They say Aveiro is the Venice of Portugal.  Now, having never been to Venice I don’t know if that’s true, but just the same, Aveiro is unique and not like any other small city we’ve visited in Portugal.  Aveiro has lovely canals where the water travels through the historic center of the city.  Oh, and an added perk of visiting Aveiro… it’s on flat land. A far cry from the hills of Porto and Coimbra, another terrific day trip destination.

We found our way from the Guimaraes train station to the historic city center only to discover hundreds of school children gathering in the center.  Of all the days we could have chosen to visit Guimaraes, we happened to pick the one day on which seemingly, there was a city-wide school field trip.

It’s a humbling experience to wait in the SEF Immigration office, in Porto, surrounded by dozens of people seeking immigration status for one reason or the other.  There are stories to be told.  Stories of personal choices, such as ours, and stories of trying to gain or maintain work or student visas, or perhaps even desperate stories of life saving pursuits of residency.  It’s humbling to have choices knowing that so many do not.

Have you ever thought about which is the lesser of two evils… the red-eye flight on which you spend 7 – 8 hours painfully exhausted but unable to sleep, or is it less evil to be wide awake and giving up an entire day to fly across the Atlantic Ocean or to some other long-distance destination?

We launched One Road at a Time on October 14, 2012 and as the calendar pages keep turning, we find ourselves approaching six years live and taking a few minutes to commemorate and reflect on the roads well-traveled.

The first time we entered Casa Natal, I could hardly contain my enthusiasm.  Of course, not wanting to embarrass myself I kept my glee in check, but oh… in my head a party was going on.

Our relationship with the City of Porto began in 2010 when Abi and our son took a Port wine – vinho do Porto – tour of the Douro Valley and it’s when they first met Andreia and were introduced to the Kopke Port Cellar.

This is a tale of how we fell under the charms of the City of Porto, and how we found our way to one of the best wine shops in Porto, Garrafeira do Carmo.

Once upon a time (because all good stories start with these four words) two Portuguese residency permits found their way to the United States, here’s their tale.

One of the best aspects of living in another country is getting to know the locals.  Spending three months living in Porto afforded us days upon days of just aimlessly wandering the city. They were days of pure bliss. We used to laugh that we could find our way to anywhere in the city but couldn’t name more than one or two streets.  And, we could always find our way to the Bolhao Market.