Friday, October 18, 2013
International Roaming on T-Mobile
T-Mobile is rolling out a new addition to most of their existing rate plans as of Oct 20 that includes unlimited international roaming texts and data, plus 20c/min for calls. There are 100 countries on the list, and Portugal is one of them. For more information, see T-Mobile's International Roaming
Thanks to Alexis for this.
Lekmo adds that "The T-Mo plan is being rolled out on October 31st. To get it early you just need to call their customer service (dial 611) and ask to have it added to your account early. That’s what Jody and I have done. There is no charge for this service. There are times you might want to turn your wifi OFF because doing this will be cheaper than going through wifi e.g., texting via wifi will cost".
Festival Info for Getting from Lisbon to Cascais
From the "ARRIVING IN PORTUGAL - 2013 Fall Festival News - October 17, Issue #7"
TRANSPORT INFORMATION
TRANSPORT INFORMATION
If you would prefer to make your own way to the Festival site, you can either take a train or a taxi from the airport. [If you are leaving from a hotel in central Lisbon and are close to the Rossio metro station, that is on the green line, so you do not need to change metro lines. See the Lisbon metro map with streets.]
Metro/Train: From the airport take the Metro Red Line to Alameda. At Alameda change and take the Green Line to Cais do Sodre. Change at Cais do Sodre and take the Cascais train line to Cascais (last stop on the line). The Metro from the Airport to Cais do Sodre will take about 35 minutes and will cost €1.40. The Train from Cais do Sodre to Cascais will take about 40 minutes and cost €2.15. Useful links: Metro/Train map, Metro website, and Train website.
Aerobus/Train: From the airport take the Aerobus to Cais do Sodre. At Cais do Sodre take the Cascais train line to Cascais (last stop on the line). The Aerobus from the Airport to Cais do Sodre will take about 30 minutes and will cost €3.50. The Train from Cais do Sodre to Cascais will take about 40 minutes and cost €2.15. Useful links: Aerobus website and Train website.
Taxi: A taxi from the airport to Cascais will cost around €35. It is always wise to ask the taxi driver first approximately how much the fare will be.
Cascais & Sintra Tourist Bus Info
Scottub is the local bus company for Cascais, but they highlight routes for tourists on their website.
Diagram of Cascais route with info; note that the bus runs in a circle.
Cascais interactive map; scroll in then click on a red icon to get more info about the sight and the bus lines that go there
Sintra interactive map
Which local bus goes to which site; note that they have tourist routes for Cascais & Sintra:
Fares and how to buy tickets
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Getting in Touch with Sangha at Festival - Phone List
Tom suggested - and Noreen agreed - that we have a phone list that will be kept at the Festival Bookshop so that others can contact you, if you'd like to supply your local number (hotel, apartment or mobile).
2 Seats on Inbound Festival Shuttle
Sangha members have 2 seats on the Fri, Oct 25, 3pm shuttle from the airport they're giving away to anyone who can use them. First reply gets them both.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Festival Schedule So Far
Did you notice the Festival schedule, which doesn't have specific times yet but does say which day particular teachings and the empowerment will be?
Friday, October 11, 2013
Travel Article about Lisbon
If you're visiting Lisbon, you may be interested in this Seattle Times article from Feb 17 this year:
"Walk through history in Lisbon's alluring neighborhoods"
"Walk through history in Lisbon's alluring neighborhoods"
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Know of Accommodations for Festival?
I am still hearing from students looking for a room. If you have a room or are looking for a roommate, please let me know so that I can try to connect you.
meredw AT Hotmail.com if you don't have my personal email.
The Festival Accommodations page says that places are still available, but that was on Sept 10.
Thank you.
meredw AT Hotmail.com if you don't have my personal email.
The Festival Accommodations page says that places are still available, but that was on Sept 10.
Thank you.
Emergency Contact
If you have a dad like mine, your family would like to know how to get in touch with you in case of an emergency. Usually there is a phone number for the Festival for that purpose, but I got a definitive answer that there will not be because there is no phone at the venue. When you think about a hippodrome (the word for a Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing) and see a photo of the one in Cascais, it makes sense: It's basically a big grass infield where the Festival will build some kind of structure, such as a marquee tent, for the teachings, with auxiliary tents for other uses, I'm guessing.
That means if people need to contact you while you're in Portugal, you'll have to give them the number at your accommodations and possibly your mobile # if you have one or get one over there.
That means if people need to contact you while you're in Portugal, you'll have to give them the number at your accommodations and possibly your mobile # if you have one or get one over there.
Rooms Available Before Festival
I know of 2 people who have rooms:
* Lisbon female dorm for Tues & Wed night, Oct 22 & 23
* Cascais apartment with 5 other roommates Oct 22-25
Let me know if you're interested and I will connect you.
If you don't know my personal email, you can reach me at meredw AT Hotmail.com
* Lisbon female dorm for Tues & Wed night, Oct 22 & 23
* Cascais apartment with 5 other roommates Oct 22-25
Let me know if you're interested and I will connect you.
If you don't know my personal email, you can reach me at meredw AT Hotmail.com
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Train from Lisbon to Cascais
For the most recent info, see the post Festival Info for Getting from Lisbon to Cascais
You may have seen this on the Festival Travel Info webpage: "Trains from Lisbon’s Cais do Sodré (Metro: Cais do Sodré) run to Cascais along the scenic coastal line via Estoril. Trains leave twice an hour and stop at Estoril, Estoril Monte and Cascais." The Festival team is working to add more information about this.
You may have seen this on the Festival Travel Info webpage: "Trains from Lisbon’s Cais do Sodré (Metro: Cais do Sodré) run to Cascais along the scenic coastal line via Estoril. Trains leave twice an hour and stop at Estoril, Estoril Monte and Cascais." The Festival team is working to add more information about this.
Because some information, such as the price of tickets, on the definitive website of the train can be so hard to find, even though in some ways the English version of the site is useful (see For More Information below), I am trusting that this information is correct until we get more information:
The short answer, based on http://wikitravel.org/en/
"Cascais is easily reachable from Lisbon by train (40min), from the Cais do Sodré station. A return ticket costs 2.30€ and can be bought from the automatic ticket machines. Remember to keep the ticket as it will be checked and punched by the conductor in both directions."
The English call a round-trip ticket a "return," so that's cheap (about $3)! That page was last updated in August; it looks like the price has gone up 20 cents.
For More Information
Lisbon-> Cascais Train Schedule - helpfully added to the Festival Travel Info webpage from the Portugal train website; much easier to find! With a helpful diagram of the route with stops.
Portugal Train Website in English - the site is well organized, but when you follow the links, you end up at pages like this:
- Price of tickets, which are only in Portuguese, as far as I can tell.
- For the NetTicket feature on the main page, click Timetable and Prices (I didn't find the Lisboa - Cais do Sodré or Cascais stations in the drop-down list of the default tab), but the results say that it's a 3-hour trip, when everywhere else I've read said it's 40 minutes?? The price for a "poupou" (which even my linguist friend couldn't find a relevant translation of, but in context I take this for at least a regular adult one-way ticket, if not a round-trip) is 2.50 euros.
Rejoicing in the Efforts of Festival Organizers
I’d like to step back from my own preparations for Festival to
appreciate all the effort that is going into the Festival preparations. By
implementing Venerable Geshe-la’s vision, the organizers and their teams are
giving us what I like to think of as a once-in-a-lifetimes
opportunity. I have a strong sense that there will be vast benefits for us, the
people we know, and the world, but also know there are depths to it I won’t really
comprehend until I am farther along the spiritual path.
This Festival grew from the smallest seed: My memory is so
unreliable these days, so please forgive me if this isn’t completely accurate –
maybe someone will email me with a correction or a confirmation – but I think
the first Festival was held in the North Wing gompa at our Mother Center in
England, and that room only fits 50 (?) people. Hey, maybe there’s hope for me:
If the Festival can grow like this over just a few decades, maybe my little Dharma
seeds can grow like that too.
When I first learned about rejoicing, and that it was a
practice you could even do lying down, I thought, “ooh, this is for me!” So
this morning I was lying in bed trying to imagine what it was like to try to
put this event together. Festival planning is always so much work, and this
Fall’s Festival is by far the biggest event the New Kadampa Tradition has ever
put together, by thousands of attendees.
One of the things I love about the NKT is that it’s not run
by a bunch of flakes: There are managers
who have given up lucrative professional jobs to be in service of our Guru and
his vision, and very skillful people who could have much easier lives working
elsewhere. There are volunteers with a wide array of skills, from contractors to
artists to cooks to accountants … who offer their talents generously. Many of
them have been working for a long time, and I’m guessing planning for this very
special event started more than a year ago. I suspect they must be exhausted by
now, and there is still a final push these last few weeks to pull it all
together. Gen-la Dekyong says that energy comes from compassion, so I rejoice
in the enormous compassion they all must have. (They do not have time to lie in
bed rejoicing!)
It’s hard to imagine what it’s going to be like at the Hipódromo
Manuel Possolo in Cascais, even having been to some very large Festivals. Picture turning the Hipodrome, which is usually the site of big summer concerts and horse events ...
into something like this ...
When
there was a big Festival in Berlin 2005, I was stunned by the enormity of the
marquee tent that served as the meditation hall. I still can’t imagine how you
put up something like that.
Think of the planning, much less what was involved in the implementation of
the plan:
· Researching venues that
could hold thousands, then negotiating a contract with them.
· Researching possible
Festival accommodations, and then working out terms with them.
· Building the Festival website to convey all this information clearly.
· Putting together the online
registration system, then keeping track of everyone’s choices, and then their
changes. That is not an easy job.
· Planning shuttles to get
Festival-goers from the airport to their accommodations, and giving us information
about other transportation.
· Figuring out how everyone’s
going to eat, in a country where the diet is mostly meat-based, and even adding
on the lunch options, with photos of the meals!
· Planning the meditation
hall:
o
Planning the seating, with sections
for the disabled, the hard of hearing and translation in, I’m guessing, 40+
languages. Arranging for native speakers who can give simultaneous translation
of the teachings and meditations Figuring out the mechanics of the headphones …
o
Putting together a plan for
the Teacher’s throne and the shrine …
· Arranging security for the
Teachers and attendees …
· Putting together the bookshop. Just wandering around in the shop, you can think of the kindness that went into preparing all the Tharpa items (books, CDs, postcards, etc.); other Dharma items, such as mandala kits and malas; and the array of gift items, including the greeting cards, which allow us to express our gratitude to our Teachers. Shopping as a cause of enlightenment!
·
Lest I forget, there's also all the work that goes into putting on the "cherry on the cake," as Kadam Morten called the play.
· Organizing volunteer efforts to help in all of these
areas during the Festival.
To say nothing of the new Temple in Sintra, which must have
been years in the planning:
· The decision that the
latest Temple would be in Portugal – when there are so many countries that
desperately need a Temple.
Remember to rejoice in your own contributions to the
International Temples Project (ITP) that funded the project. Even registering
for Festival creates enormous merit. Buying a cup of coffee at Festival too. It
all goes to building more holy places like Temples, and schools, and retreat
centers, and who knows what else. We are all part of that.
· Scouts searching for suitable
properties ...
· Geshe-la’s design for the
building and grounds, the architects and other planners who worked with him to implement it, and the builders and craftsmen, artists and landscapers who carried it out ...
· Planning the tours of the
Temple and grounds, arranging for shuttles to get us there and back, as well as
translation …
And of course, the immeasurable kindness of Geshe-la, who is
coming out of retirement at 82 to give us the blessing empowerment of the Buddha of Higher
Wisdom, Prajnaparamita, and commentary to the practice, as well as on The
New Heart of Wisdom book, the new Yoga of Inconceivability sadhana,
and the new Vajrayogini sadhana The Blissful Path. How will we ever
repay him?
Security Issue with Passports and Credit Cards
Wanted to alert you all to a security issue I just learned about. Some passports and credit cards have embedded RFID (radio frequency identification) chips that transmit a signal, as do work badges, packages, etc. Scammers can pick up the signal and steal your identity. I don't have time to research all the issues, but am summarizing the little bit I've heard and providing links to more info if you want to look into it and verify what's here.
There are cheap and easy ways to shield the chip. See the 3 easy steps for protecting your passport with aluminum foil at http://epic.org/privacy/rfid/
Or you can buy shields at places like REI, Amazon or travel-supply shops. Passport shields run about $5; shields for credit cards are cheaper.
For more information, see:
Lots more info on the Web, including on Wikipedia.
There are cheap and easy ways to shield the chip. See the 3 easy steps for protecting your passport with aluminum foil at http://epic.org/privacy/rfid/
Or you can buy shields at places like REI, Amazon or travel-supply shops. Passport shields run about $5; shields for credit cards are cheaper.
For more information, see:
- Researchers See Privacy Pitfalls in No-Swipe Credit Cards - by the NY Times
- RFID-enabled credit card theft - on CNet, which I consider a reliable source; a good article with an awful layout; I copied the text into a Word file that I uploaded to GoogleDrive.
- Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems - by EPIC, a well regarded organization whose privacy enewsletter I was already subscribing to
- House of cards: Why your accounts are vulnerable to thieves - by Consumer Reports
- A Threat Analysis of RFID Passports by ACM, the Association for Computing Machine, the "world’s largest educational and scientific computing society"; I used to belong, and I trust their information: The long article says in part: "Six pieces of information can be stolen from the RFID chip on a U.S. passport: your name, nationality, gender, date of birth, place of birth, and a digitized photograph.1 Numerous problems of identity theft could arise from someone taking that information, but this article focuses on the financial risk."
- What is RFID? by the RFID Journal, which I've never heard of but has a nice summary about the technology.
Lots more info on the Web, including on Wikipedia.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Learning a Bit of Portuguese
My linguist friend pointed me to this well organized BBC site about learning Portuguese that I thought was even better than the videos I'd seen on YouTube. It includes audio clips as well as video, transcripts and other features.
A Guide to Portuguese - 10 facts about the Portuguese language - 10 facts about the language, key phrases and a description of the alphabet, which explains and has audio for how to pronounce vowels and consonants.
Greetings
Meeting and greeting people
Meeting and greeting people
Introductions
Self, family and friends
Self, family and friends
A Guide to Portuguese - 10 facts about the Portuguese language - 10 facts about the language, key phrases and a description of the alphabet, which explains and has audio for how to pronounce vowels and consonants.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
More Preparations
Documents
- Passport - make sure it is "valid for at least 3 months after the end of your stay," per the Festival's General Info page
- Airplane tickets
- Festival confirmation letter
- Hotel reservations
- Transportation details, maps, guidebooks, etc.
- If you have a pet, arrange for their care.
- Unless you've arranged a house-sitter, stop the mail at the Post Office's online Hold Mail Service.
- Make sure you have contact info for key people (family & friends at home).
- Send contact information to a family member or friend, so that they can get hold of you in case of an emergency. The Festival doesn't yet have a number to contact.
- Ask a trusted neighbor to keep an eye on the house and give them your travel dates.
- Consider setting vacation notice on email if you're not going to be checking it regularly.
- Gather phone numbers for credit cards you're taking with you, so that you can contact your bank in case they're lost or stolen.
- Call your credit card companies to tell them you're traveling overseas. This is standard travel advice you will read in many places, but if you forget it probably won't be an issue, especially if you bring more than one credit card. Your karma may vary ; )
- If you want a vegetarian meal or need a wheelchair, contact your airline.
- Double-check your airplane seats and see if you can get better ones. For a long trip, it's worth doing, even if you have to ask again when you check in.
- Make sure your airline has your frequent-flier #. If you're not a member of their program or an alliance, it's probably worthwhile to sign up for their program because you'll accumulate so many miles on this long trip.
- Label all your bags. I use an initial for my first name for a bit of security.
How to Pronounce "Cascais" + Audio
I asked a linguist friend who's been learning Portuguese how to say the name of the Festival town.
kush (rhymes with rush) kah-eesh
For those who understand this kind of notation, here's the phonetic description:
kɐʃˈkajʃ
To hear it spoken, click here to download the file from Google Sites Cascais.mp3
You should get a window that looks like this:
Click the blue arrow at the bottom right to download.
Note that if you then choose Open rather than Save, it may take a few moments to play.
If you have problems, email me.
kush (rhymes with rush) kah-eesh
For those who understand this kind of notation, here's the phonetic description:
kɐʃˈkajʃ
To hear it spoken, click here to download the file from Google Sites Cascais.mp3
You should get a window that looks like this:
Note that if you then choose Open rather than Save, it may take a few moments to play.
If you have problems, email me.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Google Map of Cascais & Festival Venue
Some people are finding this direct Google Map link very helpful, whereas others can find it for themselves.
The venue is the Hipódromo Manuel Possolo, Cascais. As you may know, you can learn how far away your accommodations are and the estimated walking time by clicking Get Directions, entering your address, then clicking the icon of the person walking. Note, however, that the farther inland you go, the steeper it gets, and I don't think Google has taken topography into account. That's a way of saying allow extra time.
It's too bad that clicking the icon for public transportation, which normally would give you extra data about public-transit options and even schedules, doesn't work. Helpfully Google has message saying it "appears to be outside our current coverage area."
I must say that the Google map of Cascais has gotten more accurate since spring, when I found it completely inaccurate.
The venue is the Hipódromo Manuel Possolo, Cascais. As you may know, you can learn how far away your accommodations are and the estimated walking time by clicking Get Directions, entering your address, then clicking the icon of the person walking. Note, however, that the farther inland you go, the steeper it gets, and I don't think Google has taken topography into account. That's a way of saying allow extra time.
It's too bad that clicking the icon for public transportation, which normally would give you extra data about public-transit options and even schedules, doesn't work. Helpfully Google has message saying it "appears to be outside our current coverage area."
I must say that the Google map of Cascais has gotten more accurate since spring, when I found it completely inaccurate.
More on Phones
But not from a moron this time - sorry, a dumb play on the first words of the title of this post, for those of you not used to my sense of humor - but from Tom, who I used to envy for having a working mobile at Summer Festival, just like the Brits and other civilized people. (Aren't Americans supposed to be the tech-y ones?) He was one of the first people I know to demonstrate the benefits of the iPhone in a way that I valued. His email is quoted here, with some interjections in brackets from me:
"Having a phone is only really necessary if you have people to call - if you are traveling or your other friends have arranged to have phones. If your friends do have phones, then having one yourself is quite useful.
[In case of emergency, it makes a huge difference to have a phone. Not that anything ever goes wrong in samsara, of course ; )
Other possible people to call might include family members coming to Portugal who aren't attending the teachings, so that you can coordinate your activities. However, note that for calling from Portugal to the U.S., it's far cheaper and easier to get a phone card. I can't be responsible for your mobile bill if you're calling to the U.S. on your usual phone or if you're using your smartphone to check the Internet while you're there: I just read of a traveler who ran up a $4,000 bill! I'm bringing an IDT/Costco phone card, which only charges 4 cents a minute for calls from Portugal to the U.S. Jody has used that card for many years to call home from Summer Festival and highly recommends it. After you buy it, before you leave the U.S. you need to call the toll-free customer service on the back of the card. I already had the card, but called their excellent service to get the number in Portugal (800 813 000 but double-check) to "top up" (add minutes) and confirm the rate. If you're not a Costco member, there are lots of places you can get a cheap phone card before your trip. After all, immigrants use them all the time for calling their home country.
Speaking of friends, I've started thinking about how I'm going to find Sangha friends who I only get to see at Festival - and there are going to be 8,000+ people there! Can't really imagine what that's going to be like. In that case, too, it helps to have a working phone. There are other low-tech ways we can find our friends at Festival, of course. I'm expecting there will be some kind of message board, as usual. It helps to know where they're staying. Or for people you really want to see, you can contact them before you leave and arrange to meet: "After the empowerment in the bookstore," for example. Or ask the Buddhas to have your friend appear before you. It works, as many longtime Festival-goers will testify! Who needs technology?
If you're leaning toward buying a cheap mobile that works in Portugal (and pretty much the rest of the world except the U.S.), there are a few more advantages I can think of:
OK. Long digression Back to Tom ...]
The simplest option is to have your traveling companion get a phone, then stick close to them.
"Having a phone is only really necessary if you have people to call - if you are traveling or your other friends have arranged to have phones. If your friends do have phones, then having one yourself is quite useful.
[In case of emergency, it makes a huge difference to have a phone. Not that anything ever goes wrong in samsara, of course ; )
Other possible people to call might include family members coming to Portugal who aren't attending the teachings, so that you can coordinate your activities. However, note that for calling from Portugal to the U.S., it's far cheaper and easier to get a phone card. I can't be responsible for your mobile bill if you're calling to the U.S. on your usual phone or if you're using your smartphone to check the Internet while you're there: I just read of a traveler who ran up a $4,000 bill! I'm bringing an IDT/Costco phone card, which only charges 4 cents a minute for calls from Portugal to the U.S. Jody has used that card for many years to call home from Summer Festival and highly recommends it. After you buy it, before you leave the U.S. you need to call the toll-free customer service on the back of the card. I already had the card, but called their excellent service to get the number in Portugal (800 813 000 but double-check) to "top up" (add minutes) and confirm the rate. If you're not a Costco member, there are lots of places you can get a cheap phone card before your trip. After all, immigrants use them all the time for calling their home country.
Speaking of friends, I've started thinking about how I'm going to find Sangha friends who I only get to see at Festival - and there are going to be 8,000+ people there! Can't really imagine what that's going to be like. In that case, too, it helps to have a working phone. There are other low-tech ways we can find our friends at Festival, of course. I'm expecting there will be some kind of message board, as usual. It helps to know where they're staying. Or for people you really want to see, you can contact them before you leave and arrange to meet: "After the empowerment in the bookstore," for example. Or ask the Buddhas to have your friend appear before you. It works, as many longtime Festival-goers will testify! Who needs technology?
If you're leaning toward buying a cheap mobile that works in Portugal (and pretty much the rest of the world except the U.S.), there are a few more advantages I can think of:
- It's so much easier to call a taxi or even a local restaurant or museum, etc.
- If you're not a big traveler - or you want to help finance future trips - you can resell it when you get back, and probably make some money on it, judging by what I've seen when I investigated getting an international phone here. Check out eBay, for instance.
- If are a traveler or you're planning to go to Summer Festival and/or other international Festivals, it will come in handy. We bought a very basic international mobile when we were abroad, and now we can simply buy a SIM card for whatever country we're traveling in.
OK. Long digression Back to Tom ...]
The simplest option is to have your traveling companion get a phone, then stick close to them.
The simplest solution may be to get an international plan from your current provider. These are expensive. ATT's was about $70 for the minimum use of voice and text. But it is not that much more expensive than unlocking your phone or buying another phone and it is much simpler. If you want simplicity and don't anticipate that much use, this may be the best option.
[I don't think this is an option for most of us, but check with your carrier/phone company. One reason I consulted Tom is that his experience has been so different from mine, partly because as a computer programmer he's much better at technology than I am, but also because it's very different if you're with ATT vs. others. I haven't been able to find a reasonable way to use my Verizon smartphone abroad, and I have looked into it.] The next option is to use your own phone. There are two requirements for this: it must be unlocked and it must be compatible with the cell network in Portugal. If you bought your phone with a contract, it is probably locked to that carrier. Different carriers have different policies about unlocking phones. I think Verizon is fairly liberal and your phone may already be unlocked or can be unlocked with a call to customer support. [There are U.S. laws that prevent unlocking phones, but there are efforts to overturn them. For more information, you can start with this CNet article.]
ATT does not unlock phones until they are out of contract. However, with some effort I was able to discover that I could end my contract by paying an early termination fee and that the termination fee would apply to my next payments. I didn't know about it being applied to your next payments. In my case, 1 year into contract, the fee was $215. This will apply to my next 2.5 monthly payments. In effect, you are just making an early payment. As long as I stay with ATT until that payment has been fully applied to monthly bills it costs me no extra money. My service with ATT continues at the same rate but my phone is now "out of contract" and they unlocked it for me.
I don't know about policies of other carriers but give them a call.
As for compatibility, that it a little more complex. I believe that most of Europe uses "GSM." [Don't even ask why doesn't the U.S. doesn't simply adopt the otherwise universal standard of the rest of the world? Hmm ... think metric?] ATT uses "GSM." My iPhone has worked in England. I expect it to work in Portugal. Verizon's network uses a different technology and Verizon phone's may or may not be compatible. You can find out by researching what frequencies your phone supports and what frequencies are used in Portugal. [A few years ago when I was shopping for a new phone, you needed buy an expensive "dual-band" or even "tri-band"phone to get those frequencies.]
I don't plan to do the research. I'm just going to hope it works and move to alternate plans as needed: "B" (buy a phone there), "C" (stick close to a friend with a phone), or "D" (hang out with whoever happens to appear). It will be what it is.
Buying a phone there is potentially very simple or very complicated. If you search on the net you will find companies who will sell you European SIM cards and phones. If you buy and use one of those, it is pretty simple. If you think: "but are they giving me a good price? Maybe I can find a better price. Maybe I want an unlocked smart phone" and then look on eBay for options, that quickly gets very complicated. [That was definitely my experience.] You may then think: "I'll just wait until I land in Lisbon. Surely there will be phones for sale there and they should all work in Portugal. Guaranteed." There probably will be and probably for a good price. This could be very simple. Unless it is complicated or impossible. It will certainly be one of those: simple, complicated, or impossible. If you then think: "I don't like leaving that up to chance, urm, my karma." Then you could buy a phone off the internet and be content with the price you paid, which is probably pretty good. [Not that I could find, and I did a pretty thorough search.] But you should compare that to just adding international service to your own plan…" [When I contacted Verizon a few years ago, it was prohibitively expensive.]"
OK we're done talking now. You can hang up. : )
What I Like to Pack
In case you're interested, here are a few items I like to bring that mostly aren't on the usual packing lists. What finally ends up in my bag depends on how much room there is, but I'm hoping reading this may stimulate your own ideas for what might make your trip a bit more comfortable. Just don't drive yourself crazy with details!
IMPORTANT
Electrical converters! You already know about them if you followed the link to Rick Steves' packing list in an earlier post called Packing Thoughts & Lists, where he has a link to a nice explanation at Electric Europe: Adapters and Converters. Wise and experienced traveler LindaL helpfully reminded me to emphasize this: "For those who are bringing cell phones and other electronic gadgets, they will need to figure out a proper electrical plug adapter and maybe a converter. Our standard US plugs won't fit. I wouldn't count on the hotel, because everyone might be requesting to recharge cellphones. At a minimum you need to have a compatible electrical plug adapter."
Think through your everything you're bringing that uses electricity. Are you bringing an iPad? an eBook reader? (By the way, I got Kindle as a gift and find it great for travel. Did you see that Tharpa has ebooks for The New Heart of Wisdom and The New Guide to Dakini Land, as well as Eight Steps and Modern Buddhism and some sadhanas? It's nice that most of the books are also available as audio MP3s, for listening to on the plane with an iPod, for example. The Kindle only comes with a USB recharger, and I'm not planning to bring anything with a USB port, so I went looking for a wall charger. Amazon had various ones for around $20, but for $5 more, you can get a wall charger that comes with 6 adapters for international travel, as well as a long cable.)
It might not just be recharging your cell phone. (By the way, is your phone even going to work over there? Click the Phone label in the right column of this website to get more info; warning: potentially complicated!).
Linda and I both thought this page had some useful details: Electrical Plug/Outlet and Voltage Information for Portugal. See also the post Electricity in Portugal
Safety travel pouch - for keeping your passport, a credit card, and other essential items close to your body, away from thieves. They come in different forms, such as money-belts and over-the-neck pouches. You can see some of the styles at the Rick Steves Travel Store, all of which are reduced in price through the end of the day. For more information, see the excellent Rick Steves' article Travel with a Money Belt: Your Portable Safe.
FOOD/DRINK
Travel Food - I like healthy energy bars (especially Lara Bars, which taste good and have a short, simple list of ingredients) and nuts or trail mix. Trader Joe's seems to have the best prices on both. For the first leg of the trip, you can bring food like carrot sticks, peanut butter sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs (stored in a egg container, such as the cardboard container they're sold in the store pared down to fit the number of eggs you're bringing), along with salt & pepper packets. The bars and nuts are good for later in the trip. I like knowing that if there are delays and I'm stuck somewhere, I won't go hungry and won't have to overpay.
Go Greens - a health-conscious Sangha friend uses these all the time. A powder made of organic fruit and vegetables that comes in small, light packets that are easy to add to a bottle of water and are reasonably priced. I got mine at Vitacost, and I know they sell various kinds on Amazon, but saw online that they also sell them at Costco. Note that there are other products named "GreensToGo" that are much more expensive, which seem to be sold by possibly dubious alternative healers.
Emergen-C - the supplement mix that has vitamins C and B, electrolytes,
nutrients, and antioxidants, for preventing colds and infections. It comes in travel-friendly light packets, but check the ingredients for the somewhat healthier flavors with less sugar. The Lite version, which the Vitacost website which helpfully lists the ingredients of the supplements they sell, says it has 1g of sugar (vs 6g in some of the other flavors), but I'm the not sure if that's sweetened with one of those more dubious chemicals such as Aspartame. It's cheaper at SuperSupplements and Trader Joe's.
Teabags - I love tea and always carry around a few of my favorites in my bag. When I travel I bring various flavors, including some chamomile in case I need a mild sleep aid. Traveling tends to constipate some people; I recommend a senna-based tea such as Smooth Move, a mild but effective laxative. Some places don't offer green tea, and some have really bad black tea.
Coffee drinkers may want to get some of those instant Starbucks Via packets, which I've heard are pretty good for instant and sometimes appear at Costco.
Water Bottle - I don't like water in plastic bottles, because they're not environmentally friendly, the water is not good quality (although it presents itself as healthier than drinking from a tap) and I have reason to believe the plastic leaches possibly toxic substances, particularly if the bottles have been in the sun. They are convenient, however, and I do buy them occasionally, particularly for Go Greens or Emergen-C so that I don't have to clean out my bottle.
Travel Mug - optional if there's room, but I've found I'm happy to have it. I often put my teabags inside, to save room and keep things organized.
By the way, if you want to save money on meals, even if you don't have access to a kitchen, there are some tips on things to pack that will allow you to prepare simple meals at Self-cater Meals in a Hotel Room: What to Pack
OTHER
NoJetLag - see the post Jet Lag Remedies for more information.
Thumb drive - for a few essential computer files. I'm going to try to learn how to encrypt the info. Apparently Windows comes with an encryption program, and I know there are others on the Web. Do I need to warn you about installing software from the web on your computer? Find a trusted site, possibly CNet?
Travel Pillow - finally decided to get one when I saw my acupuncturist with hers at Summer Festival. Certainly nice to have on the plane. For me it's a very optional item, only if there's room.
Headlamp - useful for safe, hands-free walking at night and for reading in bed.
Compass - a quirky item, I admit, but there have been so many times I've wished I had one. I don't have a good sense of direction. I'll have a good map but not know what direction I'm facing.
Map - because I like them, especially paper ones. If you've gotten used to relying on your smartphone, you'll want to think through how that's going to work in Portugal.
Speaking of maps, I've found some interesting or useful ones online.
For example, there's a post Good Cascais Map Showing Attractions, Hotels, Grocery Stores
Other Travel Info - for example, because I'm a vegetarian and a lot of countries have largely meat-based diets (ever been to Scotland?), I research vegetarian restaurants for the cities I'm going at websites like Lucky Cow and Lonely Planet, then and pack a printout. For more info, see the Vegetarian Restaurants & Portuguese Desserts post.
IMPORTANT
Electrical converters! You already know about them if you followed the link to Rick Steves' packing list in an earlier post called Packing Thoughts & Lists, where he has a link to a nice explanation at Electric Europe: Adapters and Converters. Wise and experienced traveler LindaL helpfully reminded me to emphasize this: "For those who are bringing cell phones and other electronic gadgets, they will need to figure out a proper electrical plug adapter and maybe a converter. Our standard US plugs won't fit. I wouldn't count on the hotel, because everyone might be requesting to recharge cellphones. At a minimum you need to have a compatible electrical plug adapter."
Think through your everything you're bringing that uses electricity. Are you bringing an iPad? an eBook reader? (By the way, I got Kindle as a gift and find it great for travel. Did you see that Tharpa has ebooks for The New Heart of Wisdom and The New Guide to Dakini Land, as well as Eight Steps and Modern Buddhism and some sadhanas? It's nice that most of the books are also available as audio MP3s, for listening to on the plane with an iPod, for example. The Kindle only comes with a USB recharger, and I'm not planning to bring anything with a USB port, so I went looking for a wall charger. Amazon had various ones for around $20, but for $5 more, you can get a wall charger that comes with 6 adapters for international travel, as well as a long cable.)
It might not just be recharging your cell phone. (By the way, is your phone even going to work over there? Click the Phone label in the right column of this website to get more info; warning: potentially complicated!).
Linda and I both thought this page had some useful details: Electrical Plug/Outlet and Voltage Information for Portugal. See also the post Electricity in Portugal
Safety travel pouch - for keeping your passport, a credit card, and other essential items close to your body, away from thieves. They come in different forms, such as money-belts and over-the-neck pouches. You can see some of the styles at the Rick Steves Travel Store, all of which are reduced in price through the end of the day. For more information, see the excellent Rick Steves' article Travel with a Money Belt: Your Portable Safe.
FOOD/DRINK
Travel Food - I like healthy energy bars (especially Lara Bars, which taste good and have a short, simple list of ingredients) and nuts or trail mix. Trader Joe's seems to have the best prices on both. For the first leg of the trip, you can bring food like carrot sticks, peanut butter sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs (stored in a egg container, such as the cardboard container they're sold in the store pared down to fit the number of eggs you're bringing), along with salt & pepper packets. The bars and nuts are good for later in the trip. I like knowing that if there are delays and I'm stuck somewhere, I won't go hungry and won't have to overpay.
Go Greens - a health-conscious Sangha friend uses these all the time. A powder made of organic fruit and vegetables that comes in small, light packets that are easy to add to a bottle of water and are reasonably priced. I got mine at Vitacost, and I know they sell various kinds on Amazon, but saw online that they also sell them at Costco. Note that there are other products named "GreensToGo" that are much more expensive, which seem to be sold by possibly dubious alternative healers.
Emergen-C - the supplement mix that has vitamins C and B, electrolytes,
nutrients, and antioxidants, for preventing colds and infections. It comes in travel-friendly light packets, but check the ingredients for the somewhat healthier flavors with less sugar. The Lite version, which the Vitacost website which helpfully lists the ingredients of the supplements they sell, says it has 1g of sugar (vs 6g in some of the other flavors), but I'm the not sure if that's sweetened with one of those more dubious chemicals such as Aspartame. It's cheaper at SuperSupplements and Trader Joe's.
Teabags - I love tea and always carry around a few of my favorites in my bag. When I travel I bring various flavors, including some chamomile in case I need a mild sleep aid. Traveling tends to constipate some people; I recommend a senna-based tea such as Smooth Move, a mild but effective laxative. Some places don't offer green tea, and some have really bad black tea.
Coffee drinkers may want to get some of those instant Starbucks Via packets, which I've heard are pretty good for instant and sometimes appear at Costco.
Water Bottle - I don't like water in plastic bottles, because they're not environmentally friendly, the water is not good quality (although it presents itself as healthier than drinking from a tap) and I have reason to believe the plastic leaches possibly toxic substances, particularly if the bottles have been in the sun. They are convenient, however, and I do buy them occasionally, particularly for Go Greens or Emergen-C so that I don't have to clean out my bottle.
Travel Mug - optional if there's room, but I've found I'm happy to have it. I often put my teabags inside, to save room and keep things organized.
By the way, if you want to save money on meals, even if you don't have access to a kitchen, there are some tips on things to pack that will allow you to prepare simple meals at Self-cater Meals in a Hotel Room: What to Pack
OTHER
NoJetLag - see the post Jet Lag Remedies for more information.
Thumb drive - for a few essential computer files. I'm going to try to learn how to encrypt the info. Apparently Windows comes with an encryption program, and I know there are others on the Web. Do I need to warn you about installing software from the web on your computer? Find a trusted site, possibly CNet?
Travel Pillow - finally decided to get one when I saw my acupuncturist with hers at Summer Festival. Certainly nice to have on the plane. For me it's a very optional item, only if there's room.
Headlamp - useful for safe, hands-free walking at night and for reading in bed.
Compass - a quirky item, I admit, but there have been so many times I've wished I had one. I don't have a good sense of direction. I'll have a good map but not know what direction I'm facing.
Map - because I like them, especially paper ones. If you've gotten used to relying on your smartphone, you'll want to think through how that's going to work in Portugal.
Speaking of maps, I've found some interesting or useful ones online.
For example, there's a post Good Cascais Map Showing Attractions, Hotels, Grocery Stores
Other Travel Info - for example, because I'm a vegetarian and a lot of countries have largely meat-based diets (ever been to Scotland?), I research vegetarian restaurants for the cities I'm going at websites like Lucky Cow and Lonely Planet, then and pack a printout. For more info, see the Vegetarian Restaurants & Portuguese Desserts post.
Good Cascais Map Showing Attractions, Hotels, Grocery Stores
Thanks to a Sangha member for suggesting this tip.
You can see where grocery stores - as well as attractions, hotels, etc. - are on MapQuest, which seems to work much better for this than Google Maps.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get a direct link to work, but if you go to MapQuest, enter "Cascais, Portugal" in the Search box at top left, then click the Get Map button, you'll get a map of the Festival town. Click the grocery shopping cart icon above the map, then click Grocery Stores. You can then zoom in.
There are 2 grocery stores near train station, with the big Jumbo just inland from train station. You can even look online to see what Jumbo stocks.
The big shopping center, Mercearia Central De Cascais, which has the Pingo Doce Supermarket, is also nearby.
You can see where grocery stores - as well as attractions, hotels, etc. - are on MapQuest, which seems to work much better for this than Google Maps.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get a direct link to work, but if you go to MapQuest, enter "Cascais, Portugal" in the Search box at top left, then click the Get Map button, you'll get a map of the Festival town. Click the grocery shopping cart icon above the map, then click Grocery Stores. You can then zoom in.
There are 2 grocery stores near train station, with the big Jumbo just inland from train station. You can even look online to see what Jumbo stocks.
The big shopping center, Mercearia Central De Cascais, which has the Pingo Doce Supermarket, is also nearby.
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