“Sure we can be home this afternoon to receive our stuff!”

And the anticipated empty apartment tour too

Two things first... I somehow let the entire month of December slide on by without a post. I’ll try harder… Also, I want to extend a big welcome to all of my new subscribers and a thank you to those who have recommended me. It means a lot to me that you have taken the time to subscribe, read, and recommend.

Seeing this truck pull up in front of our building was a very welcome sight.

We knew the container was getting closer as the days progressed through the month of December, and just two days after Christmas, our container was unloaded at Leixões (the port just outside of Porto). We still had no idea when we would see our stuff, but just knowing it was sitting at the port gave us a sense of comfort.

The arrival of our container also lit a small fire under my ass because in my last post, I included a poll asking if folks were interested in a video tour of the apartment while it was (mostly) empty before our stuff arrived. The response to "Yes, bring it on" was an overwhelming 91%! So, on New Year's Eve, I tidied up a bit and very unprofessionally walked around with my iPhone and shot the video below.

This floorpan is how our apartment was originally built. The primary bath has been altered so that it is entered from the primary bedroom and the door to the hall has been closed off. The doors from the entry (in the center) to the kitchen have been altered as well. Otherwise, it is fairly close to the original layout.

But before I get to the video, a little bit about the apartment. First, It's big! The listing says it is 180 square meters (about 1,935 sq ft). We didn't set out to get an apartment quite this big, but in hindsight, we are glad that we ended up here. Our apartment building was built in 1971, during a time in which Portugal was still under a dictatorship¹. The building was built by the government for higher-ups within the Ministry of Finance. In fact, I was told just yesterday that when it was constructed, it was the tallest building in Porto².

Given that it was built for government officials, it was quite nicely appointed for the time (although it has no built-in heat³). As I said, it is big, it takes up half the area on our floor (the other half contains two apartments). It has four bedrooms (really five, but I'll explain), three bathrooms, and a generous kitchen and living-dining room. It also has 2.75 meter (9 ft) ceilings and three balconies facing south. That fifth bedroom I just noted... It was the maids quarters off the kitchen and contains its own bathroom. So, the families living here were definitely living better than most here.

A watercolor version of our building (created with an app).

As for the outside.... Let's just say it's not exactly pretty on the outside. It is basically a giant monotone concrete hulk with some quirky windows. That says a lot given that I am among the few who loves me a great Brutalist building. We have surmised that the government likely didn't want to make it too fancy so as not to antagonize the locals living around it. That said, the common areas are very Brutalist and I find them charming with all their raw concrete ceilings, tiled walls, and terrazzo floors.

Now for the bigger news... It's a good thing I shot the video when I did because on Friday morning, we got a call that our stuff is ready to be delivered that afternoon. Wait... What? That's the advanced notice we were getting? “Um… Sure we can be home this afternoon to receive our stuff!” It would have been nice to have a day or two to plan, but conveniently, Friday’s weather was quite nice (for January) and rain was in the forecast for this week. Besides, we both just wanted to get it done and over with. So, at 2:35pm the truck rolled up and five very helpful men (none of which spoke English) began the task of unloading and filling the tiny elevator cab dozens upon dozens of times.

This pile of boxes in our hallway is the majority (but not all!) of my art supplies.

It ultimately turned out just fine. They completed the move in about four and a half hours, and ended up moving 336 items, including 216 boxes, 77 furniture and other unboxed items, and 41 carefully wrapped pieces of art. I had expected that there would be three things too big for the elevator, which would need to be carried up the stairs. It turned out that they managed to squeeze my giant leather chair into the elevator and only had to carry our sofa and a very heavy 135 kg (300 lb) steel and glass cabinet up those thirteen flights. They saved that task until the very end, after which we gave each of them a nice cash tip for the effort.

Most of these boxes are books. Can’t wait to fill up our built in bookshelves.

So, here we are! Sitting in a sea of boxes spread all over the apartment. It feels great to have our familiar things here in our new home. We are incredibly grateful for our apartment and look forward to unpacking over the next several weeks.

---

Parting Shot:

Okay, this is more than one shot… We are blessed with the ability to experience sunrises over the hills of the Douro River Valley to the east and sunsets over the Atlantic Ocean to the west from our apartment. Never have I been so privileged to experience such an am amazing spectacle on a regular basis. Here are a couple of morning and evening shots from this past few months.

1. Portugal was under a dictatorship from 1926 until 1974. The Revolução dos Cravos (Carnation Revolution) occurred on 25 April, 1974 in Lisboa when a military coup by left-leaning military officers overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo government producing major social, economic, territorial, demographic, and political changes in Portugal and its overseas colonies through the Processo Revolucionário Em Curso. It resulted in the Portuguese transition to democracy and the end of the Portuguese Colonial War.

2. Allegedly... I found out because we had a delivery yesterday and the older gentleman who came up to our apartment told me that when he was a child, he would play with his friends in the elevators. A fifteen story building was quite a big deal in Porto at the time.

3. Yup!... Although our apartment was renovated just two years ago, and was nicely appointed with quite modern fixtures in the kitchen and baths, it still does not have heat. That's right... They built it without any built in source of heat. Not an entirely uncommon thing in Portugal, but you would think a building this large would have had heat. We've been adjusting to the cold using portable electric oil heaters.