A Peach in Portugal
Christie in Coimbra
I’m a World Traveler, Curator of Culture and Community Builder
I followed my heart, faced my fears and moved abroad to Portugal to satisfy the longing of my soul. If the siren song of unknown shores is calling to you, let’s take the journey together. Crafting a successful expat experience is easier with a friend!
My Socials
Follow my adventures, learn from my mistakes, and travel the world with me by following me in the social media streets.
Come join me on TikTok where I share more details about my daily outings, party at the festas, and travels around Portugal as well as the rest of Europe.
This is for my real estate enthusiasts and expat curious. On the ´Gram is where I dive deeper into the expat experience, the real estate landscape in Portugal and specific steps you can take now to prepare for your move abroad.
Outside of my professional career as an international real estate consultant, I LOVE to cook. I am a chef in my own mind! Living in Portugal has allowed me the time and space to pursue my passions. Subscribe to Christie’s Cookbook Chronicles to watch me cook my way through my large collection of lovingly curated cookbooks. If you love creating in the kitchen and entertaining, this is the channel for you. Let´s get cooking!
about me
I consider myself a modern day Renaissance woman and polymath. I have a range of interests and skillsets, which is a blessing, but felt overwhelming when I lived in the States. There never seemed to be enough time to dive into anything fully outside of work. I decided I owed it to myself to allow all parts of me to express, create and bloom. My move to Portugal has provided the peace and space to hear what my soul has to say.
International Real Estate Consultant
Residential and commercial real estate expert
Chef in My Own Mind
Hostess with the Mostest who loves to cooking, baking and interior design
World Traveler
I have always had a sense of adventure and wanderlust. My curious nature and desire to find connection across cultures has led me to 11 countries thus far with many more in my future.
I am a real estate broker with experience spanning over twenty years. I’ve been blessed to have success in an industry I love. I began my career as a financial analyst and account manager, specializing in tenant representation with the largest commercial real estate firm in the world. I negotiated office, retail and industrial transactions for multiple Fortune 500 clients including Home Depot, AT&T, Sprint, GMAC, Aetna, Deutsche Bank and Cox Enterprises. Eventually, I opened my own real estate brokerage and added residential services as part of our offerings. I recognized there was a need for education to improve access to home ownership for historically marginalized communities. I still own that brokerage and have expanded our services to my new home country of Portugal. I assist investors and expats with property purchases and leasing in both the residential and commercial markets.
Moving abroad has afforded me the opportunity to pursue my passions, including baking. I have a craft kitchen baking business, Jessicakes, offering gourmet. alcohol infused cupcakes with a twist (see what I did there).
Portugal beckoned to me, not only because of its stunning natural beauty, delicious cuisine, and kind people, but also its geographic location makes extensive travel to other countries easy and affordable. You can literally have breakfast (pequeno-almoço) in Portugal, lunch (almoço) in Spain, and dinner (jantar) in France, all in the space of a day! Don’t you want to hear about my epic train ride across Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands?
Coimbra Calls
Portugal offers a broad range of cities, small town and villages that appeal to just about any type of personality, however, Coimbra called to me. I was on my three-month discovery trip here in Portugal when I decided to see what Coimbra was all about. During that visit I met so many lovely people, expats and Portuguese alike. Someone said to me, “You don’t choose Coimbra, Coimbra chooses you”. Choose me, it did. Coimbra called, I answered and now, I am here. I hope you will choose Christie in Coimbra to help you discover all that this historically rich, stunning city and country has to offer. It just might choose you, too.
Coimbra – A City of History, Royalty, Scholarship and Beauty
Coimbra is so visually stunning that a casual walk in any direction is bound to have a church (igreja), a view (vista), or park (parque) that is almost guaranteed to stop you in your tracks.
As an African-American who travels extensively, I often look for ways to share that we of the diaspora have ALWAYs existed everywhere. Portugal, and specifically Coimbra, is no exception. The Moors conquered and ruled in Portugal for over 500 years and their influence is still very present in the architecture, foods and even some of the vocabulary. For instance, some Portuguese may say oxalá which stems from inshallah, or the Algarve region which comes from Al-Gharb, meaning the West. The more you know…
Portugal Knows How to Party – The Art of Festa
The Portuguese celebrate life and the art of living, so much so that it almost wore me out my first year here! There is an appreciation for spending time in community whether it be over a leisurely café, Sunday dinner with the family or watching a futebol (soccer to Americans) match. The joie de vivre is evident and it seems like there is a different festa every day!
English