StuDudley

Book by & travel by.
On March 19, United Airlines sent an e-mail to those with 2020 Coved-cancelled trips & who were given credits that would expire at the end of 2021. The e-mail said that they were extending the credits into 2022 and you had to book on or before March 31 for travel next year. On March 23 United sent another e-mail that "corrected" this, and stated that travel must begin on or before March 31.

Beware!!

Stu Dudley

xyz99

Ohhh! I don't want to highjack maitaitom's post, but thank you Stu.

HelenaFatima

Hello from Portugal, Tom!

Maybe we will reopen borders at May, maybe not. Maybe Americans will be allowed, maybe not. We still don't know. But... I think things will be ok. Almost all the older people (and others on the 1st group) have been vaccinated, at least with the 1st dosis (my parents are going to receive the 2nd on the 17th April, my sister in law already had both - sh is a surgeon), I'm probably taking mine in a month or two, teachers and law forces are being vaccinated now, It has been said that probably tourists will need to prove they had the vaccine. But nothing in the law yet. We are still confined - January was dramatic, in number of cases and deaths - but after Easter we will probably be allowed to have more freedom. Things have improved a lot, for better.

We don't know (I don't know) the answer to your questions, it will depend on a lot of things, like how things
are going to be after the end of the confinement. But I strongly believe that with the vaccination, numbers will decrease consistently. So, therefore, we will be open to tourism.

I told you last year Portugal would still be here in 2021. And we are. Forget about the PT, tuk-tuks are unexpensive, so are taxis and uber. And at least for Porto, I can give you a few tips to save your legs. There are some streets that one never go up, only down. Unfortunately some people don't know that. In a very nice neighborhood, the old jewish neighborhood, we have brand new eletric rolling stairs, You really don't need to climb the hills, I can help you with that.

Hope this year is your "visit Portugal" year!

Stay well, stay safe!
Helena

P.S. - sorry for my poor english. After more than one year without reading, writting or speaking, I'm not well in foreign languages, and unfortunately I don't like (or trust) automatic translators.


Pay safe!
Helena

geetika

>>Hope this year is your "visit Portugal" year!<<

HelenaFatima, thanks for the detailed update, I have been following newspaper reports on the lockdown in Portugal and how Covid cases are down quite significantly. Good job, I echo your sentiments that it’s ‘visit Portugal’ this year!

Your English is perfectly fine, way better than any of us could write Portuguese, so no need to apologize. I barely know a few words in your language, though one of my goals is to take lessons over the next year or two and at least acquire a basic proficiency.

maitaitom

Thanks so much HelenaFatima. We are still hopeful, and those moving stairs in Porto sounds right up (and down) my alley. I'd love to hear about the street you only go down. Remember, I owe you a bottle of port I better start learning my Portuguese. Obrigada!

HelenaFatima

The name is "Rua da Madeira". If you are facing São Bento train station, it's on the left side. Before Covid I was running several apartments in Porto, one just up that street. I always told guests that were coming from Lisbon by train: "leave train at Campanhã station, change to a regional trains towards São Bento, 3mnts ride, cenic views, arriving São Bento use the metro station across the street, go down just one level, walk, at the end you have rolling stairs and you will be at the Cathedral, and then it's a short walk to the apartment". Unfortunately, GPS always disagree with me, and told them to go through Rua da Madeira. Some of the guests trusted GPS more than they trusted me.

From the Riverbank, there was (and is) a way to reach the upper East part of the city centre, the Funicular. Now we have the rolling stairs helping half way to reach the western part of the city center. For the midle, use your legs or public transport (there are buses). This is not a secret anymore, so I'm stating it in a public place. But the fact was that sometimes I hated tourists and the queue they made to take the funicular. Near the funicular you have stairs - not rolling stairs, stone stairs. 216 steps. Once I had to climb them. I like those stairs, typical houses, stray cats, children playing, nice old ladies talking about neighbours lifes, a cheap coffee-house with astonishing views... but I like to go down, Only that one time I did it the other way.

Concerning portuguese language: men say "obrigado", women say "obrigada". It's a difference used with the implication of the verb "to be". Saying "obrigado" means I am in obgligation to you. Of course it just means thank you, but I'm just explaining where is the verb "to be" when you say a simple word. For instance, you also use "o" and "a" for male or female in other portuguese words: I'm starving: estou esfomeadO / estou esfomeadA; I'm tired: estou cansadO / estou cansadA. And so on.

Fingers crossed, you will ask a lot of info this year!

Helena

bilboburgler

Helena you are doing fantastically, you should hear me mangle Italian.

maitaitom

"men say "obrigado", women say "obrigada".

I'm already 0 for 1 in my Portuguese, and I haven't even gotten there yet.

bdokeefe

Helena- Thanks so much for that, I thought that you changed it based on the gender of who you were speaking to, not the gender of who was saying it. I think we were also messing up 'bom dia', thinking it meant good day, and not good morning. A shopkeeper told me it was after lunch when I said bom dia upon entering, about 2 days later it clicked in my head. Dia sounded like day, so I went with it.

I know a tiny bit of Spanish, and I think that messes me up. For the most part, people seem to appreciate your effort trying to speak a few phrases in their language.

Hoping to visit in November, and to explore the Alentejo region this time.

HelenaFatima

Don't worry, lots of portuguese think the same, and made that mistake. I was with my mother at the supermarket the other day, and a young men told us "obrigadas" (we made plural with a s).

Concerning "bom dia", technically you say bom dia until noon, and after that "boa tarde". Like good morning and good afternoon. But sometimes we say bom dia at 1 or 2pm, and if the other person corrects we answer "no lunch yet". After sunset you say boa noite, and that's it. Good evening and good night are the same in portuguese: "boa noite" for instance when you arrive at the restaurant for dinner, and "boa noite" when you go to bed.

I speak Spanish, and I think that's why I don't speak Italian. I understand Italian quite well, but if I try so speak my brains turn to Spanish! I guess that's what happens to you, more or less.

Alentejo is beautifull, and quite different from the Noth. Food is very good, so is wine. Lots of castles and some interesting archeological places.

Helena

scrb11

Portugal may be relapsing into a surge right now, since opening to the UK in late May.

I hope they get it under control though it sounds like a long way to go on vaccination because you need both doses to resist the delta variant.

Thinking of going in April or so but this fall and winter will show if there's going to be another wave.

maitaitom

Just saw about Lisbon yesterday. We're still hoping to go, but we now have another problem. One of our corgis has cancer, and the tumor on his paw has grown very large. Day to day.

millie2112

very sorry to hear about your dog Maitaitom.. and how is that Afib going.????

MaineGG

So sorry to hear about your darling corgi. I know how dear your pets are to you and hope for the best. We, too, had to cancel our first trip to Portugal in 2017 and have been trying to get it back on the schedule ever since. It's always something! Hoping someday will work out for all of us. Missing your great trip reports.

maitaitom

Our neighbor has a home in Sintra that she travels to each autumn. We're having her and her husband over for a bbq soon to get some inside info on what she has heard and thinks. If Helena is around, would love to hear from her, too

millie - Both Frankie and I have AFib and take some of the same meds, much to the laughter of our CVS people who ask which one of us is taking the meds each time I'm in. I'm doing better than Frankie.

Maine ... Yes, if we're able to go, the situation with Frankie is weighing heavily on us. We don't want him to die on our pet sitter's watch, yet we aren't getting any younger. Hopefully this new drug will work. So far tolerating it pretty well. Of course, all these decisions are waiting to see how Lisbon and the rest of Portugal does over the next couple of months.

HelenaFatima

Hi Tom! Yes, Helena is around.

First of all, I feel very much for your pet, and I wish the best!

Things are not good, but also not as bad as they were last January, Not even close. The main problem is the new variant called Delta, that cientists says it's more contagious, although the numbers shows it's less mortal.

So more or less a month ago UK took us from the green list (which had only 2 european countries, Portugal and Iceland), and inserted us at the ambar list, along with all the others, meaning people had to quarantine on their return to UK. A week ago Germany said we could have avoid the growth of the cases (by not allowing british people to come to Portugal), 3 days ago Germany inserted us in theirs red list, and yesterday we did the same with the UK.

Meanwhile the vaccination process is going well and fast, Around 30% had the complete vaccinacion, and this number is growing fast, as many people already had at least one dose of the vaccine (like me, I'm taking 2nd dose 7th July).

The metropolitan area of Lisbon is in lockdown during week-ends, starting Friday evening and ending Monday early morning. This means a person living in Cascais, for instance, can go to Sintra, Estoril, Lisbon, Setúbal (across the river), etc. but cannot leave the area, so cannot come to Porto, or other places in the country. This will change next 1st July, when the european union vaccine certificate is implemented. Everyone with an european union certificate with complete vaccination can get out of Lisboa area, and travel in and out the country. Today I saw on the news that a certificate issued by UK is also valid. So I guess certificates from other countries will also be valid, although the vaccines need to be Janssen, Pfizer, Astrazeneca or Moderna.

With the numbers of people fully vaccinated growing it's a question of time to see the desease numbers decrease. How much time? We expect that will ocurr before beginning of august.

See you soon!
Helena

maitaitom

Thanks Helena. Fingers crossed.

Tulips

We're in the Lisbon area now. It's very quiet everywhere. Had a pastel de nata in Belem, no queue at all.
Go and see the Ai Wei Wei exhibition in Belem! I think it's on until November.

maitaitom

Tulips, "We're in the Lisbon area now. It's very quiet everywhere. Had a pastel de nata in Belem, no queue at all."

Hi Tulips, Are museums mostly open or closed?

Tulips

Everything is open, as far as I can tell. It's very quiet everywhere. We went to Sintra, Monserratte; there were other tourists, but not the crowds they were used to.

The only thing closed was the Torre de Belem; but apparently for other than Covid reasons.