Greetings From Newark!

One step closer to the finish line...

Yikes, has it really been nearly a month since I last posted? Sorry, I didn't intend to abandon you my dear readers. I've had outlines written out for at least three topical posts which are still sitting in "Draft" status for the past few weeks. But as so often happens, life gets busy (and my ADHD has been on full throttle).

Us, moments after obtaining our visas…. We were (and still are) super excited to be at this point.

So.... Greetings from Newark!

Okay, I'm actually writing this from my in-laws apartment in Morningside Heights, just above the Upper West Side of Manhattan. But we were in Newark, New Jersey for a day to complete the next major step in our process of becoming legal residents of Portugal.

We flew into Newark on Wednesday evening, and after spending the night at the glamorous Doubletree Inn at Newark Liberty International Airport, we arrived at the Consulado Geral de Portugal where we had our passports stamped with our visa, allowing us to enter the country not as tourists, but with the intent to establish residency.

Consulado Geral de Portugal in Newark. We’re not likely to need to ever be here again, but it will still be a place we remember for a long time.

It was actually a lovely experience. Sila was the person who we met with back in May. She personally came out to bring us our passports along with a printout detailing our AIMA appointment in a few weeks in Viana do Castelo. Sila was so great to work with. She is well known to many folks who have applied for their visas through Newark. It is even more special that her signature is right there on our passport.

After we got our visa stamps, we grabbed a quick bite to eat, and then walked a few blocks over to the Ironbound neighborhood (the largest Portuguese speaking neighborhood in the US). We met with our consultant at Portugalia Sales. This is the company we are using to ship our household goods via a 40 foot container to us in Portugal. So far, we are quite happy with Portugalia, but I will reserve my opinion and potential review until our furniture and related belongings arrive in Porto, and are moved into our apartment. The current estimate is that we may have our stuff by January-ish.

Diner with the in-laws. It makes total sense that such lovely people raised the love of my life.

Then it was off to Penn Station, Newark to catch NJ Transit train into Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan (only $6.00) where we transferred to a 1 train on the subway to go to my in-laws home in Morningside Heights. After a nap and a bit of chill time, we went to a local place for dinner to celebrate checking off this box on our long list of things to complete to make our move a reality.

Our old apartment on 108th Street. This building is about as New York as one can get. The doormen (yes they were all men) were fabulous.

This morning's 5 kilometer walk involved walking down into our old neighborhood on the Upper West Side where I got to pass by some of my favorite places. Also did a quick pass by our old apartment building on 108th Street.

When we were booking this trip last month after getting our visas approved, we didn't plan to stay more than a day, but airfare was 25% less if we waited until Saturday to fly home. Fortunately, our in-laws have a spare room which saves us from spending hundreds of dollars on a hotel room. It also affords us the chance to spend a couple of days in Manhattan where we lived for a combined 35+ years.

Our flight is a red-eye on Saturday night, so we will be arriving back in Porto on Sunday morning. When we pass through customs, we will be entering with our new visas, and, if my memory is correct, this is the date on which the clock begins ticking for us formally moving to Portugal. This would mean that five years from now, on September 15th, we would formally qualify to become permanent residents and also apply for citizenship.

Next major step is our appointment in a few weeks in Viana do Castelo. I promise I will, at the very least, finish up my draft post Observations of a New Resident before then.