This week the big milestone was choosing where we will live for our future expat lives. Maybe forever. We found an apartment (condo) in the town of Matosinhos. After a few tense days of negotiations with the seller, we reached an agreement. The plan is to sign papers and pay a deposit this week and then close quickly on 27 February!  Less than 3 weeks from the offer.

Closing can  happen much more quickly here as there really are no home inspections or appraisals. You buy what you see. The other thing that is quite different from the U.S. is that the sellers typically take many things with them such as kitchen appliances and light fixtures. We had to meet with the sellers and make sure we understood what was (and wasn’t) staying. In this case, the seller is leaving most of the appliances but taking the built-in dishwasher and many of the hanging light fixtures. I’m sure we’ll find other surprises when we close.

The apartment is “newer” by Portuguese standards (built in 2003.) But, dated by our standards. It will need some work over time.  But, we don’t intend to over-improve the place as we’ve done with homes in the past. At this stage of our lives, we want to live more simply. We don’t need luxury bathrooms or a gourmet kitchen. Nor can we afford such things in our retirement. We really like the center city location, convenience to the metro, and the large rooftop terrace with great views. After looking at probably 25 apartments, this one suited us best by far. It should be a great base for exploring the country and more of Europe.

We also enjoyed some slightly better weather this week and walked a lot exploring both Porto and Matosinhos. We are starting to feel more grounded.

Images below are from Matosinhos shot during two days exploring.

Great promenade along the huge beach.
Surfing class finishing up.
Moving memorial to 12/1/1947 when bad weather killed 152 fishermen. Monumento Tragedia no Mar.
Sailors' chapel. We can see the steeple from the terrace of the apartment we are buying.
The traditional municipal market very close to our new place. Fresh catch.
Great looking vegetables. If you even slow down to look, the farmers jump up to assist. Very intimidating when we know nothing.
We love the local olives. So many kinds and so cheap.
Not sure how I feel about the "fresh" chicken...
Our apartment is on the street only open to local traffic and the metro. It is the white building and we'll be the top floor plus the rooftop terrace above.
The apartment from the back side.
The photo quality is poor, but this is part of the 360 degree view from the rooftop terrace of the apartment we are buying. We get a peek of the sea and the docks plus city rooftops. There are countless local restaurants within a few blocks mostly specializing in fresh seafood.

Below are just a few of the many photos from our visit to the old Porto cemetery. Fascinating. There are modest graves as well as many huge private mausoleums. You can learn a lot of local history visiting old cemeteries. 

Entrance to the cemetery.
Memorial to a tragic fire at the Baquet Theatre in Porto that killed an estimated 90 - 130 people in 1888. The memorial includes actual pieces of the rubble.

Below are an assortment of Porto photos from this week. One lovely sunny day and one overcast day. Still the contrasts of Portugal are always interesting.

Univ. of Porto engineering students entertaining for a bit of cash. The groups are called tunas.
Great view from a great little wine bar.
Always amusing when a thundering herd of tourists come by dragging suitcases on the cobbled streets.
The plastic owl that was supposed to keep the seagulls away from our food. Guess he wasn't scary enough...
Our metro stop for the rental apartment and our building in Vila Nova de Gaia.
Our rental apartment (top floor) as seen from way across the river in Porto.
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