Thansk Sherry,

I did read your post. I think though, that I did not ask my question properly. What I was trying to ask was does Portugal use the same electrical plugs as France and Italy. I already have adapters that I used when in both these countries and I was wondering if I would have to buy a new one for Portugal. I do not remember having a problem with the cell phone in France once I attached the adapter and plugged it in, the voltage must have been ok.

Thanks. again sorry to be so dense with this stuff.

Lyn

Lobo - I don't think you have to worry about your english - it appears to be darn near perfect. My husband and I have been trying to learn Portuguese with some CDs we've rented from the library. I hope they work! We welcome any help you can give us during the LDC.

Sher, I am sorry I will miss you.

Lobo, your command of English is great!

Now, I have a question: We will be in Lisbon for eight nights before flying to Malaga. I have not yet booked a hotel because I wonder if we should spend a couple of those nights in another town. We will not have a car so would have to rely on public transportation.

I'm sure we would be quite happy in Lisbon for the entire time but wanted input from you experts.

Obrigado!

Okay so I'm counting down to Sunday for my trip north on the old trains. But what we better start thinking of is June 12th and Festa St� Antonio. Lizzy and I will be there, Lobo, you and Gertrude? Lily has emailed me to say she will be arriving that day so is more than welcome and I'm sure we'll be bringing some friends to but we better start making arrangments...

Getting real hot here in old Lisboa and I was having a pleasant afternoon listening to Carlos Paredes on the stereo and his sound is the Lisbon sound...

Matt

Maybe I have been misunderstood, since I was not fishing for compliments.
"English as She is spoke" is a real book, and I am waiting for it from Amazon, together as "Here speeching American". In what concerns the first one, it is referred that:
"In 1855, when Jose da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino wrote an English phrasebook for Portuguese students, they faced just one problem: they didn't know any English. Even worse, they didn't own an English-to-Portuguese dictionary. What they did have, though, was a Portuguese-to-French dictionary, and a French-to-English dictionary. The linguistic train wreck that ensued is a classic of unintentional humor".
I don't intend to use these books to improve my English, but to spend a few funny hours reading them

And your English gets better the more wine you drink! Or at least all your inhibitions disappear!

Lily, if you are out there somewhere I've tried responding to the email you sent me but my mail keeps being bounced. So here is what I wrote to you...

Hi Lily, sorry for my late reply...

So the actual festa de St Antonio (patron saint of Lisbon) take places on the night of the 12 into the 13th and although there are parades on Avenida da Liberdade the place to be is Alfama where the winding narrow streets are bedecked with colours and the smoke from barbequed sardines wafts over the crowds. So you arrive just in time. Keep posted to the current thread as I will be posting some details of our plans for this night and of course you will be more than welcome to join my wife and I, lobo and his wife and whoever else we drag along. Be prepared for drinking eating and plenty of walking and don't forget your camera!

I often travel to NYC and we love it - although our taste is eclectic and we bring back anything from Beat novels to old jazz records and baseball memorabilia: for instance if you were to bring me over a signed Mickey Mantle photo I would love you forever! But seriously without knowing your friends. Actually most Portuguese men are partial to whiskey so you might think about bringing a bottle of Jack Daniels single barrel (the one with the wooden stopper) It is quite hard and expensive to find here. So if they ahve kids get something from your local Baseball/American football/ice hockey team - soccer is big here and they would appreciate flags or tee shirts I'm sure. And being from your locality it would make it a bit more personal for them. If you are planning fest St Antonio you need to be staying in Lisbon that night for you won't arrive back until at least 2 am. Sintra and Ericeira will be 2 nice days - don't forget Boca da Inferna and Cabo de Roca - most westerly point in Europe. You mention ericeira twice, perhaps after obidos you could do Mafra?

JMF winery is a good tour and just down the road from me: I used to go often when my friend Marcus was the commercial director. Azeitão is a pretty village to. You talk about 3 Alentejo towns in one day (day 6) For me too many as you will be driving quite a lot - stick to Evora plenty to see and a very typical town, UNESCO world heritage site.

Post the itinerary on the thread and receive some other ideas but try to take things easy - you will find that is the way in the Alentejo!

Any more ?s feel free to ask or post on the thread.

Take care and see you soon

Matt

Matt, please count on us. Saint Anthony with Matt and family is in our agenda since the begining of the last thread.

Matt, lobo or anyone else - I have a question. I'm doing my research on Lisbon for my July trip and I've come across several mentions (in guidebooks) and several photos (google search images) on the Museu da Agua and Mae d'Agua das Amoreiras and Aqueduto das Aguas Livres. But my information seems to be confusing them with each other. Can you explain what is at each of them and where they are? Thanks

Hi Matt,

I did get your reply email (thanks!). I'm not sure why it wasn't working. Your suggestions on gifts to bring my collegue's family are so helpful. I'll look hard for your signed Mickey Mantle photo, but you might end up with your own Jack Daniels bottle instead!

My husband and I would greatly enjoy meeting up with you, Lobo, and your families for festa de St Antonio. Let us know when and where and we'll be there!

I know you say we should stay in Lisboa the first night due to the late hour we will return from the festivities, but our free hotel for the night is in Sintra. Will we be able to return to Sintra at that time in the morning using public transportation...or can we catch a taxi back to Sintra? I know it's inconvenient, but free is free! However, let me know if this is not possible as free is not as good as no way to get "home" and no place to recover from the evening!

For all of the other helpful posters, here is our itinerary. I welcome any comments or suggestions! (FYI, due to our free hotel stay, we are in Sintra in the beginning, Lisboa in the middle, and Sintra in the end which is why our itinerary is spread out)

Day 1: Arrive early a.m.; explore Lisboa
Day 2: Sintra
Day 3: Sintra/Ericeira
Day 4: Lisboa
Day 5: Lisboa / JMF Winery
Day 6: Pick up rental car: Evora / Redondo
Day 7: Obidos / Mafra
Day 8: Cascais
Day 9: Return rental car: Leave early a.m.

A little over a month to go...

Lisbon is a fascinating city and I would like to stay in Lisbon as much as possible, not just few days. The streets, the air, the crowded places and the parks, the ocean� for me it�s perfect. And so many colors� I was reading recently a site with all the information tourists might need: http://www.infolisbon.org. It�s about Lisbon accommodation, weather, places to visit, cinemas, cheap flights, museums, parks, the excursions from Lisbon� It might be useful, especially for those who go to Lisbon for the first time.

Thank you, linioara, for the reply and the web site. We decided that staying in Lisbon for eight nights would suit us just fine. We can find a couple of day trips from there. I'm sure we will return to Portugal another time and can explore more of the country then.

We are looking forward to our visit!

Hello all. I have another question I'm hoping you can help me with. My father enjoys collecting hats, so when I travel I try to bring home a hat for him as a souvenir. While visiting Portugal, I would like to purchase a hat for him. Now, I would like to get him a very "Portuguese" type hat - something that perhaps he can't find in the United States - preferably not a baseball cap. Can you recommend any shops to me that would have a nice, affordable selection of hats that I'm looking for? I'll be visiting the areas of Lisbon, Sintra, Salema, Evora, Obidos, Nazare, Coimbra, and Porto. Thank you for your help - it is greatly appreciated.

Hello everyone- I am trying to plan our first couple of hours in Portugal. Our flight gets us in fairly early and we expect to be at the hotel in Sintra by about 10h00. I'm thinking of going to Palacio Nacional da Pena as our first stop. Or alternatively, we could go to Quinta da Regaleira. My question is, can we drive to these sights? Should we? I'm thinking the room will probably not be ready until the afternoon. We are staying at the Penha Longa. Any suggestions for lunch in Sintra?

Lyn

"Aqueduto das Aguas Livres" as the name says is a Aqueduct. It's one of the bigest works of Portuguese engineering.
It spans for many miles bringing water to Lisbon. Today it's not used for its initial purpose, but it is preserved, I mean, it could carry water if needed. The most known part of it are the archs over Alcantara Valey. The central arch is in Guiness book as the bigest arch in stone ever built.
It was built when Marquês de Pombal was the Prime minister and Don José the king (18th century). It was just built when the big hearthquake occurred (1st nov 1755) but every parts of it stood proudly while the city of Lisbon was devastaded.
"Mãe de Água das Amoreiras" is a big tank (reservoir? pool?) used to store the waters as they came from Aqueduto das àguas Livres. From Mãe de Água, several water pipes went to feed the public fountains in several parts of the city. This is a 19th century building. "Mãe de Àgua" in Portuguese means "Mother of waters" as is easily understood.
http://atelier.hannover2000.mct.pt/~...s/amoreira.htm
Mãe de água is in Amoreiras, very near Amoreiras towers, built some 20 years ago.
Museu da àgua (Water Museum) is a former pumping station, now converted in museum. It's very interesting for everybody interested in history of industrial revolution and related machinery.
http://www.rpmuseus-pt.org/Pt/cont/fichas/museu_10.html
This page has 2 pictures of Museu da àgua and one of Aguas Livres Aqueduct over Alcantara Valey. Museu da Água is in the eastern part of Lisbon, near Santa Apolonia train station.

Other pictures of Aqueduct of Aguas Livres over Alcantara Valey
http://atelier.hannover2000.mct.pt/~.../alcantara.htm

Hey Lobo, I'm just leaving to head up north: be back in Lisbon late monday night and hopefully have some pictures up Tuesday. We need to check out the place for the weekend.

Matt

Have a nice time. I'm waiting for photos and descriptions.
As you know, I'm always ready for field work

Lobo thanks for all that information on the Aqueduct and Museu da Aqua. Those are the kind of museums we like best! Is it near the Museu du Azulejo?

Also that is a very interesting web site - the atelier.hannover2000

Looking forward to Matt's report on the train trip in the north.

Yes, Museu do Azulejo and Museu da Água are in the same area of Lisbon.

Thanks for the Water Museum/Aqueduct information. I really want to see the aqueduct itself, can you see it from the Mãe de Água das Amoreiras? And you say it's a big resevoir but somewhere I read something about a castle like building.Do you know what they meant by that? Is it possible to walk to it from Paque Eduardo VII? Thanks lobo.