Evil Cats Destroy Lives In Europe

Category: Portugal

  • Porto Street Art And A Tuk Tuk Tour

    Porto Street Art And A Tuk Tuk Tour

    Our adventures continued in the fabulous and fabulously hilly city of Porto. We were all quite optimistic about our leg endurance after the climb at Bom Jesus so we set off on a self guided tour of the city’s street art. I started seeking out and photographing street art on my first trip to New…

  • Pinhão And Port Wine

    Pinhão And Port Wine

    Port tastings and vineyard tours was another request made by our visitors and Pinhão, a gorgeous village in the Douro Valley about 80 miles from Porto, is one of the best places to indulge in this endeavour. In Oregon we frequented many a vineyard, and were long term wine club members with more than one…

  • Bom Jesus Do Monte

    Bom Jesus Do Monte

    Cousin Susie had this sanctuary on her “must-see” list and we wanted to visit different regions, specifically the north of Portugal, to scout locations for a future relocation. Could we really trade 300 days of sun and bright blue skies in the Algarve for a rainier, cooler climate in the north? We couldn’t even remember…

  • Olhão – Lisboa

    Olhão – Lisboa

    Our first extended vacation in Portugal was in September. We had finally arranged pet sitting for our unruly furry kids (thanks neighbor Paulo) and there were still a couple of weeks of summer vacation left before Portuguese language school. We headed to Lisboa the day before a scheduled meeting with my cousin Susie and her…

  • GOAL, GOAL, Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal… Goal!

    GOAL, GOAL, Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal… Goal!

    Michelle and I begrudgingly watched the Super Bowl about every other year, before moving, for the commercials and a reason to make themed food, but otherwise we had little interest in football in the United States. American football (to me) seemed like a bloated, over-commercialized, and excessively violent waste of an afternoon. Other than the…

  • Weekend In Coimbra

    Weekend In Coimbra

    When we were preparing to move to Portugal our real estate agent introduced us to another couple (Randy and Corinne) who were also preparing for their international move. Their house had just sold, they had already been on a scouting trip to Portugal and fell in love with the country. We moved about a month…

  • Festival Med 2023

    Festival Med 2023

    Our wonderful friend Jorge (our Portuguese professor) loves live music of almost any variety. Jorge had been telling us and other students in his classes that Festival Med in the nearby town of Loulé is an amazing event, he was going and offered to have us join his group if we were interested. The festival…

  • We Made It 1 Year

    We Made It 1 Year

    June 20th marked 1 full year in Portugal and the time blasted by like a bullet train. Maybe that means we have been having plenty of fun (“day drinking” European style is next level – even our background in emergency services did not prepare us for this), or perhaps we are just oldish now and…

  • To Lisbon And Back In 37 Hours

    To Lisbon And Back In 37 Hours

    Andrew had successfully navigated his residency appointment in October, and now it was my turn. We still haven’t found a house sitter in Portugal, so I traveled solo to Lisbon and back via train while Andrew stayed home with our furry kids. My primary goals were: pack light for easy travel, find something delicious to…

  • Another Journey On The Road To Residency

    Another Journey On The Road To Residency

    My journey through the bureaucracy of becoming a legal resident in Portugal has been a series of physical trips, often covering long distances and being more stressful than the actual appointments involved. Trips to San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Orlando have all been intense journeys. Fittingly today’s post will focus on my journey more than…