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Emigrants, Immigrants, Laundries, and Cornbread
This blog was written in August, in Porto, before I left for Figueira da Foz. The lavandeira, or laundromat, that I go to is clean and fully automated. You don’t even have to add soap. The touch screen commands are in Portuguese, French, English and Spanish. It happily consumes whatever size bill you insert and…
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Seeking the Palacio de Cristal
Mischief and Delusion Afoot The plan for my Sunday morning walk was to visit the gardens of the Palácio de Cristal, or Crystal Palace. The original crystal palace that was modeled after the Crystal Palace in London is long gone, but attractive gardens and views of the river remain. Having studied the location on my…
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Apartment Found!
Too many seekers. Too few places. That’s the rental market in Porto. It’s like a massive flock of seagulls are circling and for every possible nest, a hundred birds dive for it. In most of the US, if there is a shortage of buildings, we just bulldoze more land and slap up some cheap monstrosities,…
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A Dangerous Place
August 12, 2022 Above, image from Shop Portugal website. Another long walk, and a stop for an espresso and a Pasteis de Nata. They are a perfect match. I meandered to the bookstore that I visited four years ago. It had a good vibe then, and its magnetic force pulled me back. This time I…
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What Are the Odds?
I made my first new friend in an unusual way. Or maybe, the gods of Porto did it for me. In all the online apartment hunting last week, I cast a post out on Facebook group pages for Porto expats. A lady responded that she has an apartment that will be available in October. We…
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In the Beginning
I had been dreaming of experiencing the expat life for years. Extensive research produced a list of possible countries, including Panama, Costa Rica, Columbia, Ecuador, Spain, Italy, and Portugal. This was before Portugal was the hot “go to” destination it is today. In 2018 I visited Porto and was smitten. After a pandemic delay of…
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Mamie Moves to Portugal 