Portugal – Page 4 – Travels of John and Flo

October 20, 2015October 18, 2020

Getting to know Portugal, Part II

Our second journey took place when we returned in the fall to take care of our residency papers and close on the sale of our apartment. We headed north to visit Lousa, the Douro region, Porto and Nazaré. Along the way we also met up with some friends from Canada, Dru and Ted and Kimi from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Lousa was chosen as a break for our drive up to the Douro River, and because we liked the pictures of the Lousa Palace Hotel in this small town just east of Coimbra. Not really a lot to see or do in town, but the hotel is quite something. There are large, elaborate sitting areas, the main dining room is amazing, and the rooms are spacious and wall appointed. And the price is right as well. But again, not a lot to do in Lousa!

October 19, 2015October 18, 2020

Getting to know Portugal, Part I

Since Portugal is going to be our place of residency for the next few years, we returned there this fall to travel the country and get to know it a little better. Portugal is not a big country, just 1% the size of the country I grew up in – Canada. So getting to know it shouldn’t take a lot of time. Our first journey out took us west and north, to Cascais, Sintra and Ericeira.

October 19, 2015October 19, 2020

Portuguese Residency

We have been working on becoming Portuguese residents for some time now, as we have started a process to leave Mexico. Becoming Portuguese offers me full-time residency in Europe, so I can come and go as I please. Portugal also comes with some nice fiscal benefits. One part of the residency process involves having a home in the country so we bought an apartment in Lisbon. It was completely gutted when we saw it, which allowed us to design the layout ourselves and put in everything new. It was a fun experience and the contractors were great. They came in on budget and finished ahead of schedule.

July 13, 2015October 18, 2020

Summer visit to Portugal

Last weekend we decided to take a trip over to see Lisbon. Flights were very cheap from Nice and we’ve been wanting to visit for some time. We stayed in a very nice boutique hotel in central Lisbon called Lis Baixa (ask for room 305 or 405 as they are much larger). Good price, nice breakfast included and the people are super friendly.