Don’t judge a country by its food.
Or not, at least, by the first dish you experience.
On my first day in Portugal, I feared that the Mediterranean diet wouldn’t be for me. The Portuguese seem to eat nothing but meat… and in a hearty form.
Picture a lasagna of pork, chorizo, bread, and gravy… and you’ve got yourself a Portuguese special.
When I ordered a veal appetizer, out came a bowl heaped with red meat—no additions or adulterations. (My best guess is it could only have been intended for multiple diners.)
Could I make it through the next week as a hard-core carnivore?
Now, I’m not usually a fish eater. But, hearing rave reviews about the local seafood, I figured that sea creatures were my next best option for survival…
And I was surprised. Clams, prawns, oysters, cod—they’re all insanely fresh, tasty, and (just like my veal meal) presented with minimal tampering.
What surprised me more, though, was the status of tinned fish. Who’d have thought you could make tinned sardines, trout, and anchovies into a national treasure?
Comur—the national cannery chain—has shops all over Portugal (as well as its own factory museum) that manage to turn a mundane product into something weirdly fun and entertaining.
I was glad to have some vacation time to act the absolute tourist—especially on this, my first-ever visit to Portugal. But soon it was time to make my way down to Carvoeiro for our Live and Invest in Portugal Conference.
One of my favorite things about coming to conferences is catching up with past attendees…
And, on the first morning of the event, George White, whom I’d met while MC’ing our Italy event last October, caught me to proudly announce that he’d not been back across the Atlantic since he last saw me…
“I decided to stay on in Pescara for a few more days to see some real estate and just get a feel for the place outside of the classroom.
“I told you in Italy that one of my goals was to track my ancestry there, but I had no idea how successful I’d be. I went to a small town I knew my family traced back to, but it had been decimated in the earthquake a few years back. My family was still there, though. I spent a few days there getting to know this Italian bloodline…
“Then I got into housesitting. It’s been fantastic! I meet so many interesting and lovely people—the houses and locations are amazing, and it’s allowing me to discover the true Italian lifestyle.
“I love all of Italy, but Sorrento has my heart. So my next move was to housesit there for a few weeks. Then I went to Rome and met dozens of my Italian family members… until I realized I was about to overstay my Schengen visa…
“I had to fly to Scotland, where I stayed in a US$15-a-night Airbnb, just steps from the nearest castle and to the library where I could do some research every day.
“So that’s what brings me here to Portugal. I need a visa that lets me stay here longer than 90 days at a time… because, apparently, I don’t seem to be leaving anytime soon!
“I’m considering residency in Italy, but the bureaucracy is off the charts. From what LIOS tells us, Portuguese residency is much simpler and quicker to sort, so I’m here to get the details. Plus, the income requirement is about half in Portugal than it is in Italy.”
Over the days that followed, George and his fellow attendees got all the latest details on acquiring legal residency in Portugal (so they don’t have to split for the border every 90 days)… as well as everything they need to know to start a new life here on the westernmost edge of Europe… right down to the best addresses to explore…
If you couldn’t be with us in the Algarve last week, we are packing every detail into our 2019 Live and Invest in Portugal Home Conference Kit.
This impressive collection of audio recordings and bonus reports will get you up to speed on:
- How to get the best deal on a rental or purchase…
- Your best options for health insurance in this country…
- How to open a bank account, for yourself or your business…
- The top residency visa options… and how to obtain them…
- Several itemized budgets for day-to-day living, for those with budgets big and small…
- Terms for borrowing locally for the purchase of real estate…
- Real-life tales of success from expats already living and doing business in this top emerging retirement and investment haven…
- And much, much more…
Inside this all-new 2019 Live and Invest In Portugal Home Conference Kit is everything you need to consider whether or not Portugal might make sense for you.
For a very limited time, you can access our complete library of Portugal resources, including guides and the entire bundle of 33 live presentation recordings from last week’s Live and Invest in Portugal Conference, for a tremendously discounted price.
Kat Kalashian
