It's Been Two Years

A lot has changed...

We decided we would apply for a D7 visa to Portugal in August 2020. We arrived in Portugal on 31 December 2020. We moved from our first Airbnb in Estoril to Cascais in February 2021. We decided we would live in Portugal, permanently, during the summer of 2021. We choose to move to VRSA and purchased a building to renovate in the fall of 2021. We have now lived in VRSA for nearly a year. My goodness a lot has happened in two years….

Ch-ch-ch-Changes

I love that Bowie song! And yes a lot has changed. So it is time for me to make some changes, with your help. The first change, which does not require your help, is that I am going to once a week publishing on Monday. Why Monday, who knows? Why once a week? Well that should be obvious.

Now as to your help … I would really appreciate it if you would take a few moments to complete an anonymous survey. If you didn’t click on the prior link, you can find the survey here. I need your help!

• You see, Substack has grown a lot in the last two years and I am trying to figure out if any of its new features (audio, podcasts, chats, etc) are helpful to our readers. If so, I will spend the time necessary to implement them. (A quick primer on the app can be found here.)

• I want to know what posts are most interesting and helpful to you; and

• I would appreciate any suggestions you can provide that would make the newsletter better.

So do the girl a favor, please, and take the survey.

Just for Fun

Before ending this post I wanted to provided you something just for fun. As I explained in a prior post, Portugal has a problem. But it appears VRSA is trying to do something about it. In November, VRSA launched the “Pick up your dog poop” campaign. Billboards like that above are in traffic circles, on street corners, and in the town square.

“The goal is to show pet owners that their bad behaviour represents a public health hazard and that animal waste left on pavements and gardens soils spaces that belong to everyone,” the council said. “A simple gesture like picking up the waste with a bag, which should be tied and disposed of in the rubbish bin, makes all the difference.”

Fines for failing to pick up dog poop range from €25 to €7,000. While I applaud the council’s attempts to clean up the city and promote public health I am not sure the campaign is going to make a major impact. Many owners still allow their dogs to roam the streets unattended. So unless the dogs are carrying bags and trained to pick up after themselves, I suspect we won’t notice a significant change.

Finally

I really would appreciate it if you could recommend Expat In Portugal to a friend or post a link on Social Media. Please help our community grow!