Over the last two days, we’ve started to really think more about Portugal as a place we could live. We’ve always talked about moving abroad when we retire (or at least snow-birding abroad), but we both increasingly feel that we may have to move sooner/immediately so we are approaching this trip more and more as a scouting trip. Portugal has a very accessible cost of living, and obtaining a visa to live and work here wouldn’t be terribly difficult (especially since I’ve never met a bureaucracy that I couldn’t navigate). It’s very multi-cultural, and it has all of the contemporary aspects of daily life that we would hate to give up on (wifi, consistent access to water and electricity, etc). It’s one of the safest countries in the world, with pick-pocketing being the predominant crime. And travel from here to the rest of Europe (and the US) is really easy.
We started the day heading over to the mall to get some provisions. It was sunny out, and truly a lovely morning.
We met Matt, Marnie, and the boys at Se Velha, the Old Cathedral, and then explored the cathedral. Not a bad cathedral, but it wasn’t the highlight of the trip, either. Very average.
We did some more exploring, stopped for more wine and cheese, and mostly just spent time visiting. It’s been too long between visits with these folks!
A major rain and wind storm was entering the city, and as it approached, we parted ways for the evening. Dinner was at a place not far from our hotel. I had more cheese, because cheese in Europe is amazing and not like the bland stuff sold as cheese in the US. Same with wine. You can talk about Napa Valley all you want, but even the cheap Portuguese or Spanish wines are much better than the good CA stuff. So, I will eat my fill of local wine and cheese while I can!
Friday was Marnie’s birthday – the reason we are here. And, of course, it poured all day, with on and off torrential downpours. Not ideal. Matt said Portugal got over 2/3 of their annual rainfall over the course of this storm and I believe it.
Since Luke and I are up and about earlier than our friends, we went across the river to Mosteiro de Santa Clara-a-Velha. This was a really interesting place. It was built by a wealthy upper class woman. Hearing the documentary talk about how she was excommunicated because she diverted her patronage from the Franciscan monks to this cloister was unexpected. Seems a little petty and selfish, and the video definitely leaned into that perspective.
Inside what’s left of the convent, it’s truly remarkable how different it felt than typical cloisters which were built by men. This had a simple design, but with a scale that was grand and just enough ornamentation to make it visually appealing without being gaudy.
Coimbra is a college town and so we headed up the hill (so many hills!) to see the college. The library was the main attraction and it was (obviously) sold out for the day, so we got tickets for the next day and went over to see some of the college sights. they have a hall of minerals, a physics hall, and a cabinet of curiosities.
Luke and Marnie were on the hunt for the secreto pork cut – something unique to the Iberian peninsula. They didn’t quite find exactly what they were looking for, but they got close.
We got back to our hotel, with its 1920s decor, and marveled at the phone room, complete with physical, corded phone.
Vacation Days 