A list of all external links used in my Lisbon posts.

Related to Lisbon

• The Lisbon center: a detailed post with pictures, by Isabel, a teacher in Lisbon
• Rossio: a photograph showing the Lisbon central square
• Belem Tower: a detailed site with information and pictures
• Praca de Commercio: the English Wikipedia lemma of one of Lisbon central squares
• Bairo Alto: the English Wikipedia lemma for the area and some more spontaneous photos and comments and some google images.
• Gare do Oriente: a detailed site with information and pictures

Related to Portugal

• Portuguese cuisine: a post by Mary Mimouna and also the English Wikipedia lemma
• Portuguese beers: Super Bock and Sagres official sites
• Vihno Verde (Green Wine): The English Wikipedia lemma
• Piri piri: a hot pepper featured in some Portuguese plates
• Sintra: the English Wikipedia lemma
• Pena National Palace: the English Wikipedia lemma

Last evening in Lisbon: Santa Apolonia and Vasco da Gama at Oriente

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.

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.

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?

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.

Sintra and the Football World Cup Finals

After reading the responses on my previous posts I came to the conclusion that people don’t want stories about drugs and aimless walks anymore. Maybe in the ‘60s or the ‘70s that was exactly the selling point for a blogger, who would have to curve his posts on paper, put them in a bottle and throw it in the sea (actually by this method you can access as many readers as most bloggers have). This is 2010, and people want practical advice like power plug types, voltage levels and airplane ticket bargains. They don’t care about your photoshoped iPhone pictures, they would be as pleased with a few cart-postal pictures of the main sites, the ones you can find everywhere else. I’m pissed with you people, and that’s why I decided to punish you, by going to such a boring place as Sintra and writing about it. Actually, the reasons I'm going are not that clear, but we will come to that later.

The town of Sintra, Portugal.

Sintra is a nice village a few minutes by train from Lisbon, so I had the opportunity to use a train in this country as well. It stoped to some Lisbon districts, like Benfica (If you are not a football fun, this name won’t ring a bell - and by football I refer to the sport most people on the globe call “football” - since it is played mostly with feet and a ball: foot-ball, get it?). While at the train, I wondered why I’m going to Sintra. Maybe my friend, who is sitting next to me, knows the answer.

- Dude, why are we going to Sintra?
- I though it was your idea!
- Why should I suggest to go to a place I didn’t even know it exists?
- Is this rhetorical?
- Dude, I’m telling you, I didn’t suggest Sintra or any other place. The first time I ever heard about this was this morning, when you said “OK, get ready, we are going to Sintra”.
- Yes, but I thought we planed that yesterday, when you said “hey, let’s go to Sintra tomorrow”.

Was that true? I had to find out.

Not being a tourist: Lisbon center and Bairro Alto

Some times I like to be a tourist, but then there are those moments I hate it. When I’m on the road (or the boat, the plane, the train, the camel, etc.) it is difficult not to be a tourist. In everyday life it is even more difficult, but when traveling, I beg to differ, like everybody else. If you are a tourist by definition, how can you avoid being one? This is the question I’m trying to answer in this post, while wandering at the most central streets and paved areas of Lisbon.

I gave a lot of thought to my not-being-a-tourist plan. I did that while I was stoned, but that’s how you get great ideas, right? Well, my plan is this: I will try to ignore the names of the main monuments and tourist attractions of the city. I will visit some of them (especially if I don’t have to pay entrance fees), but I won’t look for them. My plan is based on the scientific principle of fate: if it is written to visit an attraction, it will happen. Of course, I have to start from somewhere. Let’s see the metro map, choose the most central metro station, buy a ticket, ride the metro, get out and forget the name of the station. Done.

I was supposed to now what those things are, but I don't, because they are for tourists and you can find them at the center of Lisbon.

An erasmus day in Lisbon: Alfama

“Hostels in Lisbon are very good”, was the first thing my hosts told me when we met. I chose to take that remark as an informative one: “Thank you, now that I know that, I won’t have to see one”. They weren’t happy with the answer, but the pursuit of happiness is not easy. You don’t get happy with answers, you get happy with drugs. Is this “happy” or “high”? Sorry, my english are not very good.


I’m not a drug addict, but my hosts are erasmus students to Lisbon University and we all had to stay in a minimum sized bedroom, designed for one medium sized person and furnished with two small beds. Obviously, I had to sleep on the floor for 5 nights. It wouldn’t be easy without the proper Moroccan chocolate. Yes, that’s right, candies help you sleep.

Miraduras are a favorite place for students and young people in Lisbon. A mirdura is a terrace or a park with a view.

How to communicate with a Portuguese person (or anybody else, for that matter)

Lisbon is sunny and fun. I got the good vibes from the first second I step my foot on the floor of the arrivals room at Aeroporto de Lisboa. I was happy with everything: the sunny whether, the ease I got out of the airport and found bus 44 to transfer me to the Comercio station, the way people responded to my english or the music that was selected for me by the shuffling mechanism of my mp3 player. The only thing I didn’t enjoy that much was the prices of the means of transport, but on the other hand the quality of the service is high enough to match the price.

In a previous post I have admitted that English is not my native language, but it is the one I use when I travel. That comes out instinctively and sometimes it is very useful. English is an international language and it is spoken in every airport and major train terminal. There are also some countries where most people can speak well enough. My home country is one of them. Italy and Portugal aren’t. But this is not a problem.

Trams (old and new) are part of the charm

 Local people are not getting excited about the interiors of their old trams anymore 

You see, Italians as well as Portuguese people will try hard to understand what you say, even if you speak a completely incomprehensive language, because they know how to read the language of the body, infer meaning from the context or use some common sense. techniques. For example, if they see a person alone in the middle of the desert saying “water, please, water”, they don’t need to speak English to understand that this person needs water. Or if they see a tourist with his giant baggage on his back asking “what is the bus line to Comercio station”, they don’t need to understand more than the key word “Comercio” to tell you to take a cab.

Yeah, I know, I shouldn’t have asked the taxi driver for bus information, but my point is I could communicate easily with that taxi driver, although he was speaking Portuguese and I was speaking English with awful accent. I also have to add that after a while I stop speaking English, and I start using my first language, which sounds Greek to most people, and it made no difference. You see, the taxi driver couldn't understand the words anyway. This didn't stop us from communicating. If it was an oral communication, it would go like this:

- Hi, I want to take the bus 44 to comercio. Where is the bus stop for that?
- You want to go to commercio? Why don't you take a taxi?
- A taxi? But I want the bus. How much will it cost me, anyway?
- Don't worry about the cost, my friend, the taxi is safe and convenient! In the bus you will have to be errect the whole time, and not in a good way, if you know what I mean. What's more, they are going to steal your money and rape your girlfriend.
- But I don't have a girlfriend.
- Of course you don't! Girls don't like people who take the bus in stead of a taxi. The taxi is nice, girls love it!
- So, you are not going to tell me then?
- I can tell you anything, just ask!
- OK, where is the stop for bus 44?
- Hey, weren't you listen to me all that time? What did I tell you? Do you want to get laid today? Take a taxi!
- Yeah, OK, thanks, I will ask at the tourist information desk over there.

All that without the words.

A beautiful silver tram. Most of them are yellow

 The great Lisbon bridge connects the two bands of the Tago river. It is one of the longest in the world

To conclude, the communication method I present here is called “don’t be a snob”. If you really want to communicate, you don’t need to speak the same language as the other person. Move your hands, show things with your fingers, speak as clearly as possible, try to use words highly possible of being used in the other persons native language (e.g. taxi) What’s more, pay attention to what the other person is saying and doing, try to understand his or her position, don’t look for mistakes, look for meaning. This should be a lesson to all you English and French people out there, who are sometimes too scholastic about the correct use of your native language by foreigners.

Lisbon is a beautiful city and I can’t stress that enough. I fell in love with her from the first day. But for the moment, I will post a few photographs from the means of transport, so that I won’t have to do that again. An exception to this rule for the old trams that are still in use and are so nice when passing the dreamy shaped, tile-decorated, stone-made streets of downtown Lisbon.

Old tram with fish decoration. I don't know why