Thinking of part-time life in Portugal? Here’s what we found | Entertainment/Life

“Why is everyone talking about moving to Portugal?” my friend Haiyan Kahn asked when I explained my plan to explore that option.

I had been reading Facebook posts by women traveling solo to one of the safest, most temperate and affordable countries in Europe.

The Celts, Carthaginians, Romans, Suebi, Visigoths, and Moors made their homes there long before the British and Americans invaded the small nation, only the size of Maine.

I would travel by FLIXBus south to north, escaping New Orleans’ August heat, to decide if Portugal might be someplace I could live part-time. Its summer weather is sunny and delightful with average temperatures of 70-80 degrees F without a drop of rain.

Flying from New Orleans through O’Hare to Lisbon, about 10 1/2 hours, I then took the metro to within a block of The Living Lounge hostel, where I encountered several hikers traveling the pilgrimage trail, Camino de Santiago. Curiously, Lisbon was built about the same time as New Orleans, because an earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale, which occurred on All Saints Day in 1755, ignited an enormous fire followed by a tsunami, killing an estimated 60,000 and destroying most of its downtown.

The Marquês de Pombal immediately set about rebuilding the city with resilient stucco buildings graced by cast iron balconies along boulevards paved with mosaics. (Coincidentally, while there on Aug. 26, I slept through a 5.4 earthquake.)

Lisbon mixes modern and historic aspects, with canary-yellow electric trams rattling up and down hillsides and limestone and basalt-tiled plazas centered by military statues, as well as green technology.

Because walkways are steep, this city would be challenging for anyone with mobility issues. I noticed most Lisbon residents are not only stylishly dressed, but slim and fit — a decidedly positive result of strenuous daily treks.

I happily joined a free walking tour of the Moorish Alfama district, undamaged by the quake, climbing ever upward on curving medieval stone streets to the Castle of St. George, dating from the time of the Visigoths and, much later, to the Royal Palace.

We passed charming restaurants, cafes and shops, offering unique, handcrafted items and spectacular views of tiled rooftops below.

Everywhere I went, locals directed me to continue “just a little bit further,” which usually meant another half-hour and often uphill.

It became clear Lisbon offered all the romance and glitter of city living, including international food, classical and modern music, theater, clubs, landscaped parks and promenades without the noise and traffic congestion.

Centuries-old lore, secret recipes

Lisbon’s history is ever-present.

A half-hour away, Belem sits beside the Tagus River where in the 15th and 16th centuries caravels sailed off to discover new worlds. Prince Henry the Navigator (b. 1394-d.1460) sought to make Portugal a world power through advances in shipbuilding, navigation and cartography.

In 1498, Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope to India, opening up the spice trade, which financed the construction of the spectacular Mosteiro (monastery) dos Jerónimos.

Egg custards known as Pastéis de Nata, Portugal’s favorite snack, made from an over 300-year-old recipe known only to four people on Earth, also originated in Belem.

The next day, I took the train to Sintra, a misty resort town comprised of several palatial 19th-century estates and luxuriant botanical gardens about 30 minutes from Lisbon.

The mystical Quinta da Regaleira was developed by a real estate magnate and entomologist António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro who exported coffee and precious stones from Brazil.

Another Moorish castle, constructed between the 8th and 10th centuries, towers over the valley, commanding an ocean view. It is said that Sigurd “the Crusader” Magnusson, King of Norway, sailing by in 1108, stopped to visit! Two days was not enough to fully appreciate the treasures of Sintra.

Ninety minutes inland, Evora, a very livable small city, is a World Heritage Site.

Founded by Romans, it features a Temple of Diana, an aqueduct and monoliths, as well as 5,000-year-old archeological sites outside its walls. It has an excellent brewpub, Magnifica Cerveja Artsanal do Alentejo (artisanal beers).

At Sao Francisco Church’s Chapel of Bones, thousands of human skulls and bones from 42 monasteries line the ceilings and walls.

Sitting alongside the restaurant owner and chef, I watched Olympic swimming competitions while enjoying one of Portugal’s classic dishes, Pasteis de Bacalhau (salted cod fried) washed down with a glasses of ruby and tawny port.

Becoming one with the culture

Melody Holderbein and her husband, Californians I’d met at the airport, moved to the southernmost Algarve, but want to return to the United States. Why? They never learned Portuguese.

“For me, it was a culture shock,” she said. “In hindsight, if a person wants to live permanently and indefinitely in any country, they must become fluent in order to thrive.”

I, too, found Spanish and French completely useless, frequently falling back onto Google Translate.

In contrast, I met Debi and Eddie Cross at Rocky’s Cafe in Caldas da Rainha.

They left Surrey, U.K., in 2018, because it had become overcrowded and expensive.

He describes the feeling in Portugal as, “calm.” A small city, Caldas da Rainha, has surpassed their expectations with stores and restaurants, and become more “artsy” and “diverse” since they moved there.

“Caldas offers us everything we need, and we are only an hour from Lisbon,” Debi Cross said.

From there, I traveled to charming Coimbra, Portugal’s first capitol where in 1290 King Dinis founded a university atop a hill.

I sat for two entertaining hours below the Seranada hostel at a cafe overlooking the cathedral plaza, sipping Port and conversing with an antiques dealer.

He tried hard to convince me to sell everything and purchase a farm, as two American couples from Montana did.

Rentals in small coastal villages are more affordable, he admitted, but there is little entertainment and the ocean is much too cold to swim without a wetsuit.

I shot up north to Braga, which was the center for the Archdiocese, with churches, chapels and shrines on almost every corner. 

My new hostel mate, Jacqueline from Brazil, declared: “If you haven’t seen Bom Jesus, then you haven’t seen Braga,” so I rushed off to visit the legendary sanctuary celebrating the Passion of Christ.

Rather than climb 500 steps, I took the funicular, a hydroelectric cable car, up the mountain to see the basilica, gardens and grottos.

While enjoying a Super Bock and the spectacular view, I chatted with a native who asked if I had decided to move there. I said, no, because I’d decided that where I live is better.

Porto Wine Country

Ninety minutes south, where Port wine is made, my new bestie Eva from Manchester and I headed to the Douro riverfront where everyone else had had the same idea, gathering in cafes and restaurants to watch the sunset while sipping fabulous green wine and admiring the Dom Luis 1 bridge and seagulls soaring over the river.

Former New Orleanian Jon Burroughs chose to live nearby in a working-class suburb of Porto, which he considers a good fit.

“This isn’t Paris — people are helpful and kind, in general. That is one of the great selling points of Portugal,” he remarked in an email. “Lisbon is grand and vibrant, but markedly more costly and not really walkable.”

Retired from the U.S. Coast Guard, Sullivan Freed also chose Porto.

Both Burroughs and Freed mentioned the relaxing sense of safety since gun violence is rare.

Changing times

But much has changed as Portugal has become more popular among expats.

While the price of restaurant meals, groceries and clothing are similar to New Orleans and bus travel is cheap, cars are expensive with gas priced at $8 per gallon.

Real estate in desirable areas compares to New Orleans, and banks require a 30% down payment on mortgages, secured by a life insurance policy.

The tremendous influx of foreigners has driven up housing prices and forced changes in its liberal tax policies.

Short of living in a remote village without a car, my cost of living might be the same or higher.

According to Sullivan Freed: “I really love the fact that I can wander all over the E.U. And that there’s gorgeous infrastructure in place for walking all over Portugal: Camino Santiago, Fatima, Rota Vicentina … I love that I buy my veg from a stand outside in the square and none of it is wrapped in plastic.

“I love that I can see Roman ruins and castles built by the Knights Templar,” she added.

“But what I don’t love is that it isn’t New Orleans,” Freed said.

“And while this is a problem New Orleanians face anywhere they move to, it seems especially severe in Porto. There is no music scene and no art scene either.”

I had to agree. The scenery is lovely, but Portugal lacks a vital component: the arts.

Living part-time in Portugal may not be my ultimate choice, though it could still provide an extended vacation, perhaps to hike the Camino.