2026-04-28 When the moon hits your eye

 

Today we continued our exploration of the city and decided to walk over the river to Nova de Gaia and see what we could see. It's a very interesting walk with lots of structures and architecture to enjoy as well as a beautiful garden (jardim) immediately on the other side of the Dom Luís I Bridge. The bridge provides pedestrian as well as a metro line passage.

After walking through/around the Jardim do Morro, we encountered a corner that had 3 Italian Restaurants.  So, we plopped down outside the first one and were excited to see the selection of beers included not only a favotite, Ichnusa, but also Messina. So, we ordered some drinks and enjoyed the weather and people/car/metro watching. JR sketched some and then the food came.

So, in our defense, the pizza was €8 and we thought it would be smaller so we each ordered what we wanted - Margherita and Diavola. That's ok though, we have a bag we always carry and we could take it home for dinner. Well, the pizzas were so delicious we demolished them both. Another great day.

Endings/Beginnings

 

As some of you  might know, I applied for Italian Citizenship at a time when it should have been relatively easy to obtain. Then the interpretation of the laws changed, which resulted in a change in the law that should not have affected me, yet it did. I've been denied Citizenship as well as it's appeal and until they change the law back to what it was, I'm out. We also don't qualify for an Elective Residency Visa because they similarly are applying a rule that hasn't been applied before to the calculation of 'passive income' required to get long term residency. I worked with Italian attorneys, so these are the facts as they stand today.  

What this means is, the dream that JR and I had of moving to Italy has been suspended indefinitely and most likely the only thing we could do is spend 90 days out of every rotating 180 there, and that isn't viable for us.

This OK. I'm over it (mostly). In the ensuing months since our Italy trip, there have been numerous discussions in our house of what next. I could bore you with the process - if you really want to know I'm happy to make another post - but we decided we would move to Portugal. Several reasons - they are reportedly a very kind people, inclusive and accepting of immigrants. In addition, the cost of living is appx 40% lower than Denver.

More on that in later posts.

We need to learn European Portuguese not Brazilian Portuguese. I am not capable of continuing learning Italian while also learning Portuguese. For me, I decided I needed a clean break for my dashed dream and birth language.  

The picture you see above is my Italian Language 'journey'. I realized I needed to close the Italian chapter to begin the Portuguese one, so purge I did.  It was both sad, teary and freeing at the same time. I feel I am now ready to move forward.

Stay tuned for more info on our Portuguese journey to long term residency.

Italy - 2025-06-21 'Starring' Palmanova

 

We took the train to Palmanova, the Star City. It is a walled city in the shape of a star and has a metric ton of history during Napoleonic Era and WWII. It seems as if the town, while it wants to be acknowledged, does not want to be inundated with tourists. You have to have found it and intentionally made it a destination.  There were almost no souvenir shops except for the one with the magnets. I would have bought several sterling silver pieces of jewelry with the star city walls, would they have existed.

It is a lovely small town off the beaten path that had very few tourists this day. The town 'square' is great and there's all kinds of architecture and art and loving tribute to it's participation in WWII and the damage it sustained.

There were many opportunities for walks and opportunities to see some history.

First stop - the Military Museum

And this dude scared the crap out of me as I rounded the corner of the room

And of course, the church on the piazza

This room, which was like an entryway, was adorned with this beautiful art.

It's time for a walk around and as previously stated, there were options.  We chose to go to the Anello Alto dei Rivellini - High Rings of the Rivelin - as it was purported that there were tunnels in the walls that Napoleon used as strongholds.  Turns out, he did and they were so cool -  both visually and temperature wise. Click to embiggen to see the detail of what water does to stone

It was super fun to go through all the tunnels and since almost no one was there, it was also mostly quiet.

It led us out to the river and then over to entrance to the Rivelin

All in all, a great morning. We ended with food, it was unremarkable, but filling, and took the train back to Triete.