Post started and interrupted March 2nd (2025)

I knew I was going to regret not writing anything for several days. Now I have to try to remember noteworthy happenings and roughly when they happened. The most grooviest thing was that our dear friend Hope came to visit for a few days. She was a great first visitor (she’s very forgiving and also knows me well enough to make herself at home!) I fear we didn’t do super cool things because Scott and I (mostly me) have been slowly finding things. Also, if you read my cautionary tale, you know I’ve been dealing with the catastrophic loss of my telephone. Problems with this continue to pop up. AAARRRRGGGGG! If you only take one thing away from this, make sure, you have more than one phone number on accounts that you can use (spouses, kids, friends) for verification. I really had no idea that my phone number was so critical to my being able to access various accounts. I understand there are some APP-type options for identity verification, but that is beyond my scope at this time.

The college kid (Ana) at the MEO store that has been trying to help me actually just left from coming to our apartment to work on this. She now believes that the phone her colleague sold me is not compatible with AT&T. I don’t care about AT&T, but that’s where my phone number is and for now at least, I’m stuck with them. She’s going to talk to her manager about taking this phone, that I JUST BOUGHT on Feb 25 back and letting me have one that is compatible.

Alright. Enough of the past. Ana is also going to make me an appointment with the people who do her hair. YAY! This morning, after I left the MEO store (yes we were trying to get this to work earlier today, but it was too early for AT&T on a Sunday). MEO is across the mall hallway from the Auchan. There were a couple of things I wanted, but I kept thinking of other things and spent a considerable amount of time in there. For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos….

I think I may have mentioned that I hang out in some Facebook groups that are related to various aspects of moving to/living in Portugal. One discussion I read with some horror was regarding canned vs. jarred HOT DOGS. You read that right. Hot dogs from a can or from a jar. And I’m not talking about “Vienna Sausages” (I can not believe I used to eat those) Which is better? Are you kidding me? Apparently, they aren’t kidding. I had the impression that the people discussing this were British. However, judging from the space given to this in the Auchan supermarket, it has to be other people, too. I didn’t take a photo of all of it by a long shot. What do you think? Interested in trying some of these? I feel like gagging right now.

Hotdogs in cans

Hotdogs in jars

Things I’ve learned

BANKING

· Checks are not a thing. You will not be ordering checks here.

PHONE SERVICE – MOBILE – MEO

· Make sure you understand plan limits on

o   Text messages

o   International calls

o   Data – mobile and wifi

EUROPEAN COUNTRIES – Who knew it was so complicated?? I got most of my explanation from here Europe

IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep in mind that while some non-Schengen countries are in the EU, some non-EU countries — like Norway and Switzerland, for example — are in the Schengen Zone.

· Europe the continent

o   Europe is a purely geographical term  — Europe is one of Earth’s seven continents. It’s also no secret that said continent is home to an endless abundance of culture, history, and natural and man-made wonders. All of which also consistently rank it as the world’s top tourist destination. After that, however, things get a bit complicated. For example, there’s no definitive answer as to how many countries Europe is actually home to (with the internet’s general consensus averaging at around 50). To add to the confusion, many of these roughly 50 European nations are woven into a complex tapestry of various political and economic entities. And despite the intricacies, understanding the distinctions between these entities can prove crucial for travelers. 

· Schengen Europe As per the Schengen agreement, the Schengen Area — since 1995 and to this day — basically operates like a single state when it comes to international travel within its many borders. In other words, external border controls are still imposed on travelers entering and exiting the area. However, there are zero (or, rather, minimal) internal border controls for Schengen member state citizens — negating the need for a visa, for example.

ROBBI explanation (RE): As an American, when traveling in most “European” countries, we are subject to rules that apply to a “Tourist Visa” which is basically a default visa that allows us to be in these countries for a MAXIMUM of 90 days out of 180 days. Time spent in one of these countries counts as time in all. In other words, you can’t be in each country for 90 days. 1 day in one of them is the same as 1 day in all of them.

o   Austria

o   Belgium

o   Bulgaria**

o   Croatia

o   The Czech Republic

o   Denmark

o   Estonia

o   Finland

o   France

o   Germany

o   Greece

o   Hungary

o   Italy

o   Latvia

o   Lithuania

o   Luxembourg

o   Malta

o   The Netherlands

o   Poland

o   Portugal

o   Romania**

o   Slovakia

o   Slovenia

o   Spain

o   Sweden 

o   Iceland

o   Liechtenstein

o   Norway

o   Switzerland

· European Union - entity officially established on November 1st, 1993. As of mid-2024, the EU consists of 27 member countries — each of which has agreed to follow the union's treaties and laws. (RE): for most Americans the important part of this is currency and what each country uses. Most, but not all are on the Euro.

·  Austria

· Belgium

· Bulgaria

· Croatia

· Cyprus

· Czechia

· Denmark

· Estonia

· Finland

· France

· Germany

· Greece

· Hungary

· Ireland

· Italy

· Latvia

· Lithuania

· Luxembourg

· Malta

· Netherlands

· Poland

· Portugal

· Romania

· Slovakia

· Slovenia

· Spain

· Sweden 

STUFF

· Portugal doesn’t and never had FAX capability.

· In Belgium, voting is compulsory. Anyone skipping the polls risks sanctions

· This will be required of US Citizens traveling in Europe sometime this year. Noone knows WHEN exactly. ETIAS

o   The ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) is an electronic travel authorisation, similar to the American ESTA, which will be compulsory starting mid-2025 for the citizens of some countries wishing to travel to Europe.

o   It will be demanded by the 30 following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

o   It concerns the nationals of about sixty states who do not need to apply for a visa to enter the Schengen area for stays shorter than 3 months, their countries having signed a visa waiver agreement with the European Union.

o   This mandatory travel authorisation is dematerialised and attached to your passport number.

o   The ETIAS application form is completed online. The answer is delivered in around 96 hours; the request must thus be registered at least 4 days before the scheduled date of departure.

o   It costs €7, is valid 3 years and allows a stay of 90 days maximum.

· Lola and Bitsy

o   When we took them to the veterinarian here, we showed her all the “fatty lumps” that both dogs have. I decided to let her test all of them for malignancy. Lola had one in the past that had to be removed. But the report came back with all of them benign!

o   Lola is doing well. She follows me around the apartment most of the time. Bitsy does that, too, but to a lesser extent. I think it her arthritis pain. Next doctor appointment for her we’re going to discuss doing something about the pain. I need my furry love bugs.