About Picareno

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Some Forum Posts:

Portugal: Cascais vs Lagos:

Greetings all, I'm an American retiree who has visited and wanted to make the Luz Lagos Algarve area my new permanent home. Saw an awful lot of non Portuguese(Brits Yikes!) in Lagos, though and have been considering other coastal areas. I've also been struck by how difficult it is to fine a true year around rental in this popular tourist area. As a San Francisco native, I'm fine with cooler coastal weather. My question: is actually the title" how does Cascais compare to the more southern coast of Portugal for becoming a permanent resident? Cost, crowds, entertainment, weather, rental availability comparisons are all welcome by me.. Thanks in advance.

Portugal: Civility:

I am sorry that it appears that this may be the fourth travel forum from which I will have to unsubscribe -- all for the same reason: lack of civility. My hubby is more conservative and I'm more liberal, but we both want to get away from those people who need to spew their political opinions everywhere (usually anonymously). We've visited five countries and two continents and Portugal is at the top of our list. Some countries were better than others, but the one thing we both loved was that we weren't offended/bored/scared by people needing to spout vitriol at the drop of a hat. I like this forum and have learned a lot about Portugal and other possible new homes before and after visiting them. Is it asking too much that participants spew their own political beliefs on other sites and leave the joy of travel blogging to the rest of us?

Portugal: Portuguese TV:

Greetings all. We are an American couple moving to Lagos at the beginning of next year.. We would like to stream TV there. Has anyone living there had experience with Roku, or WowTV, or any other streaming device? I gather that some exist, but I cannot find out much basic information about their channel selections, costs, etc. Our experience when traveling there was that their usual Satellite TV is not so good. Comments? Thanks!

Portugal: Portuguese Golden Visa:

We - a comfortably retired American couple -- just met with an immigration attorney in Lagos. My understanding is that Portugal requires a €500.000 property investment or starting a company employing at least ten employees. A recent change allows the property investment to be broken up into multiple units -- say a €300.000 house and a smaller €200.000 property for renting out, which is a nice new option. However, while we are great fans of this site, we're taking nothing we read regarding immigration as fact just from comments here. It's just too important to get bad, but we'll-meaning information from our commenters. If you are in Lagos, you might want to visit the firm we met with. Their new name is Edge International Lawyers. They also have offices in Lisbon where most of the immigration matters end up. You can first visit their website which I believe is still under their former name, NDR. Try www.goldenvisa-portugal.com or their former name site-- www.ndr.pt. Good luck!

Portugal: Update on finding a rental and SEF:

We are visiting The Algarve in January and if all goes well we will return to rent a place later. But I am confused as to terminology of rentals. Because we have a dog, we want a free standing, single dwelling building. To me that says "house," as opposed to "townhouse", apartment, etc The online listings may say "house," but actually be apartments, flats, townhouses, etc. Are there particular terms that apply to Portuguese abodes that actually make sense.? We'll doubtful rent online, but understanding these listings would help us at least to understand avail abilities and costs. Thanks

Portugal: Meeting people:

Thanks to all who reply here. We are an American retiree couple scouting The Algarve in January and are similarly interested in finding an area where we can socialize with English speakers as we tackle learning Portuguese. And thanks for he networking group names. Any other comments on this particular thread greatly appreciated.

Portugal: Long term Portugal resident's comments to me:

I too have been scratching my head over the increasingly judgemental and often critical comments at this post. We currently are in Lagos and have run into people of all ages and backgrounds who have immigrated to the area for all kinds of reasons. This trip is part of a very careful and slow process visiting many different countries. That's just our style. We are the opposite of some who have just taken off quickly for a new life...and kudoes to both approaches. We're finding happy expats who've had all kinds of reasoning and lifestyles... and are quite satisfied. I read this forum the way I read Wikipedia: as a start to research and not a final answer to my queries...and certainly not an assessment of my intellectual strengths and/or frailties. I realize that some of the cyber-bullying I've started reading here is rampant all over but I hope this deplorable trend will not last on this forum which I've truly enjoyed for years. A little less of You're such an idiot" and a little more "this is my favorite restaurant" will be greatly appreciated.

Portugal: Is the Algarve reasonable living:

For what it's worth, I've found www.expatistan.com to be the most helpful site for comparing costs of living between two cities. 1) because the totals listed are gathered by those living in the city, 2) because they list many components of costs of living: Costs of a dozen eggs, of cosmetics, of fuel (by liter), various house rental costs, clothing, various transportation modes, entertainment and eating out costs in low/moderate/high cost restaurants. We've been traveling while researching possible future retirement homes and I've found their prices to be dead-on. Because I visit the site often, I'm also contacted by them for cost updates in my current home. If the cost of fuel, for instance, goes up, I report that change, so I do trust that the costs listed are actually aggregates from actual "real people." Nothing's perfect, but one blogger's personal experience may not be the best way to estimate your own future costs. 'Nuf said. Good luck!

Portugal: Algarve Real Estate Tours:

We will be visiting The Algarve in January and are looking for a knowledgeable real estate person/firm to take us on a tour of the area and advise about rental/purchase options in numerous towns. We had a company in mind, but no longer wish to use them, so we're looking elsewhere. We're just interested in hearing from individuals who have used such businesses. PLEASE, NO COMPANY SALES/MARKETING! Thanks.

Portugal: Too many messages:

Thanks for your honesty. I heartily agree and have another suggestion. Many of the most recent messages are arrangements to meet or discuss issues one-on-one. If these senders would use the private message option, we wouldn't all get these long strings. II've connected via the private message option with folks to arrange meetings and it works perfectly. Also, I've noticed some people are simply using an existing subject string to introduce a new topic. This forum works way better if senders create a new topic title if they want to introduce a. new subject. I still like this forum, but was also beginning to feel a little irritated by the overuse of some senders. Thanks

Date Joined:

10/23/2014

Total Posts:

35

Posts/Day:

0.04