Basically, your friend's idea is pretty good - you ought to be going over there to see how you like it and to scope out the job situation. An extended trip of a couple of months (can be up to three months on a "tourist" visa) will give you a good feel for the place and allow you to explore the possibilities for employment in your field.

While you're in Portugal, you can check out the job ads in the newspapers and try to find out what the best sources for job information is. Maybe even apply for a job or two to see if you can get an interview.

Don't pay any attention to those "getting married to get citizenship" deals. I don't know Portugal's rules specifically, but suffice it to say all the EU governments are wise to these scams - and usually there is a period of time (like a year or two) when you can't work, even if married to a local. Citizenship comes sometime after that and usually isn't entirely automatic.

But even after your extended stay there, it may take a while to make the big move. Things move much slower in Europe than they do in the US (it's actually one of the advantages). But anything worth having is worth taking the time to do right, right?