🚈 😙 😅 Beginner Surf Guide or Programmer's Life in Portugal 👩🏾‍🍳 📰 😞

Hello!

I wanted to write an article about my experience in Portugal for a long time, but natural ~~modesty~~ did not allow laziness. Among previously published on Habré, you can read Portugal. The best beaches and a thousand startups a year , as well as a detailed review by QA Vadim on the Dow - Why Portugal is not for everyone. Testing the country by a Ukrainian .

The main thing for which a tractor started up is a good job that matches interests, a decent income, and that it is clean, beautiful, safe and pleasant to live around. Money can be argued, but everything else in Portugal is guaranteed. My wife and I have been here for three years and we really like it, even very, very. Well ... in general, at home, only better.

I skip the traditional section about myself, I don’t think it is important. If the question of age is interesting, I started working as a programmer at the age of 31 and moved to Portugal after three years. At that time, I was choosing between two offers for a backend of a developer - Helsinki, with Java and a clothing retail business, salary of 55k euros, citizenship for 4 years, a high social rate (650-800 + euros / month for a fundamentally unemployed wife), potentially a good pension, and Lisbon, with a significantly lower salary, but a solid annual bonus, citizenship for 6 years, a weak social network, a ghostly pension, but with Erlang and a mobile game dev. Although I really liked Finland (the Finns invited for face-to-face interviews), but the game dev, together with Erlang won.

Sea gate. Lisbon

Pros of living in Portugal

beautiful (architecture, nature, ocean)
( , )
( , worldpopulationreview.com)
( )
,
( 10 24)
( )

(- , )
.

With the Portuguese, everything was quite simple: two online interviews, and that, only because it was in August and the lead was on vacation, and those were simple. the task. The first interview was with the service station, then with the lead, then those tasks and the offer. There was no stress at the interviews - neither online coding, nor tricky tasks on algorithms. We talked about how to build a backend, what problems to consider, how to debug and troubleshoot an already working system. In general, they tried to understand the direction of my thoughts and the level of engineering approach. Since the work involved the creation and support of systems on Erlang, some of the questions were about this technology. Those. the task took a total of a couple of days, but only because I wanted to lick everything. It so happened that I completed it in Helsinki after interviews in a Finnish office, becausethe process almost coincided and I wanted to have a choice of several offers.

Relocation

The company hired a relocation agency (hereinafter referred to as the agency) in Lisbon, which supervised us. All that was required was to prove that he was not a camel: to receive, to certify, translate into Portuguese and once again to certify the documents from our side: a diploma, a certificate of good conduct, a certificate of marriage, and, with a contract received on analogue mail, go to the embassy in Kiev. A month later we received visas (I am a worker, a tourist wife, and after that I did a family reunion). We bought tickets and rented for two months a chic apartment close to the ocean (now expats have begun to give some real money for accommodation, ~ 1k euro).

We moved exactly to the New Year. My first thought was: how warm it is in the street and how cold it is in the house! That January turned out to be rainy and foggy, and, due to excess moisture everywhere, I had a nervous breakdown somewhere in a week - I couldn’t eat anything for a couple of days. All food, fruit and vegetables, seemed too wet.

The next winter, mentally overgrown with fur like foxes, and life in the cold period ceased to seem this same polar fox. At home 12 ℃ - normal, 16 ℃ - comfort! Given the fact that there are sunny days in the winter (or more), sometimes we even sunbathe on the balcony, but just step into the shade - you are immediately looking for a sheepskin coat. The wife, however, did not adapt to weather conditions, and spends part of the winter in Ukraine - she is warming. If you warm the apartment or, moreover, install gas heating, then in the winter there will be a fairy tale, but the Portuguese do not bother much, and you can go broke on electric heating. The issue of heat at home in the winter we plan to solve already in his apartment.

Upon arrival, the agency begins to engage in registration: obtaining a social number. insurance (NISS), tax number (NIF), an appointment with the Department of Emigration (SEF) for all adult family members. An agency employee oversees a visit to SEF and issues a list of documents to be brought. He prepares part of the documents for his part (Portuguese criminal record and maybe something else). The company also kindly pays a fee of 150 euros per carcass for the issue / reissue of the residence. The residence is issued for a period of 1 year, then 2, for how much further I will soon find out. We arrived at SEF in March, three months after arrival.

From memory, the list of documents is as follows:

work contract
rental contract
medical insurance
Portuguese last year tax return (if any)
up to the last six printouts of monthly salary
( )
, ( )
( , , )

About a month later, we became preoccupied with the search for permanent housing. I wanted to live in a good area and close to the office. At that time, we managed to rent a luxurious furnished T3 apartment (three bedrooms and a living room) with two bathrooms, a large kitchen and an entrance hall for 700 euros. The ocean was about half an hour on foot. To the office about 12 minutes by car, if no traffic. Now this apartment is rented for 1k +.

Finding good housing is not easy, as huge demand and the market is simply overheating. Hence the inadequate prices in relation to the average earnings in the country. The agency also helps in this matter - it offers options, calls up with the owners and carries to watch apartments. After the conclusion of the contract, it also helps to conclude contracts with companies that supply electricity, water and gas.

The contract is usually concluded for a year, but it can be for a longer period. There is a double-edged sword - on the one hand, the rental price will not increase, on the other hand, you can refuse no earlier than after a third of your stay and you won’t be able to move out quickly. So, if you are sure of everything, you can ask for a contract for at least 5 years. During the term of the contract, tenants cannot be evicted even if they do not pay and they must go to court, and local courts are very, very slow. Therefore, apartment owners are often cautious - asking for financial documents: salary printouts, tax returns. Visitors often refuse and require a guarantor, a person who will bear financial obligations in the event of a payment interruption. The main thing in this case is to inspire confidence, if it did not work out and there is a supply of money,you can offer to pay for several months in advance, usually it works.

Most often, apartments for rent come with an equipped kitchen and unfurnished, you can buy everything you need either in IKEA, or according to announcements on olx.pt and commissions.

Transport

The first question after identifying grocery stores in the area was how to get to the office and back. When renting temporary housing, the company takes this issue into account and we were settled not far from the bus station, which in combination was the Lisbon-Cascais electric train station. A one-time ticket to the office seemed to cost 3.5 €, to go about half an hour on the bus route, if there is no traffic. Buying a pass will be much cheaper, and you can also ride all over Lisbon with all types of transport. There is such an unlimited 40 € per month. I saw how local Afro-Portuguese go with hares, but periodically their controllers wool, and, in addition to bad karma, they write good fines for this.

If you have rights, then you can start searching for a car, usually through the sites olx.pt and standvirtual.com or among the many used car dealerships, which are especially numerous in the Sintra region.

Unlearning and pass on the rights in Portugal will be something about 700 euros, each retake of +300 euros (for several required lessons and exam). According to our rights, you can ride a maximum of half a year, then you can get a fine, and even in an administrative court, then it will come out much more expensive. However, for three years now I have been continuing to travel with Ukrainian rights, but since the next update of the residence I’m going to exchange it for Portuguese.

For preferential exchange of rights, 90 days are allocated from the moment of obtaining the first residence, it costs 35 euros and the rights need to be certified at the embassy. After 90 days, you will have to take a practical exam - 300 euros. That is why I am waiting for the next renewal of the residence, in the hope that looking into my crystal clear eyes no one will doubt that this residence, with a fresh date of issue, is the very first.

The first car I bought a Toyota Corolla sedan (2001), with a manual gearbox and mileage of 170k km for 3k €, sold a year and a half later for the same money. The second Honda Civic - 2007 hybrid, CVT, 114k km mileage for 5k €. This is for you to understand the price level, take it from your hands, used car dealerships ignored fundamentally. I did not consider the purchase option in conditional Germany, because the high cost of registration or “clearing” generally eats up the entire profit. They often cheat with a mileage meter and generally strive to put some kind of junk into it. I already bought a second car with a mechanic (20 euros per inspection).

A car insurance with a minimum coverage will cost about 160 euros per year. The toll for cars until July 2007 is 50-60 euros per year, after 200+ euros. Annual Tech. inspection of 35 euros. Change of oil, filters - 50-60 euros.

Without a car, IMHO, there is nothing to do here, except that you live and work in Lisbon, and you can’t get anywhere. On the roads, the level of culture is quite high, although reckless people are found. Nevertheless, not all drivers are attentive, and when crossing the road, even on a zebra, one must look at both, there are cases.

Roads are divided into national (free) and toll roads. Paid greatly save time, of good quality and with a speed limit of 120 km / h. National roads are not so good and the limit is usually 90-100 km / h. Payment is made at the entrance / exit from the highway (hereinafter will be a little more detailed). Periodically there are radars for fans to drive. In addition to a fine of 60-2500 euros, depending on the degree of speeding, they take 2 or more fan guns (points), of which there are only 12. If you drop to 4, you need to undergo training, and if all points are exhausted, your rights will be canceled. Pontoons recover very slowly.

For the convenience of using toll roads, you can install the Via verde dashboard under the windshield, in which case you can pass through control without stopping through Portugal and Spain, only slowing down to 60, as a rule, the cost is displayed on the installed displays and once a month an invoice and a printout are received to email, very convenient. You can pay like any Multibanco payments or set up a direct withdrawal from the account up to a certain limit. Via verde can also be used in some car parks, such as the airport.

Communication and Internet

There are several mobile and operators in the country - Vodafone, Meo, Nos. Prices are approximately the same - 10-20 euros for mobile Internet connection, traffic is limited. Home Internet 30-60 euros per month for 30-100-1000 Mb. You can take a package with home Internet and mobile, for almost the same money. The main inconvenience is contracts for at least 2 years, you can move the contract to another apartment, but then the time counter is reset and you again stay for 2 years with the same company. In general, you should think carefully before concluding it. There is also a prideid for mobile communications, which is especially convenient after moving. I don’t know the conditions at the moment, two years ago I paid 8 euros per month for 200 minutes of calls and 1 GB of Internet.

Banks and financial settlements

There are a lot of banks in the country, the most popular: Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Millenium, Novo banco. Everyone will open a salary account without any problems even if you do not yet have a residence. In my case, HR was contacted by the bank from the company I got a job with, and the bank manager just came to our office with a package of documents for signing, and a week later they sent a card by mail.

In addition, a “lunch” card is issued, to which once a month the amount is calculated from the calculation of a little less than 7 euros (at least in our company) for each working day of the last month. This money is not subject to any taxes, and this card can be paid in cafes and shops registered as grocery. Those. it is quite possible to buy not only food, but also equipment, and “gear” if it is in the grocery store, which is found everywhere in stores such as Continente and Lidl. If you wish, you can even cash out this money by buying and returning the goods in such a store.

Payment of taxes is fully carried out by the accounting department of the company. Once a year you need to submit a declaration, an expat also helps an accountant. Although you can do it yourself - everything is done through the state financial portal portaldasfinancas.gov.pt, naturally in Portuguese, and with an interface that predators did for strangers.

Banks have an online account and mobile applications through which you can pay utility bills and make transfers. The country has a unified ATM system Multibanco with a daily limit of withdrawal of 400 euros, as well as individual ATMs. Utility bills are issued in a multi-bank system, with two anonymous codes and a sum, for example (Entidade 555555, Referencia 555 555 555, Montante 24.79). You can use the MBWay application to transfer money, pay and issue virtual cards, with the limit you specified.

Banking branches are open from 8:30 to 15:30, only on business days, which is not directly as convenient. We have to guess either in the morning or at lunchtime.

Job

There are many IT companies in Lisbon and Porto and there are enough vacancies. Cloudflare recently opened its office . Slowly unfolding Google . There are a number of reputable food and outsourcing companies, as well as startups. Technology companies are primarily attracted by a high level of education and, as a result, qualified specialists. Well, of course, a lower price level compared to Western Europe.

From the moment of relocation to this day, I have been working at Miniclip and I’m not going to change it yet - both the game dev is interesting and large-scale (500-700k online users on the largest project), and the guys on the backend are strong (I even somehow periodically with them I feel like a special back-end, well, one with hands from a place where back ends). Good experience is the infrastructure we manage ourselves, so I wrote it myself, I installed it myself, and you monitor it yourself. Sometimes AWS guys give trainings.

Each manages his own learning and development plan, which is part of the tasks for the year. If you don’t want to learn, they will make you. Sent to the conference. This year I’ll go to Sweden for an Erlang conference; mobile workers go to the GDC. One of the significant advantages of working at Miniclip is the chic office with my favorite place - the kitchen. Mango with raspberries and blueberries for breakfast is now just standard! So if you are a raw foodist or fructorian (yes, there are even such) you will like it.

As a rule, programmers are given a macbook about (sometimes mobile developers have iMac), and after passing the trial (half a year), the phone can choose up to 800 euros, after three years the phone can be exchanged for a new one.

The company is growing, s / n is slowly increasing, the bonus is paid. It’s interesting to work and no one suffers from processing. There was a time when I was taken out by one excessively active scrum master with his initiative “to improve communication”, but the question was quickly solved, the initiative was cut off on the same day (well, it was really strange to portray and repeat stupid pantomimes, I alone refused and the collision that followed from him - like this, I don’t want to “integrate into the team”, lucidly explained that I had seen such ideas in a coffin).

Everything in the relationship is very cultural, they try to get rid of the toxic guys if they have not changed their mood in a year or two. They may also find some project where they feel good, and no one suffers much from them. I must say that toxic here for a nice person will pass in our post-production. And in general, the company rushes with us as with crystal vases, IMHO, it could have been tougher. And then for example, it is necessary to lead the development on one project now, and a guy with experience says “I don’t want”, and no one insists. The office has a very relaxed atmosphere, people often hang out in the kitchen, fortunately, they simply feed with all sorts of sweets, and events periodically occur - the company invites various restaurants and arranges days of national cuisine - Brazilian, Mexican (but also invites to restaurants).

Once a year, with two offices (Portuguese and Italian) in all, about 300 people in total, we go out somewhere for a week to the corporate party. With my participation, it was a huge 5-star hotel-estate in Morocco (I didn’t eat such delicious croissants as anywhere else), and an island in Croatia, which was completely removed. In general, you can not go on vacation.

A life

Life for the most part consists of work, a round trip, a sports hall, and trips to all sorts of beautiful places on the weekend. And there are enough beautiful places here - Lisbon is on the coast. In the evening we walk near the house, the area is old and beautiful, now for example we live near the royal castle in Mafra, and sometimes we go for a walk in the tourist town of Ericeira.

Mafra in the winter

Living here is very safe, we have already forgotten what gopota, majors and bandits are (hi Dnepr). Needless to say, all sorts of horrors, which are full of news feeds of Russia and the rest of the CIS: security forces throwing up drugs, beatings, torture, murders, fabricated cases, are not dreamed of here. The police in Portugal are really police, not bandits in uniform and are engaged in their direct duty - maintaining order, and, apparently, is doing well. For all three years we have not seen a single fight, or any kind of violence, on the contrary, everyone is relaxed and leisurely walking even late in the evening. In his article about life in Portugal, our compatriot even joked - if you see two Portuguese fighting, urgently shoot on YouTube too - you will collect a million likes, this is such a rare event.Nevertheless, in Lisbon itself you should not completely relax - a tourist center can attract pickpockets, and in a car you should not leave things in sight.

Again, a pleasant difference from what we were used to was good lighting at night, and this despite the high cost of electricity. The roads and sidewalks are whole, so you won’t break your legs by accident. It was also unusual to see many ramps for people with disabilities in mobility, we are not used to such care for people.

People here are trusting - recently they returned a sconce for 40 euros, I was simply asked at the checkout if everything works, and they returned the money without checking the contents, although maybe this is just the policy of the Lidl store.

In general, people here do not walk a lot on the street, but spend more time in shopping centers, and in the evening they are like a beehive. Large fast food complexes with tables common to many kitchens attract many who want to have dinner. Despite the abundance of stores, bulk purchases of expensive things are usually made here twice a year - in summer and winter for Christmas, in the season of significant discounts.

Those who love active nightlife, live music, and performances in the fresh air will most likely choose Lisbon for themselves. If you prefer a quieter place to live, but want to stay close to the epicenter, then the Lisbon-Cascais line will be the best option.

Prices, taxes and salaries

Paul of Portugal lives on a minimum wage of 700 euros. The salary of a junior / intern programmer after college is 1000-1200 € per person, which is higher than the national average. Against this background, even one family programmer who brings home 2-3k + looks rich. In general, Signor is quite realistic to get 3-4k on hand, taking into account all the bonuses.

Taxes in Portugal are high. The country is in debt and the middle class has to puff out for it. Income tax is progressive and can reach 48%. Qualified bonanders here are better than the Portuguese themselves - for the first 10 years you can get a fixed rate of 20% (this is about 4-5k euros less income tax for salaries of the senior level). Social deductions are not considered tax and amount to 11%.

Relatively speaking, with a salary of 50k per year, and minus 10k IRS (income) and 5.5k segurança social (social), you will have 34.5k or 2875 euros per month on hand. In addition, good companies can have solid bonuses in the form of N monthly salaries, which, moreover, may not be subject to social deductions. In general, you can live, in addition, the state returns part of the taxes depending on the type of spending - for renting housing, for medicine, education, etc. In my case, this is about 1k per year.

The most significant part of the cost is housing, unless you rent a room, which will cost about 300 euros. Nice apartment in a good area is 700-1500 euros. At the moment we are renting a two-story apartment for 600 euros, about 200 sq.m in a beautiful place, but the room still requires maintenance, and the replacement of old single aluminum sliding systems with double-glazed windows, so such a low price. On the other hand, the house has a lot of fresh air, especially in winter ... It should be noted that not all houses have full gas supply, in some it may not be at all, but in others it is imported. In the case of the imported one, everything looks as usual - pipes from the wall, only the price can be five times higher (not 1 euro, but 5 per 1 cube).

Food prices are conditionally not too high, and the cost will greatly depend on how you are used to eating - cooking at home, or not bothering and having lunch / dinner in a cafe (average bill is 10 euros).

The cost of fuel is quite high for poor Portugal, for example, 95th gasoline - 1.55 euro / l, and this creates a small connection between traffic and salary payments - there are more cars on the roads from the moment they are received and for the next two weeks.

Our approximate costs:

Housing - 600 euros
Utility - 100 euros (1 cubic meter of water - 4.1 euros, 1 cubic meter of gas - 1 euro, 1 kWh - 0.26 euros)
Products - 300 Euro
Gasoline - 150 euros
Gym - 50 euros
Clothes and all sorts of things in the house - 300 euros
Total: 1,500 euros

If you want to buy your own home, then this pleasure will cost you from 120k euros for an apartment of about 80 square meters. in a decent area. Banks give a loan of a maximum of 90% of the total amount, unless, of course, the apartment is not in their ownership (then 100%). So far I have been offered a mortgage with a coverage of 80%, i.e. 20% must be paid immediately by yourself. There are also one-time payments, for example, for an apartment cost of 250k (the old price for about 100 sq.m on the Cascais-Lisbon line), this will be another 10k from above. Conclusion: you should move here with a margin of money for a mortgage so that you do not have to go broke for a long time.

Medicine

The level of medicine is high and the salaries there are top (in the private sector). According to the law, honey. employees are required to work out some hours in state hospitals, but they sabotage this business in every way: they are late, leave early, etc. The Minister of Health, the doctor herself, threatened to introduce a biometric identification and work control system, but this is the case, these same doctors have not missed. In general, try to get into the state. the hospital is bad, and in the queue you can kill a lot of nerves. There were times when the notification of the long-awaited reception came to the dead already - they did not wait ...

In private medicine, everything is beautiful and fast, but expensive. For example, a mandatory consultation (even if you know which analysis or procedure you want) will cost 90 euros. It comes to the ridiculous, I had to remove the angioma, I came to a private hospital. They burned me with a laser in 5 minutes, but the girls at the reception did not know how to take money from me, according to the rules, the consultation should have been first. As a result, this day I was billed for the consultation, and by mail in a couple of days they sent me the invoice for the procedure.

For insurance, which our company pays for all employees, as well as for expat families (very kind of them), a consultation with any doctor costs 15 euros, and, for example, a dental filling 5 euros (without insurance 30-40 in a good private clinic). Somehow he called “our” dentist (he is either from Ukraine, or from Russia), so kind compatriots called me a figure of 60 euros! Crown / prosthetics - 100 euros. Implantation unfortunately does not fall under our insurance, and this pleasure cost me 1k euro, but they did it decently. Insurance in different companies have different coverage, and you need to look at what is “how much” there. Any blood tests, ultrasound, tomograph, etc., on average, for our insurance 15-30 euros.

In general, it is worth bringing a pack of medicines that you are used to taking with you, here they are significantly more expensive, and until you get a registration number in the SNS (Sistema nacional saude) healthcare system, there will be no discounts in pharmacies. Doctors write prescriptions on special forms with anti-counterfeiting, which also includes your SNS number, in which case medications will be much cheaper.

It may happen that to get this same SNS will be that quest. I went to the hospital closest to our house, showed the residence (in which the address is printed in black and white) and asked to register, but they refused me completely - they say we are overloaded, there is no possibility. Presentation of the card honey. insurance, persuasion, that is necessary only for medicines, and we will not be treated in private clinics. They sent me to the hospital away. In that hospital they sent to this one, but when they found out that they had "sent" there initially, they agreed with a squeak, and then they demanded to present any bill for water, gas or electricity with my name and address. He brought the bill, until the end of their working day another hour, but they say amanya (tomorrow). Here, my wife could not stand it any longer and explained in Russian that she was thinking about their rules and they instantly registered us, it was a couple of minutes.

Tongue

Portuguese is completely optional; to my shame, I don’t speak it, I only know single words. If you still have a desire to learn, the company pays for the services of a Portuguese teacher who comes once a week to the office. At the office everyone is fluent in English - this is a prerequisite. Among the population, mostly young people speak English fairly well, and people who are older can do it, but you can understand each other - the Portuguese are trying hard. In general, for half a year it is quite realistic to learn to perceive the language well by ear and to speak well.

There are many Russian-speaking people in the country, especially Ukrainians, about 50 thousand, and they have a reputation as hardworking and qualified specialists. There is a large group on Facebook - “Russian-speaking in Portugal” with a size of more than 24 thousand, and a lot of useful information on documents, typical problems and their solutions. Just keep in mind that the most active participants are simply fat trolls, and they are ready to settle any most innocent question far and wide.

Naturalization

You can apply for citizenship after 5 years of residence from the moment of official entry (on a work visa or by registering official entry at the airport upon arrival). Refusal of previous citizenship is not required.

Education

Kindergartens

It may happen that it will be difficult to get into the state kindergarten, they cost about 20 euros per month (for a child’s lunch). For a private kindergarten will have to pay about 500. In kindergartens, children are well fed, walk, play, etc. Unfortunately, kindergartens, even private ones, actively support the snot cycle in nature, and until you have adapted to the new climate, you can not bite them out. Our friends have been suffering like this for several months and are sick with the whole family in a circle.

Schools

Schools are private and public. State ones are different and the main disadvantage may be aggressive children from not very prosperous families, although I think I can’t compare them with the CIS. Nevertheless, many Portuguese prefer, if they can, to pay private, so that the child definitely felt calm. The level of education in public schools varies greatly from place to place, and depends on the teachers in the field. There are very good, and there are lazy and incompetent. In general, teachers in Portugal have a special mafia - good salaries, big vacations, it’s difficult to get there, but it’s even more difficult to fly out, because they, like judges, hold on to each other there. There was somehow an initiative in the Ministry of Education to introduce testing and verification of the level of teachers, so went such strikes that I had to cancel everything. Textbooks, recently, the state pays for itself,and earlier it flew a pretty penny to parents.

Higher education

I don’t know how humanitarian, but IT is on the level. The guys who came to us after college are very strong and have a good math and IT background. Teachers at universities are competent, make good money and do science. In general, if there was a need, I would study here.

The cost of higher education depends on family income, at least 1200 euros per year, if you study well, the scholarship will cover these costs. Foreign students (without local citizenship or a temporary or permanent residence) will have to pay about 7,000 euros per year. Rates 2019-2020 .

Vacation and rest

In Portugal, leave is regulated by EU standards and is at least 22 working days. Every weekend, another 10 days run up. If the holiday falls on a weekend, it is not postponed. Our company additionally takes everyone to a 4-day corporate party, and the rest of Friday is given as an additional day off, which is actually +5 days of vacation with travel and entertainment.

Honestly, after Ukraine, life here is like a holiday on its own, so they haven’t chosen far. Yes, and it's nice to live in a resort place, walk along the ocean. A pleasant change was that there was almost no dust and dirt on the street. Everything is paved with local light stone. Finally, we were able to wear light clothes and shoes without having to scrub it after every walk.

If you have a car, then it is worth a ride around the surroundings and beaches of Lisbon. And what you should definitely do is go to the Geres National Park on the northern border with Spain. Swimming in the crystal clear, sweet water of mountain rivers, taking a shower in waterfalls and swimming in natural pools is something. I highly recommend it. And it's inexpensive, about 200 euros for a round trip. We usually rent an apartment in Spanish territory for 35 euros per night in the velvet season, and absorb the energy of the sun, mountains and rivers during the day, and bask in the hot springs on a cool morning.

One of the most powerful impressions in Portugal is the Atlantic Ocean. And in the Portuguese village of Nazare there are the biggest waves on Earth. For the sake of this, it is worth coming here in the winter (the rest of the year everything is relatively calm), and if you are lucky, you can see with your own eyes monster waves up to 30 m high.

Seasons

Over the past few years, climate has begun to change. This summer, all of Europe suffered from the heat - the trains overheated, the people in the fountains cooled like paratroopers, and we in Portugal were freezing and wondering.

December to March is the best time for surfing. During this period it can be cold, but it can be very warm during the day (so you can sunbathe) and very fresh at night. As a rule, this is quite sunny, although there may be frequent rains. In February, Mimosa blossom - an unusual smell, as well as Calais with a surprisingly delicate aroma. The abundance of moisture and the sun is bearing fruit in the form of a riot of flowers, I strongly advise you to visit the Pena Royal Castle Park in Sintra in early March (this is very close to Lisbon). The waves are still high and the surfers are happy.

April- the cool and rainy period, as the Portuguese say, is the month of a thousand rains (abril aguas mil).

May-July is a warm, pleasant period. In recent years, it’s not very hot, but if the day turned out to be calm, the sun will still make you refresh in the ocean. The waves are small and surfing is possible only in special places.

August-October is the actual summer. The warmest and driest period. August is a month of vacations, and, as a rule, more than half of our office is empty. We love September-October most of all at this time there are not many tourists, and summer is in full swing. Also, not the best period for surfing, but, by far, the best time to travel around Portugal.

November is one of the wettest and coldest months. Best suited for work :).

Surfing

Surfing is what makes Portugal an increasingly popular tourist destination. Often they even come with whole families from all over Europe to experience this extraordinary feeling when they saddled a wave.

I must say that at first it is damn hard if you are not some kind of master of sports and have excellent command of the body. After two hours with a board in the ocean, as if after a gym. But the sensations are completely different than from a blunt pull of iron. When you glide in the wave, you feel like a bird. At the same time, if you are covered in a big wave, you can feel like a cat in a centrifuge ...

For beginners and pros, the coast in the Lisbon district provides a lot of opportunities, especially in winter - at this time the best waves. The water temperature does not particularly change all year round and is approximately 17 ℃, and if you are not a walrus, you will need a wetsuit. A special girder like me can come in handy. In surfing schools they give out all the equipment (a suit, shoes, a board, a leash), they teach a simple process, and help in the water. This pleasure costs 30 euros one-time or 160 euros for a pack of 10 lessons.

You yourself can buy a board, suit that suits your size and weight, and learn to conquer the waves alone. At the very beginning, when you still do not feel the waves and it is difficult to catch the balance, you can train on an already-sleeping (white) wave. To do this, you need to find a place where you can stand waist-deep in the water or a little higher, and wait for the waves to jump out of the water onto the board and immediately rise. The initial speed that you get pushing from the bottom will allow you to start moving without additional strokes.

The tide changes its time with a cycle of a couple of weeks, so you either need to follow the sites for surfers, or after completing a course at one of the schools, stay in their mailing group and receive all the updates first-hand.

PS

To understand this country you need to live here for some time, to see its identity, traditions. This love of children, and love of poetry, and goodwill and a desire to help ordinary Portuguese. This is especially noticeable in small cities in the north of the country.

And also, if you are interested in working in a mobile game dev, you can always write to me to learn more about the interview process and current vacancies in our company (the link is also in my profile).

Good luck, the sun and the ocean!

Beginner Surf Guide or Programmer's Life in Portugal