Wrapping up our trip

Now that our trip is coming to an and, we can say it has been a great success. Not only did we manage to get all the things organised that we wanted to organise, but it has also reaffirmed our belief that we will very much enjoy life in Portugal.

The final pieces of the puzzle

Our last update already mentioned how many things we managed to do in the first few days.

After getting our energy account already set up on the first day, we also had to get our water set up. So, on Tuesday morning Gaby went to the house, where she worked from the luxurious improvised setup pictured here for a couple of hours. After that, she met up with the letting estate agent, who helped us with getting connected. Water is something you have to get through the local council, so it was very useful to have someone there who knew where to go. It was also very useful as otherwise it was all in Portuguese, which is obviously not that unexpected. Otherwise, it was a pretty straightforward process.

Also on Tuesday, we received the happy news that the documents had now been checked for our bank account application and that it had been approved!

So on Wednesday after work we went by to finalise the set up. After only a brief wait the same lady that helped us last time helped us again. We had to sign a lot of documents, but after that we did indeed get our bank cards. At the machine we set up our PINs, activated the account, and made a small initial deposit. They also helped us make sure we could also access the account through the official app and that was it. Another step done.

Enjoying life

Having crossed off everything that we wanted from our list, and also having worked the whole week, there was some time to enjoy life as well. As the weekend arrived, so finally did the sun.

The Saturday afternoon was glorious. After strolling through the city for a short while, seeing a few sites, we first gradually made our way to the boulevard along the Douro. As we were keen to drink some port wine, we went across the Ponte Luís I to the other side where all the port houses reside. Unfortunately, due to the sun still being quite low, and the hills and buildings being in the way, we couldn’t find a single terrace in the sun. So, back we went, again crossing over the Ponte Luís I, to the sunny side. In between all of the restaurants, there was a lovely wine place. A table in the sun was just becoming available, so we sat down and enjoyed a lovely port wine tasting menu, together with a very nice cheese board, while basking in the sun.

We also had some lovely meals over the weekend. To start off the weekend wed had some tapas on Friday night at Rio’s Tapas & Bar. This was followed up with a sea food tasting menu at Tábua Rasa on the Saturday. We loved both places and would happily go there more often.

We finished off the weekend in style eating at Bartolomeu. Their idea is to share the food that is served, something that we tend to do anyway. They encourage that by bringing all dishes that you order out gradually. This allows you to more easily share the dishes at your own pace, without things going cold. The accompanying wines were the icing on the cake. We had a port wine for the cheeses and meats, a white wine for the seafood dishes, and a muscatel wine for our sweet desserts. It may have been a lot fancier than we usually opt for, but it was so very much worth it! It was the perfect ending to a very successful and enjoyable trip. On top of that, it was our 12.5 year wedding anniversary on Sunday. This is a ‘thing’ in the Netherlands to celebrate, so if we would have needed an excuse, celebrating our ‘Copper Wedding Anniversary’ certainly was one.

Back to the cold

Unfortunately, this trip had to come to an end at some point. This morning we’ve had to vacate the AirBnB which has served us very well. With Gaby having to work today, and us both needing to fill the day, we’ve gone to a co working space called Selina. We had originally planned to go to a smaller more informal space, but that one was unfortunately closed. But this has turned out to be a much nicer and very affordable space than we had thought. So this is definitely one to remember for if Gaby would like to work in a different environment or to already be in Porto at the end of a work day. We would also definitely recommend it to people who want to visit Porto but also would like to work.

Soon we’ll be back home, now that it still is our home. We’ve seen it has been very cold and there has been plenty of snow as well over the last week. And even though the snow will have gone by now, we’re sure it’ll be a shock to the system. Already can’t wait to get back here – our new home!