I run out of time. I don’t mean I got old and I’m going to die. (we all are some day, of course). I don’t know if I’m going to die soon or not. Only He Knows and even His Knowledge is a posteriori. For you people who don’t know how to impress your friends with a few super-famous words from dead languages, I meant: He Will Know after my death. And when I say “He” I mean my cat, Bulukos, whom I miss each time I travel. But I think I somehow lost the point here, which is a very bad sign if it happens at the very first paragraph of the post.
The Japanese tourists agree with me in that, but it seems that Portuguese people are not so font of mobile Internet. I haven’t find any spots with free WiFi access. in Lisbon. Not even one. Payed services are available to some places, like the central tourist office or hotels and even one or two cafeterias, but that’s all. I don’t know if everyday people let their WiFi open to public sometimes but I didn't catch any connections anywhere I tried. At the place I come from it is not so difficult to find at least a few cafeterias with free WiFi access. Unfortunately, in Lisbon you have to use dead-tree products like maps or printed city guides to get the kind of information me and my Japanese friends where seeking.
If you ask me, I relied on my friends knowledge of the city. The only think I had to do is say “Dude, what is that Vasco Da Gama place?” and my friends will arrange a visit. They didn't even answer the question, so that I wouldn't know what it is until we are there. Actually, their answer was more like “we will go to a bar in Santa Appolonia first. The place you mentioned is a good spot to take the bus to the airport”. Cool.
Santa Appolonia can be reached by metro. The corresponding station is located at a square, where my friends where looking for a rend-a-car store with low prices. It was closed. The store is open only from 10:00 to 13:00, which is odd. At the place I come from, rend-a-car stores are open for more than 12 hours a day. My pals won’t be able to rend any car here, since they have proved themselves incapable of waking up before 13:00.
The bar was also closed. It was supposed to be this cool, off-beat, alternative place but the only think I saw was a shut door. Santa Appolonia neighborhood is as pretty as the rest of Lisbon, which is a lot, so I didn’t really mind our failure to do something there. I enjoyed the dérive. Finally, we managed to find out what bus and metro line combination will lead us to Vasco Da Gama.
Apparently, Vasco Da Gama is a shopping center at Oriente area. Sure there must be statues and streets with the same name, but they don’t have three stories of fancy shops and fast food restaurants there. I wasn’t impressed by the shopping center, because I ‘ve seen one in the past but the Oriente area reminds me of Marousi Sport Center in Athens, with it’s fish-bone design. My pal nodded “they are both designed by the same architect”. Good to know, but now that I think of it, we 'd rather visit Belem Tower .
My point is I spent almost all of my 5 days time and I haven’t seen that much of the city. I expressed my concerns openly to a group of Japanese tourists, I met during "breakfast". They smiled at me, then asked directions to Vasco-Da-Gama-something (sorry, I know my English accent is not that good either, but that doesn't mean I can understand all other strange accents). Vasco da Gama what? Statue? Street? Square? There must be enough of all of them. If I was the major of Portugal, and one of them hadn’t been built yet, I would built it. Of course, I don’t know where any Vasco Da Gama statues or squares are located, but that’s why we have smart phones with Internet access, right?
Night shots of Lisbon at night. I would have more of them, but I don't have the right equipment. If you agree that I deserve a decent DSLR camera and you are willing to buy it for me, please let me now.
They might not have free WiFi anywhere in the city, but the parks are quite relaxing. I'm sure those playing-card people at the park side appreciate that fact too.
The Japanese tourists agree with me in that, but it seems that Portuguese people are not so font of mobile Internet. I haven’t find any spots with free WiFi access. in Lisbon. Not even one. Payed services are available to some places, like the central tourist office or hotels and even one or two cafeterias, but that’s all. I don’t know if everyday people let their WiFi open to public sometimes but I didn't catch any connections anywhere I tried. At the place I come from it is not so difficult to find at least a few cafeterias with free WiFi access. Unfortunately, in Lisbon you have to use dead-tree products like maps or printed city guides to get the kind of information me and my Japanese friends where seeking.
Santa Appolonia can be reached by metro. The corresponding station is located at a square, where my friends where looking for a rend-a-car store with low prices. It was closed. The store is open only from 10:00 to 13:00, which is odd. At the place I come from, rend-a-car stores are open for more than 12 hours a day. My pals won’t be able to rend any car here, since they have proved themselves incapable of waking up before 13:00.
The bar was also closed. It was supposed to be this cool, off-beat, alternative place but the only think I saw was a shut door. Santa Appolonia neighborhood is as pretty as the rest of Lisbon, which is a lot, so I didn’t really mind our failure to do something there. I enjoyed the dérive. Finally, we managed to find out what bus and metro line combination will lead us to Vasco Da Gama.
The Oriente is an impressively designed public area, where I enjoyed a cup of coffee and took the bus to the airport.
I can hear that Portuguese flight-announcing lady calling the passengers of my flight, as I admire the airport shops. Most of the things they sell are the kind of stuff you could claim you bought from a small Portuguese grocery store. Or you can buy cigarettes, since they are so much chipper (because of the tax-free policy).I didn't put this photo here in vain. Most people will notice the ice cream brand or the pole at the airport waiting area, but only few will see the briefcase suspiciously thrown in the garbage and only a few minutes later appearing in front of the OLA selling point, in the same airport.
I have to resist the temptation since I ‘ve decided to quit smoking. It’s a decision I made before this trip “I will quit after my trip to Lisbon”. I know from experience that when a person decides to quit, the universe will conspire to offer him free cigarettes.Cigarette paradise is located somewhere between groceries and perfumes. You can hear the cigarettes calling you with their coughing voices: "buy me", "just one more", "tax-free prices", "packets of ten", etc.
Buying cigarettes in a country that you don't speak the language could be a tricky business.
4 comments:
"...it seems that Portuguese people are not so font of mobile Internet. I haven’t find any spots with free WiFi access. in Lisbon."
Hmmm, that is not mobile internet!
@tatlin@home: yes, you are right. But it is Internet you can have on your mobile.
If you care for *real* mobile Internet, I remember I had 3G reception at most places in Lisbon, but I didn't know how much it costs, so I didn't dare trying it.
You have a cat? I didn't know that, but I am sure Bulukos knows everything!
"The bar was also closed. It was supposed to be this cool, off-beat, alternative place but the only think I saw was a shut door" => Off course, it is genuinely alternative to be a closed bar.
Good luck in quiting smoking! Was it for health reasons, or just they got too expensive?
> mythomania said "You have a cat?"
I guess it's the other way around: the cat has me.
As for quiting smoking, thanks for the support, giant cigarette. I mean, your profile picture looks like a cigarette, but everything looks like a cigarette to me right now.
Post a Comment