Lisbon FAQ

How will you do without knowing the basics of Portuguese?
Well this is a small country and a large amount of the revenue comes in through tourists. Not speaking Portuguese is not much of a handicap as the reverse would be in the US. Most people under 40 and who have a decent education will be able to speak well. For example, my son is in preschool and he has an English lesson once a week. People are very willing to help here and charades can accomplish a lot. The basics are pretty easy. You can go online and search or purchase a book like Lonely Planet's Phrasebook (make sure it is European and not Brazilian). You can get very far with please, thank you, Do you speak English?, excuse me, I apologize, I don't speak Portuguese, 1-10, No, Go away, help, I am allergic to...., Does this dish contain...., Memorizing these phrases can be done on the plane. Another trick is to figure out your request and write it down. A little notebook and a pencil are a good thing.

I have heard of the skating rink so I did some research. It hasn't been cold enough for ice. In fact, the 'ice' is made of plastic, I think it is Teflon sheets that have been put down. The municipal office (the bureaucracy that runs the city) called it ice in a press release. It is open through the Jan 9th I think. There is also a French Carousel. I couldn't find a price for entry; it could be free. I might get to go down that way this week. I'll let you know if I find out anything.

Most museums are free on Sunday mornings (except for the Orient Museum which is free on Friday evenings) and closed on Mondays.

As far as the rainy season here it means highs in the 40's to the high 50'sF with lows in the 30's F The coldest it got last year was 33F and that made the news. Most places do not have heaters; so coffee and soup are awesome for that reason. It is also rainy. Today for instance it is high of 19C (66F) low of 14C (60F) and overcast. It will probably rain. That could mean a few hours of a light drizzle or 30 minutes of heavy pour or both.

Rain also means that the stone that makes up the walking areas here can be really slippery.

You can probably pick up a cheap umbrella here (chapeu de chuva) at a Chinese shop and if the wind plays havoc with it you are out a few euros.

As far as looking like a tourist I wouldn't worry too much about it; this isn't Paris, Milan, or London. There is not a great deal of fashionistas or at least I haven't run into them. Wearing presentable casual attire is fine. If anything I think Portuguese women tend to wear more form fitting clothes than their Midwestern US counterparts. Boots that go up to the top of the calf are pretty popular as well.

When we first arrived we were told; don't leave things unlocked or out. People will assume you don't want it and take - there is no shame in dumpster diving here. As far as muggings or being threatened that is very rare. Crime statistics put Lisbon ahead of most if not all major cities in the US. As long as you are aware of your surroundings you should be fine. If you feel unsafe you can go into a cafe and ask them to call you a taxi (Pode chamar-me um taxi, por favor?).

As far as getting harassed; I have been witness to one cellphone pilfering and have had a few friends loose pocket books, wallets, etc. The cellphone pilfering happened when two women who were probably Roma (It is an unfortunate stereotype here) came into the coffee shop where we were. They each had lottery tickets that they were offering. One came over, noticed the cellphone and started being louder. Her friend came over and offered us more tickets and the original woman slipped the cellphone into her pocket and left. It was 20 minutes before we noticed the cellphone was no longer on the table. The two women made something like 5-10 euros a piece. Another friend lost a camera. He was on the subway with all his bags and he had draped a camera over shoulder but not in a bag. When the subway doors were closing he felt a tug and he was on one side of the door and the dude with his camera was on the other.