Furniture for Our New Apartment
We definitely needed furniture for our new apartment. It was nice to wake up to a new day in Portugal this morning. We went to eat breakfast at the neighborhood café again and then headed to a used furniture store for some serious shopping.
Furniture Shopping
The first Uber trip took us to the middle of a housing neighborhood. We couldn’t find any kind of a store there. I quickly googled for another furniture store and called another Uber. This time, the address was wrong so we walked a bit until we found the shop.
This particular shop, Loja Solidária Partilha Constante Coimbra Centro, is one of two in Coimbra that sells used furniture to benefit a charity that helps people around the world. There are several more of these shops throughout Portugal. You can read about the charity here.
We were able to purchase 2 beds with mattresses, 2 bedside tables, 2 dressers (one with a mirror), and for Kellie’s studio, a large desk, 2 chairs, and a large bookcase for storage. Without even asking, the guy gave us a small discount bringing our total down to 900€. They only took cash. Luckily, I had 700€ with me so the guy took that and told me to give the delivery crew the rest of the money. They would deliver around 3 pm. The delivery fee was included in the total.
Two men brought all the furniture up two flights of stairs and set the pieces up. When they were done, I gave them the remaining 200€ as well as a tip which they were reluctant to take.
After the furniture store, we walked to my bank, the branch where I opened the account. They have been holding my debit card since March when I opened the account. I used the card to pull out enough cash from the ATM to pay the delivery guys.
Appliance Shopping
After lunch, we headed to the appliance store across the river. It’s called Carlos Ventura-electrodomésticos. The address was off by about 0.1 miles so we walked back to the store.
The lady who greeted us didn’t speak any English. I tried using my trusty translator app but she called someone. I assume it was her son. He did speak English well enough to help us. We saw several washing machines and settled on a Bosch. We had to go to a garage around the corner to look at refrigerators. I again chose a Bosch. When we went back to the main shop, I also bought 3 fans for the apartment because of the heat wave we’re still in.
Delivery will be either tomorrow or Sat when the guy’s friend can help deliver. Again, I was given a discount without asking. Including delivery, I paid 1660€ for the appliances and the fans. That included setup and an explanation of how to use the machines.
We then went to the apartment for the furniture delivery. And to spend some time with Katie, our cat. She missed us.
When it was time for supper, we tried to find someplace near us. We walked to two restaurants but they were closed until 7 pm. I found a pizzeria place not too much further that was open so we went there.
After we ate, we returned to the Airbnb. I fell asleep for about 90 minutes but now it’s time for my shower and to get ready for bed.
Contact Us if you have any questions or comments about this or any other post on our blog.