Time for a Change-up

We’ve now been here almost a year in Porto.

Way back at the beginning of our Odyssey, I talked about making a decision between Lisboa and Porto as a base of operations. There were plusses on both sides, but we opted for Porto as the calmer alternative.

Unfortunately, after a year of confinement, we’re feeling … confined.

Now, I don’t want to bash this place, that wouldn’t be fair at all. There are a lot of good points to Porto, and I know we’ll be visiting in the future to see some of the friends we’ve made while we’ve been here.

But some realities:

Porto is very traditional in a lot of ways, which is good for getting a real Portuguese flavor, but it also means that there’s a feeling of provincialism, a lack of progressiveness. There isn’t so much energy here around change or development.

Strangely, the tradition aspect doesn’t extend to preservation. There are a lot of areas in the older parts of the city with abandoned and derelict buildings. There are a lot of beautiful buildings where you can see that the interior is completely in ruins.

Part of the reason is complicated Portuguese inheritance and property laws, but part of it is just that people didn’t think it was important enough to keep the city in repair.

And COVID has hit this city hard. Even as things start to normalize, there are so many vacant storefronts and restaurants which will never reopen that it makes you wonder how long it will take the local economy to bounce back. And these aren’t in the tourist neighborhood, mind you – it’s the small shops and cafés that have been supported by the locals for generations that are now gone.

This will sound like spoiled Americans talking, but it’s also been difficult to find some of the things we needed to make us comfortable. Even in the big hypermarkets choices can be limited in some things. Finding services has been challenging at times, too. And once again, COVID … our gym recently closed, and the nearest alternative is just too far to be practical.

In normal times, maybe none of this would have mattered. We would have been traveling, getting out of the bubble – it may have felt welcoming to step back into the coziness of Porto. But we’ve had too much time sitting, watching TV, walking around the same neighborhoods looking at closed shops.

So, we’re moving to Lisboa. Bigger city, more dynamic, and much more to see and do.

Now, some good news – back in the days when we were only dreaming of being in Europe, we always had a certain picture of what that would look like in our minds. “I want a place where I can just walk downstairs to the corner for coffee and pastries in the morning.” “I want to be able to walk to the fresh market to buy direct from local people.” “I want a neighborhood where there are shops and restaurants.” “I want to live in an old building in an apartment that’s been totally modernized.”

Not specific at all, right? The thing is, we were actually talking about a certain neighborhood in Lisboa – the Avenidas Novas/Saldanha area. We stayed at a hotel in the area a few years back, and it was more or less exactly what we were looking for. Yes, it was more expensive than living in Porto, but still affordable, especially when compared to US prices.

So, we started looking – and low and behold, we found the perfect place!

Moving is going to be interesting and will probably provide fodder for some posts (which is good, because I’ve been unmotivated to write while the world has been in limbo). There will be logistical, bureaucratic, and practical obstacles to overcome, so stay tuned for details!