba ball smoothies that Sofia loves. It’s nice that anywhere we go now is somewhere we can go over and over again.

While we were out we signed up for phone/internet/cable. We got a Black Friday deal for 61 euro per month, which makes me really happy. We were paying $150 just for two phones in the US. We also have fiber optic internet, which is awesome.

Last night when we got home the cable/internet people showed up at the same time as the maintenance guy and another guy to fix our water heater. So it was pretty busy in the house for a while, lol. At the end of it all we got hot water, working radiators, doors that close, and internet. Our TVs were delivered too, so at least we have TV now. It’s amazing how much life improves with some hot water, heat, and TV. I’m feeling a lot more optimistic today.

Trying to get furniture has been a challenge. Our cards get declined when we try to make big purchases. We have daily limits but we’re not sure what they are. Our cards get declined when we try to make online purchases. I know banks here take security seriously, which isn’t a problem as long as you’re not trying to furnish a house. I think we are going to have to try making smaller purchases to get stuff. Hopefully, we can get some furniture in this week. For now, it’s just nice having a kitchen and showers back.

We are completely out of clothes, so we’re trying to catch up on laundry. Until now we have been using laundromats, but we have a huge patio and a drying wrack now, so we’re finally doing our laundry the European way. Our patio doesn’t get sun until afternoon, so I don’t think we will have clean/dry clothes for a while. A day at home sounds perfect right now though. Fingers crossed that we can get some furniture in here this week!