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Um famoso cientista de anfíbios estava fazendo uma apresentação na sociedade zoológica local. “Boa noite, senhoras e senhores. Eu tenho aqui um sapo simples. Observem!” Ele colocou o sapo na mesa e ordenou: “Pule, sapo, pule!” O sapo saltou dois metros. “Como vocês podem ver,” disse o cientista, “um sapo pode pular dois metros emContinue reading “Uma piada em portugues”

A few years ago, when we were still in pre-move investigation mode, we arrived at the airport in Lisboa and stepped up to the Immigration Control desk to pass into the country. The official looked through my passport and said, “Hmm. You’ve been here before.” “Yes, I have,” I agreed. “And you came back.” “Yes,Continue reading “The Taberna Típica Quarta Feira (or, Why I love Portugal)”

Well, we did it! We are now in our new Lisboa apartment for a full week, and loving it. The move itself was remarkably trouble-free. The moving team was supposed to be at the Porto apartment on the 12th at 8:30 AM. This being Portugal, I expected that meant sometime before 10:00, but to myContinue reading “A successful move”

We managed to get some things checked off the list this week towards the move to Lisboa. We drove down Monday morning with a carload of breakables. We’ve got movers who will be lifting and loading on 12 August, but since we had to be at the apartment for a series of appointments, Kristie wantedContinue reading “More milestones on the journey”

One of our major motivating factors in deciding to move to Europe was our love of traveling. We always envisioned regular excursions from our home base. There were so many places we wanted to see, but trips from the US had to be huge, concentrated affairs – but if we LIVED in Europe, nothing wasContinue reading “Roman Ruin Road Trip”

Let me start by warning you – this is a very long post, and the story is not in fact completely over. With that said … The Portuguese people are well aware of the fact that navigating their governmental and regulatory systems can be difficult. They will freely admit that there are too many differentContinue reading “The worst of all bureaucracies”

We took a lightning road trip to Lisboa Wednesday – three hours down, three hours back – to sign the contract and pick up some of the keys to the new apartment! The signing took place in the office of the attorney who represents the owner, who will also be our official contact for anyContinue reading “The new apartment is officially ours”

During our apartment hunt, we actually had a hard time deciding between attempted apartment number two and the place we are destined for. This place had some great features such as air conditioning, parking, and a terrific location across the street from the Fundação Gulbenkian gardens. The kitchen is a good size – bigger thanContinue reading “All systems go!”

Renting an apartment here is not as simple as saying, “Yep, looks good, I’ll take it.” You have to submit a written offer, which includes your proposed term of lease, monthly rate, proposed amount of deposit, and any repairs which need to be done before your move-in. You also have to provide tax records andContinue reading “Bumps Along the Rental Road”