Moving is supposed to be a single day of chaos. Ours? It turned into a full two-day production. But after a lot of cardboard, and one very patient cat, we were officially in motion.
The move was set to begin at 8:00 AM Monday morning, 21 July, and we were as ready as possible. We had already segregated the small bags and other essentials we needed to keep with us by stuffing them into the guest room closet and marking it off with a giant X in blue painter’s tape.
Lexie was similarly sequestered in one of the bathrooms. She wasn’t thrilled, but considering how inquisitive and “helpful” she likes to be, it was the only way to prevent her from winding up taped into a random box.
Now, when we were setting up the move, the moving company told us that they thought it would take two days to pack us up. I was a little surprised by this, since it’s never taken more than one day before, and we were planning on getting a lot of stuff packed in advance.
It quickly became obvious that there was never any intention on the part of the moving company to finish in one day. The movers arrived on time, but there were only two guys – and, no moving truck in sight, just a van stuffed with packing materials.
However, they started in right away, and as the day went on, reinforcements arrived. By mid-afternoon, we had a full team in action, moving like a small, very organized army. Everything – and I mean everything – got wrapped. Plates, books, chairs, the toaster, the laundry hamper. I have photographic evidence.
Boxes we had already packed? They packed them (full) into their own boxes, and/or wrapped them in plastic.
By the end of Day One, they’d packed about 90% of the apartment. The rest would wait until morning.
We freed Lexie from captivity and took a couple of bags across the street to the Olissipo Marquês hotel, where we planned to spend the next couple of nights. (With our bed already disassembled and wrapped in bubble wrap, it was either that or sleep on the floor.) Also, since I had turned in the cable and network equipment the previous day, we needed the hotel’s Wi-Fi.
We had our last get-together with Sarah and David on Monday evening, at least for now. They were kind enough to make us dinner, and we had a great time.
Tuesday morning, the team was back. Boxes were stacked to the ceiling in the living room, more paper rustled, and more tape hissed off rolls.
Once the entire apartment was encased in wrapping, they started moving it out. By early afternoon, the place was bare.
When the last carton rolled out to the truck, the apartment felt… strange. Echoing. All the art was off the walls, the place was completely empty, and you could almost hear it exhale.
Mere minutes after the last mover left, Emerson from the management company arrived for our final inspection. In the four years we’ve known him, he has never shown up less than a half hour late for any appointment … this one occasion, he was an hour early. We braced ourselves for the usual move-out nitpicking.
Instead, it was flawless. He complimented us on how great the place looked. His biggest concern was that we handed in all the keys. We gave him everything but one set, which we needed to get in and out of the garage the next day.
We were a bit surprised that no potential renters had yet visited the apartment, but then Emerson let us in on a little secret: the owner was planning a full paint and refresh before renting it again, so it hadn’t even been listed yet. Translation: they weren’t worried about a scuff here or there. Even so, we still did a good “surface clean” before leaving.
By that point, we were exhausted but oddly buoyant. The hard part was over: the apartment was empty, and the truck was on its way.
We had our final meal in Lisbon at the Italy Caffe, just as planned, and then spent our last night across the street at the hotel, recharging for an early start on Road Trip Wednesday.
A Modern Odyssey - Expatriates in Iberia 