Leslie. We will not be in the Alentejo until the 17th of October as we are staying the nights of the 15th and 16th in the Serra da Estrela.

If our plans move themselves up, we will let you know. But this is it so far.

Matt, R U still grounded?

Okay all, back in the land of the living, I even managed an hour of Yoga this morning so I'm as limber as an elastic band Thanks for everyone's concern. Now this evening I'll get round to editing the photos from the last LDC and posting a report. Looking forward to Sunday's meal with Sarasara: hopefully the celebratory hangover following England's win over Portugal will have abated by then ;-)

Matt

lol

Okay, photos uploaded from the last LDC, just need to tidy up the report before posting.

And Barb65, if you are out there I've sent a file of zipped photos your way.

Matt

I have been trying to catch up on all three threads and have not been able to follow them all, so I am just going to ask a few questions of you all. Please email responses directly [email protected] or repost here -
1. Will be in lisbon for three days - need good non-tourist recomedations for places to dine.

2. My wife and I love wine and would like to sample the region - suggestions on where and how to go about this.

3. Understand that catholic churches are alittle more strick on dress code for women than here in the U.S. - what is the actual code so that we may dress appropiatly for the region.

4. What else should would you recommend doing if you only could do one thing in and around Lisbon?

Hi all,
I found a possible apartment on Calcada do Sacramento, not far from the Baixa-Chiado metro station. Is this a reasonable location?

Thanks,
Leslie

To zetrouer22
1 Check this thread:
The Lisbon Dining Club.
9 responses; most recent on 06/17/2006, 03:12 pm
2. What is the region you are looking for? Is it Lisbon? Lisbon has no wine industry by itself. Nearby wibe regions are Setubal (Matt is enthusiastic about Jose Maria da Fonseca wineries) and Bucelas (near Sintra). If you decide to move away from Lisbon, Alentejo, Bairrada and Douro are good alternatives. Of course, there is Port Wine, but to go to cellars, you need to move 300 kms. Some Fodorites have been to Port Wine cellars recently.
3. I don't think catholic churches are more strict in Portugal then in other regions of the world. Avoid photographs and loud speaking while a cerimony is in progress.
4 Difficult question. The "one thing to do" depends very much on personal preferences. Check the original post of this thread. Matt offers a lot of suggestions.
THINGS TO DO IN AND AROUND LISBON
506 responses; most recent on 04/22/2006, 07:23 pm

To Imernal:
The location is very good.

Imagine this scenario: name the one thing I should do in Lisbon...

If it is this Saturday - arrange with Matt_from_England to see the England Portugal game in the English bar downtown and spend the evening celebrating the England Victory. Or arrange with Lobo Mau to watch the same game somewhere with less English fans and spend the evening crying into one's beer! ;-)

But seriously, name the one thing? I can't - there are too many things to do, and zetrouer22 you don't make mention of what you like or your interests: what's good for one person doesn't neccesarily suit another. For instance I've had people visiting me in the past from the U.S whose dream it was to see a Benfica game and meet Eusébio - with my help they achieved that dream: that was their unmissable thing...

You know one night we should arrange an LDC on tour and perhaps afternoon have a wine tour at Jose Maria Fonseca and after go to Sesimbra for the wonderful seafood.

BTW welcome Leslie, I look forward to speaking some more.

Matt

The Sesimbra's seafood sounds great, Matt
I'm happy I'm not going to Lisbon this weekend, too stressful for me, half time cheering for England, half time cheering for Portugal , I need a car driver !!
At least, I don't have to cheer for Spain anymore , hahaha.

What could be better than wine followed by wonderful seafood? I hope we're around for that one.

Lobo - Thanks for the info. I think I will take that apartment for 8/10- 12/10.

Leslie

hello everyone, We are now at hotel arribas on praia grande near sintra. Today we went to fatima. it was wonderful to go there and pray but we didn´t stay too long. Before that we spend 2 nights in monsaraz at the estelegem de monsaraz. We loved it there, a very quiet castle town. The hotel had nice rooms and a pool with lovely views of the surrounding area. We have come to love the alentejo area. We visited Evora which was also nice. We stopped on the way to Fatima at the stonehenge type rocks, sorry cant remember the name right now. My husband and I thought it was very impressive but after several castles and cathedrals my kids were not impressed with a bunch of rocks. The hotel arribas is an o.k. modern hotel with a very cool pool and right on the beach. Although if I wanted just a place to stay on the beach I would pick salema any day. We will tour Sintra tomorrow then go to the apartment in the evening. Matt, I will call you the next day to check in about our Ldc meeting. Having a great time and loving portugal. Sarasara

Okay Lisbon Thread Heads, the latest L.D.C report is up entitled: NAMAKA, TIES AND FESTA SÃO JOÃO and can be found at the bottom of the Lisbon Dining Club thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34817677

Yes I know I've been tardy in getting it posted, my apologies but what with the football and flu and kids and and and...

Okay off to bed: need my beauty sleep for I'll be partying all night long Saturday...

Matt

Okay, so I'm off to Lisbon in full England regalia - lunch at Portugalia where the chefs will probably rub the steaks on the floor and spit in the sauce then over to the English bar for many beers and the football. Should I not post for a few days it could be one of 2 possibilities:

1) I will be so drunk/hungover I will not be able to write...

or, should the impossible happen...

2) I will be in mourning.

So those who are watching enjoy, and we'll speak later.

EN-GUR-LAND, EN-GUR-LAND, EN-GUR-LAND...

Matt

Matt, accept my condolences...

I think we should put a post for Matt's condolences...

Sorry, Matt !!

Congrats, Joao !!

Kisses for you two

Patty

Hello everyone,
we are back online again. We are now in the countryside of England, staying on a working farm. It has renovated the stables into quaint cottages. It is so quiet here and the kids can run around for miles w/o seeing a sole. Very pretty!

Matt- So sorry for your loss! I can understand however, as all Robert's English relatives were quite upset as well! So sorry, we didn't get a chance to meet up again for the beach. As I understand it though, you were a little under the weather anyways. Our last few days in Lisbon became very flexible as the kids needed some time to do "just nothing". We did end up going to the beach between Monte Estoril and Cascais on our last full day as that was the one thing Evan really wanted to do. The funny thing is, that Robert didn't want to stay long for fear of getting a sun burn; but he didn't burn, I did! And I mean BURN! Oh, and BTW, don't worry about forgetting Makenna and Evan's names; they just think it's cool to be included in the LDC post.

Joao- So sorry we didn't get to meet for coffee. We had run out of minutes on our SIM card and recharged it, but then it wasn't working and Evan accidently locked the phone up (to which we didn't know how to unlock), so needless to say, we didn't get your invitation until yesterday. That really
made me quite sad because I had wanted to go out to coffee on our last night, but just ended up not doing it. I would've in a heart-beat if we had made the plans to meet.

I must say that meeting Joao, Matt, Gertrude and Lizzy has been one of the highlights of this entire journey. They are most welcoming and friendly and hope to meet up with them again someday. If you are ever my way, please let me know!

Sarasara- I hope you have as much fun tonight as we did at our LDC. Can't wait to hear all about it! Oh, and how do you feel about the apt? Are you pleased? And did you get my note about the condiments? If so, I hope you didn't think it too forward of me. I just wanted you to know that we had purchased them during our stay, and that they were not old.

We had tonight another huge success with the LDC. Report to follow (depending on Matt's availability)

Message for Henry&Casper from Fodors: "Please send my hellos to everyone and I’ll be sure to give a blow by blow description of the entire adventure when I’m back…We don’t want to go home!!!!"

Hi all

Between being busy at home and off to visit my 87 year old mother, I have missed a lot!

So glad the apartment worked out for Gina and the latest LDC with her family looked great as usual.

Actually we did take time to watch most of the football game. Sorry Matt but I am glad Portugal won but wish it had been a better finish - really hate when it is down to one player against the goalie. Hope you are feeling better from the flu as well.

Looks like so many people have joined the group and will be experiencing a wonderful country and people. I can not stop talking about our trip. I think family and friends are getting a bit tired of it!

So looking forward to hearing everyone else's reports and planning our next trip!