Another busy day packing so much in due to this being a fact finding mission to see if the region cold become a new permanent home/base for my family. We definitely need an alterative plan away from South Africa and I do like what I am seeing thus far. This is only day 2 and I have 2 appointments lined up tomorrow with one being with a business consultant.
The weekly farmers market which was not a planned visit was great to see to get an idea what fruit and vegetables are grown locally. There must have been 200 plus farmer stalls covering so many different products. We have a local farmers market in SA, but that is mainly for vegetables and this has been shut down for the last 8 months. You try and support the local farmers, but it is impossible if they are not open.
You get some good ideas though on pricing and this is twice weekly in Vilamoura. Other areas close by also have markets and when I mean close by you realise how small Portugal is. In South Africa down the road could be 2 or 3 hours by car and in this case you would be in Spain which is kind of nuts. Lisbon is down the road only 2 hours away so I have to change how I see the country as it is more like a small region.
I could not believe they even have freshly cur Proteas for sale which is SA's national flower and actually haven't seen a real one in years. The market even had fruit and nut trees that were already bearing fruit so even someone who did not have green fingers had a chance.
The strawberries were some of the biggest I have ever seen and overall the fruit and vegetable pricing was roughly on par with South Africa. A friend of mine lives closer to Lisbon and he has a small holding/farm so I will chat with him regarding meat supply.
I visited the International school this afternoon to see if it is something my grand kids could use or not. I have to admit it is hard to come to terms with how close everything is as the school, town and housing on the outskirts is all under a 10km radius. The airport is 30 minutes away on public roads and not a motor way so in distance wise would be 15 minutes away which is less than I drive to work. Living here you would not be stuck in traffic as the number of people and cars on the road is far less. The area is still being developed so eventually the numbers will rise over time.
The only question I have now is the country or region big enough for my business as I do need the numbers to make it viable? I think they are here, but the region is so small.