Traveling Without a Plan

If It is Wednesday, It Must Be ????

Our housekeeper comes on Wednesday at 0900. (This is the first time we have ever not cleaned our own house…in part because I might be a bit OCD in part because I am frugal. And truth be told, I always do a touch-up before company or mid-week…okay, I am definitely OCD…but I digress. ) In addition to doing a great job, Adelaide walks Onix around noon when she is done. That means that Wednesdays we can do some sightseeing and return home by 1800.

You have to love Google Maps.

Some Semblance of a Plan

On most Wednesdays, we have some type of plan. Let’s head into Belém and take in the following sites…or let’s do a free walking tour of Alfama or Chiado. Last week, we had planned to go to Lisbon, meet our friend Becky and take the ferry to Almada. But it turned out Becky couldn’t join us. So as we prepared to leave for Lisbon, we decided to go instead to Setúbal. It is a longer trip, perhaps too long when you are dragging a friend along. To get there we (see Google maps above):

• Walked a short distance to the Cascais train station;

• Took the train to Lisbon;

• Took a bus to the ferry (which was totally unnecessary, we could have walked nearly as fast);

• Took a ferry;

• Then took a train to Setúbal; and

• Walked about 10 minutes into town.

Don’t Hyperventilate

Let me first say to our friends and family…we have NOT decided anything for certain yet. But as I have referenced in prior posts, our plan to visit Portugal and Europe for four to five years, and then return to the States is not a certainty. The longer we live here, the more we think we will stay. So our trip to Setúbal was to get a feel for the town. To compare it to Cascais, Lisbon, and Tavira. As a place, we might want to settle down.

Why Setúbal?

So why Setúbal? First, despite what you might have read on other sites … Portugal real estate is not a bargain. More accurately, it is not a bargain in the places we have looked. Yes you can buy a place inland for less but to replace our house in Rancho Mirage in Cascais will likely cost 1,000,000€ or more…that’s at least $1.2m.

Next, oddly enough, it a place that a couple we follow on YouTube settled in (for a bit). Also, another Substack writer I follow moving from San Francisco bought a house there…site unseen. In talking to those familiar with the Portuguese unreal estate market it is an area with a considerable upside.

Thirdly, we thought it might be the right size town but still accessible to a city, Lisbon. Granted by public transit it is 1+ hour to Lisbon, rather than 30 minutes. But if we ever decide to settle down here and buy a house, we will likely buy a car too. And that would shorten the trip to 40 minutes. And there is water nearby, a river and an ocean. Perhaps it would be nearly as good as Cascais at a fraction of the price.

I love a purple building!

Not Sure

I often fear we have been spoiled by Cascais. There might be a reason it is called the Portuguese Riviera. Now to be fair, one would need to spend a lot more time than a few hours to make a full assessment. There are some lovely parks filled with fun artwork. There was a healthy mix of younger and older residents. We had a wonderful lunch served by an attentive server (he even gave us 2 Sagres “imperial” glasses to take home as souvenirs.)

One of several by this artist.

We visited the Church of the former Monastery of Jesus which was founded in 1490 and is yet another example of the Manueline style of architecture. The inner walls of the church included azulejos tiles decorated in geometric patterns…

…as well as scenes from the life of Maria (Mary).

So, as they say, “the jury is still out…the hunt continues”. But what a great time we are having exploring Portugal.

Final Note: I want to thank everyone that took the time to complete the reader survey. Nearly 1/3 of all subscribers completed the survey which is well above what one should expect. Also thank you for the many positive comments. At your request, I have included more photos in this post and will continue to do so in future posts. For more photos, please visit my Facebook page.