Finally In Braga
It may have taken me a few days to get this post out, but the past few days have been a bit hectic despite Portugal having two holidays the past 2 days. Still, I hope to keep to my word and start posting more often to keep you in the loop of our lives and to keep the habit going for when trips get really interesting! So what’s our first few days in Braga been like?
I guess the beginning is always a good place to start a story. This one begins last Sunday at the Eugene Airport. I’ll skip over the frantic Friday where I had issues coming at me from two directions (I’ve gotten very good at filling out forms and statements in Portuguese - though I know little more than a bunch of words and a few sayings), which put us behind time-wise for things we had to do on Saturday. Saturday involved packing, cleaning out mummy’s trailer, getting a rental car and heading over to a hotel near the airport. Sunday went smoothly, we got there early, butted in front of everyone that was in line thanks to flying business class (you get 20 extra pounds per bag, plus one extra bag each - and each of our 4 check-in bags weighed between 64 and 68 pounds). After the extra baggage fees we would have had flying coach, the cost differential wasn’t that much. Later we would find out the real advantage to the upgrade.
Anyway, the flight from Eugene went smoothly.
Once we landed in San Francisco, we quickly realized we weren’t in Kansas anymore. Perhaps it would be better to say that Kansas wasn’t the Kansas we’re all familiar with. While the airport was technically “open” whole segments (and terminals) were closed. Unfortunately, so too was the United Polaris lounge, so we had to find another lounge to hang out in, which was in another terminal. And they weren’t serving breakfast or any other meal. So we had coffee and snacks (for breakfast mind you) and found a very good deli for a meal before heading over to our terminal.
As we were to find out, the flight from San Francisco was fully booked. That was, of course, for coach. For business class they could still implement social distancing, which they did in the case of our tickets - my seat was behind Ann’s. The Steward, seeing our name, nicely let me know that I could move and sit beside Ann . . . if she would let me. She did. During the entire flight, except for when eating and drinking, everyone was required to wear masks, which made both of us feel good.
The advantage to business class, besides social distancing and a lot more room, is that we could lay down flat to sleep. So I got about 4 hours of sleep, which is good considering. I knew I’d be driving when getting to Portugal and I didn’t want to have the nods. The disadvantage, to flying in general, is that they did not serve any “pour” drinks. Which meant no coffee!
So what was the first thing we did when we got to Frankfurt and walked over to our new gate? Coffee and a butterbrezel. Sorry . . . I needed both so much they were downed before I could pull out my phone to take a shot.
Frankfurt airport is a major hub for Europe and it shows. The range of airplanes we saw there was impressive. A lot more planes than in San Francisco.
The flight to Porto takes a couple of hours and I got a final nap in for safe keeping.
My big concern in Porto was customs. We were carrying all of our camera gear (two carry-on rollers pretty much full of the stuff) along with 3 laptops, and multiple iPads and iPhones. I’d prepared declarations statements (by serial number, in Portuguese) I’d cobbled up from the paperwork we’ve been doing for our household goods moves, and was prepared to push back on having to pay duty.
Strangely enough, ours were some of the first bags off the plane and for once they were all together - 4 bags in a row on the carousel. When does that happen? We had gotten carts and were totally loaded up, one cart each, with 2 big bags, and 2 carry-ons stacked up. I should have taken a photo because it was quite the sight - a giant caravan. Anyway, we got into a very long line, long because of social distancing that people were respecting (oh yeah, and unlike Frankfurt, everyone had a mask on). Then came the deciding moment. I approached the customs officer with my prepared speech, “Fala inglês?” He nodded. “We are moving here on residency visas. All of these bags are our personal goods for personal use. Do we need to clear customs?” No, look at the line - we don’t have time for such things today. “Thank you.”
But then, as I walked away, came the dreaded customs, “Wait sir . . .” “Yes?” “I hope you and your wife enjoy living in Portugal.” “I’m sure we will.”
Having cleared that hurdle, we somehow managed to make it over to the rental car agency and we were soon on our way to Braga. With the help of GPS, finding our place wasn’t too bad. We’ve rented a vacation rental for two weeks as we set up our home as best we can until our household goods come. Fortunately it comes with it’s own (very tight) garage because it is right downtown.
I’s a very typical 2-story flat, which, as you can see from the living-room shot below, abuts the old city wall. We’re on the outside of course!
We arrived fairly late and were exhausted. It didn’t take us long to crash. The next morning (Tuesday) we headed out looking for breakfast. We inadvertently passed by one of the most familiar sites you’ll see from tourist shots of Braga.
Portugal is for the most part in stage 3 of opening up, but still many places are closed and restrictions abound. The place we thought we would go for breakfast (based on Yelp reviews) was closed, so we did what we’ve done so often, which was find an open cafe and see what was available. We didn’t regret it.
On the way back to the apartment we got to appreciate some of the character of Braga.
Later that morning we walked down to the local Lidl, a German-based shopping store to get some basics.
Tuesday afternoon was full of business. We had to go to the rental office to sign the actual lease for our house (in January we’d signed a rental contract - an agreement to lease because construction had not yet been completed). We then headed over to the Vodaphone store to set up our phone/tv/internet (everything gets installed on Friday) and then over to the electric company to get the power transferred to our names.
Now is as good a time as any to talk about the Corona Virus and how Portugal has dealt with it. Be prepared to feel jealous. Simply put, the government guidance here in Portugal regarding how to interact safely in public is clear and both people and businesses are very compliant. While you see plenty of people walking outside without wearing a mask, usually they have one in their hand or pulled down on their face. Once they get into a crowd or go inside, the mask goes on.
Stores, depending on size, have a limited number of people allowed inside and there are rules to follow. Size wise, the small shop where we bought a tape measure allowed only 2 people in the store at a time, and only to the counter area - the store was so narrow people couldn’t pass safely, so we were required to remain up front while the sales person showed us a range of tape measures (we went with the Stanley, 8 meter tape). At the mall, the more popular stores will have lines outside with someone up front counting the number of people entering and leaving. Grocery stores are somewhat different, but people still tend to stay spaced apart, even in lines. The Vodaphone store allowed only 1 person per teller, so I went in and did most of the transaction, and swapped with Ann to discuss technical issues. Ana (our helper from Ei! the immigration assistance organization helping us), went in alone to do our power connection - coming out for us to sign forms and to get my bank IBAN number for automatic payments. And, everything gets wiped down between each customer.
Whether officially posted or not, there is always a hand sanitizer dispenser at the entrance and you squirt and rub every time you go into (and often out of) the store. A lot of stores have signs like below.
It’s pretty self explanatory - you’re required to wear a mask, practice social distancing, gel up on entry, practice proper coughing techniques, have an appointment, and a limit of 2 clients at a time. Most government offices are still by appointment only. The fine for not wearing a mask on mass transit or in a close-encounter public space ranges from 350 - 1,000 €. Yes, they are serious about public safety.
The government provides a lot of statistical information and clear guidance on what to do when you start feeling ill. For example, everyone on the flight into Porto received the following handout (Or as the airline put it, “The Government of Portugal requires that we give you the following handout . . ..”). And yes, the flip side is in English. The process here is that if you think you have symptoms, you call the number. If the authorities think you are ill, they send a doctor to your home to check you out, and possibly test you. They’ve implemented an approach of treat at home if possible that other European countries have raved about. Even at its worst, ICU beds in Portugal never exceeded 64% occupancy.
Commerce is returning slowly but surely, but the government is adamant that people adhere to the rules, reminding people that they will tighten the screws again if numbers shoot back up. People realize the implications and while they are returning to a normal life, it is a new normal. Everyone seems to understand and accommodate the circumstances. We’ve been told they are a very practical people and they are.
We had two holidays in a row - Portugal Day and Corpus Cristi. The first we didn’t get to enjoy too much because I spent a good part of the day dealing with issues concerning our household goods and doing some finishing up work on a brief I’d drafted back in the US. The second morning I got up early to finish my work so we could enjoy the day. After I was done, we headed out around noon to do our first real exploring of the city.
As I mentioned earlier, we are within the old town, just outside the old city walls. Our street is cobblestone and pretty much everything around is old.
We navigated our way to a restaurant we were hoping to try out and . . . it was open for lunch. For anyone who visited us in Eugene, you know of our favorite restaurant in Portland - Piazza Italia. Well, Braga has La Piola. What more can we say than it will surely become one of our standards!
After lunch, we headed out to play tourists. It was a cool, lovely day and without even trying we came across several of the historic sites.
We wandered around quite a bit (finding the kitchen store we returned to this morning) getting a feel for the size of the city, and realized the old town is a comfortable day’s wander. Many of the smaller shops were closed for the holiday, so we weren’t tempted to do real preparation-buying - just looking.
As we were walking back on one of the narrow roads that lead to our place I looked over and noticed a name on the door - one that Ann had mentioned the night before when she was looking up “coffee shops in Braga” the night before. Nordica is, in fact, the only “coffee shop” in Braga. Yes, coffee (very good espresso) is everywhere, but this is Portland/Seattle Coffee Snob Coffee. I had the last of the Papua New Guinea done via an Aeropress and Ann had a Honduran poured though a Chemex. Both were excellent.
The only drawback was that they were out of the Ethiopian. But excellent coffee nonetheless. Best of all, they’re only a block or so away from our rental!
Braga is about the size of Eugene-Springfield, but an entirely different feel. Despite the fact that we’ve been a bit too busy to truly explore, that will come in time and the weekend is coming. And we will have plenty of time for that. We have a house to prepare as much as we can so we can minimally move in in another week.
After our short time here I’m feeling very comfortable that Ann and I have made a good choice. While we realize that the transition is going to be quite a bit different than we’d thought in some ways (that is for another post), the pace of things here (perhaps due to the virus, more likely not if the rental car guy is to be believed) is more in line with us than Porto.
Plus, the fact that most of the people here are not very comfortable speaking English means that Ann and I will have to get serious about our Portuguese. And that is a very good thing.