After our long flight all five of us were so very happy to finally land in Lisbon. We had heard rumors about four hour waits at passport control because of worker shortages but there was literally no line when we arrived. Michelle zoomed to the airport veterinarian with the three furry kids and I went to collect our baggage. Things went pretty much without a hitch and our pre-arranged driver Luis was outside ready to drive us to our new home.

The animals were a bit restless on the drive, but nobody broke out of their carriers. The scenery reminded me of the Applegate Valley near our former home in Medford, Oregon with vineyards and sparsely populated farmland. I definitely dozed for quite a bit of the three hour car ride. The local real estate agent had an appointment and asked us to pick up the keys at their office. As we approached city center the small streets of Portugal were immediately apparent – at one point it couldn’t have been six inches between the van and the buildings and there were also people walking on the streets on either side.

Olhão is in the Algarve, it was June, the mediterranean climate was in full effect and the downtown area was full of tourists and their cars. Our driver got to within about two blocks of the real estate office and asked if I wanted to have them deliver the keys, I said I’d just hop out and grab them. Success! I was VERY worried that I wouldn’t find my way back, but I was able to use the FindMy (Wife) app to return, otherwise I may have been wandering the tiny alleyways to this very day. A couple blocks later and we stopped in front of our house, unfortunately there was NO parking and traffic was backing up quickly so the driver helped us get the luggage and pets out of the vehicle and sped away, leaving us alone in Portugal. We couldn’t wait to get inside and see if the pictures matched our expectations.

I neglected to shoot this video in the correct orientation, I’ll work to improve that in the future!