Rick Steves' New Report from Portugal and Spain

   From his friendly, funny June enews letter:

Dear Traveler, 

I've just wrapped up a trip through Spain and Portugal to update my guidebooks for that wonderful corner of Europe [I don't mean to be pushing his stuff, but FYI the Portugal 2013 updated book, the 7th Edition, is available now for $20 ($15 on Amazon)]. I especially enjoyed spending time with the local guides we recommend. It occurred to me that a guide should not only be a fine teacher, but also a window into how the locals think and communicate. 

For instance, as I was exploring a tiny Algarve village with my guide, I commented that anyone who lives here must know what everyone else is up to. He said, "Yes, when you kick one person in this village, everyone limps." Later, sitting down to a nice plate of sardines and salad, I kept asking questions. Finally, the guide interrupted: "My mamma said when we eat we fight against death. So let's stop talking and eat!" In Portugal, on a popular beach, I heard a local refer to the sun-burned English travelers as "steaks." Did I hear right? "Yes, steaks! We call them 'beefs' too. The English get very burned in the sun."

Opening these little windows into other cultures are some of the delights of travel that you can never really plan for — but they are guaranteed to happen when you travel as an extrovert, and find ways to connect with people along the way. Great local guides — like the ones in my books and on my tours — can help make that happen.

Packing a Mandala Kit + Learning How to Make Mandala Offerings

Based on Geshe-la's advice, Gen-la Dekyong has been encouraging us to make mandala offerings every day with a mandala kit, because it will help us quickly gain realizations.
At Summer Festival last year, she also suggested everyone bring their kit with them to the Portugal Festival, because it would be a wonderful offering to Geshe-la. (She said we could take out our large bottle or conditioner or our fancy shoes to make room for the kit.)

If you don't know how to make offerings with a mandala kit, you can ask your Sangha.
In Seattle we have a Guru Yoga and Mandala Offerings Retreat this Saturday through the following Thursday at KMC Washington. If you'd like to learn, I'm sure there will be someone who is happy to teach you, especially if you arrive a bit early. Note that we have some new meditation classes, so there won't be retreat sessions at the Temple during those times.

Self-cater Meals in a Hotel Room: What to Pack

Some suggestions from a Sangha friend for how you can prepare meals cheaply in a hotel if you bring a few small items:

• A flexible cutting board (lots of real estate for preparing meals and cutting bread and veggies but light and easy to fit in a suitcase). [I saw a thin MSR Alpine Cutting Board that rolls up at REI for $5 but haven't used one and didn't find any reviews from searching online.]
• One re-usable plate, bowl, and mug per person (also consider getting a mug at Jumbo market in Cascais and save weight and space in your suitcase). [For more about Jumbo and other shopping in Cascais, see Shopping in Cascais, Estoril & Carcavelos.]
• One set of knife, fork and spoon made of Lexan or other durable material. [Lexan is very strong, light and inexpensive.]
• A sharp knife, with a sheaf for safety, for cutting bread, veggies, cheese and so forth.
• A small can opener of some type in case you want to buy anything in a can.
• Resealable bags of several sizes.
• Clothes pins for closing bags. [Binder clips work well too.]
• Small scissors for getting into packaging.
• Extra shampoo or liquid soap for cleaning up after the meal. [Dr Bronner's all-in-one soap is another option; it comes in a 2oz plastic bottle with a flip top that's great for travel, and is Fair Trade and organic. You can use it as a shampoo, body soap, and dish soap. I just read that the company "caps all executive compensation at 5 to 1 to the lowest paid warehouse position, and dedicates all profits not needed for business development to worthwhile causes and charities worldwide."]
• Quick-drying scrubber for cleaning dishes.
• A bag for transporting the meal to an outdoor location for a picnic.

A hot pot can be used to heat water for tea, broth and veggies, canned soup and so on.

Shopping in Cascais, Estoril & Carcavelos

The Portuguese Wal-Mart, Jumbo, is  across the street from and within sight of the Cascais train station.

Pingo Doce, which is the biggest grocery chain in Portugal, is inside the Cascais Villa Shopping Center, which is next door to Jumbo; map here. Their website has photos of what they carry with prices; it's in Portuguese but you can make a lot of it.

The Farmer's Market, is Wednesdays until 2pm [and some Saturdays? conflicting info on the Web], near the intersection of Avenida 25 de Abril and Avenida Dom Pedro, 5 minutes' walk from the Cascais train station; map here.

USA Today says to buy clothes at "CascaiShopping, a major shopping mall on the outskirts of town. Cascais Villa and Jumbo both have cheap clothing, but if you want anything nice you should go to CascaiShopping. This mall is well beyond walking distance and using buses to reach it is overly complicated and time consuming, so take a taxi. The mall has a taxi-stand, so there is no need to keep the taxi after arriving."

More Resources
CascaisPortugal.com Shopping - a nice overview, including suggestions about what gifts and souvenirs to bring back and where to get them, as well as short descriptions of shopping centers.

Markets, fairs & shopping centres in Cascais, Estoril & Oeiras, which has a zoomable map and a table of days and times.

Virtual Tourist Info about Shopping in Cascais - including everything from street markets to shopping centers to supermarkets.

Frommer's Info about Shopping in Cascais, which includes addresses and phone numbers but doesn't cover grocery stores.

Insider Cooking on Markets and Groceries in Cascais, Sintra & Lisbon - also lists the market in Carcavelos and the Cascais textile market. Note: "bio" means organic.
Tips about the Carcavelos market from Cascais-Travel.com:
"If you are looking for a bargain this is the place to go. Carcavelos market, opposite the Train Station in Carcavelos is on every Thursday from 8am. Cheap clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, linen, towels, etc. Some weeks have better quality goods than others. It's alright to haggle a little. Best go early."

Electricity in Portugal

Electrical Plug/Outlet and Voltage Information for Portugal shows useful photos of different kinds of wall sockets and which kinds of plugs work in Portugal. Hint: Not ones from the U.S.
It also says:
"But the shape of the socket is only half the story!
Electrical sockets (outlets) in Portugal (República Portuguesa) usually supply electricity at between 220 and 240 volts AC. If you're plugging in an appliance that was built for 220-240 volt electrical input, or an appliance that is compatible with multiple voltages, then an adapter is all you need.
But travel plug adapters do not change the voltage, so the electricity coming through the adapter will still be the same 220-240 volts the socket is supplying. North American sockets supply electricity at between 110 and 120 volts, far lower than in most of the rest of the world. Consequently, North American appliances are generally built for 110-120 volts.
But that doesn't mean that your specific appliance isn't already compatible with the higher voltage -- it may very well be."

According to this Adapter and Converter Finder:
"If you are bringing an American appliance or electronic device, you will need an Adapter Plug for almost every country in order to plug into their electrical outlets.
If that appliance or electronic device is not dual-voltage and you are visiting a country with 230 volt electricity, you will need either a Voltage Converter or a Transformer.
If you are planning to run your non dual-voltage appliance or electronic device continuously, you will need a Transformer."

Adapters are light and cheap but transformers are heavier and more expensive.

If you have questions, I'd recommend going to a travel store, such as Wide World Travel Store in Wallingford or Rick Steves' in Edmonds.

ATM and Credit Cards for Travel

Start by reading Rick Steves' advice, Cash and Currency Tips, then click to read his pages with more information about cash vs. plastic, ATMs and credit-card fees.

From the NY Times Travel section:
"As You Travel, Making Money Work for You" of March 6, 2013:

"Q. Where do you have your bank accounts?
A. In addition to the bank you use at home ... I suggest opening a checking account with Charles Schwab Bank to use abroad. It doesn't charge any A.T.M. fees and even reimburses you for fees other banks charge anywhere in the world.

Q. What about credit cards?
A. I recommend using one of Capital One’s No Hassle Rewards cards while you travel because none of them charge foreign-transaction fees. Neither does Chase Sapphire Preferred. You don’t want to pay 3 percent on every transaction; suddenly the cost of your trip has gone up 3 percent.
If you really want to get in on the mileage game, I recommend getting a general rewards card and one that’s branded to a specific airline or hotel to use at home. Make sure the rewards card allows you to transfer points to that particular airline or hotel; this way you can add to your miles or hotel rewards. ..."
But see also the blog post Credit Card with Chip

Sights in Cascais & Nearby

Festival Website info about Sights in Cascais, Sintra & Lisbon, including links to other websites.
[Note that there are also separate blog posts here about What to See in Lisbon and What to See in Sintra.]

Recommendations from other websites about sights in Cascais and Estoril
Walking between Cascais and Estoril - there are many mentions about this beachside walk (or bike ride), but this one has photos
That page on VirtualTourist.com also has lots of information about getting around, which I will cross-post so that it is easier to find.

Virtual Tourist on Things to Do in Cascais - short descriptions and reviews, with nice photos; note the "filters" at the top; selecting, say, Beaches, seems to show things that don't appear when you select All.

What to See in Sintra

The new Temple, of course! As it says on the Portugal Festival webpage called  Kadampa World Peace Temple, Sintra, which is under a heading called World Peace Temple:
"During the Festival, tours of the Temple will be arranged from the Festival site, which is approximately 20 minutes’ drive from the Temple."

Festival Website info about Sights in Cascais, Sintra & Lisbon, including links to other websites.

Other Sources of Information:
UNESCO World Heritage Sites page, which has photos, descriptions and background
Wikipedia has a nice Sintra page, with photos, a brief history, etc.
YouTube video on Sintra, which is a photo slideshow with music that's good once you get past the ad
Sintra - A glorious Eden has brief descriptions of cultural and historical sights

What to See in Lisbon

Festival Website info about Sights in Cascais, Sintra & Lisbon, including links to other websites

Rick Steves' Best of Lisbon

Lonely Planet Sights in Lisbon

LisbonLux Itinerary

Markets - scroll down to bottom of page to see day(s)

The most famous specialist bakery, with the long lines to prove it, is Casa Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon, which makes the country's most famous cake, pastel de nata. Their address and phone are:  Rua de Belem 84, Lisbon 1300-085, Portugal. 21 363 74 23. TravelAdvisor says they're affordable and that they have Breakfast/Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Takeout, Late Night, Delivery, Buffet.

Sightseeing in Portugal, Spain and Morocco

If you have extra days for sightseeing, below are some recommendations from Sangha who have been to Portugal, Spain and/or Morocco, with suggestions from travel expert Rick Steves and others farther below.
The Portugal Festival webpage Enjoying the Region also has some basic sightseeing info on Cascais / Estoril / Sintra with a link, and a link for more info about Lisbon.

From a very experienced Sangha traveler who's been to Portugal, Spain and Morocco, who goes for the culture and people:

"Let me start by stating the obvious: our travel preferences and perceptions of a place can be vastly different than anyone else. With that caveat, [my husband] and I spoke this morning and we liked Morocco a lot. The desert, markets, people, food, color, sights and sounds are vastly superior to Portugal.  It is from our perspective a lot more interesting place to visit [than Portugal].  We travel for the culture of the place and people.  If you want to do both countries, wander in Lisbon for a day. I think there will be time during Festival to wander in Cascais. Recall most of the old historic buildings in Portugal were destroyed in 1755 earthquake.
One week is tight to do both countries. Travel time will eat up some of that time. Ideally I would go to Marrekesh. Amazing market teaming with stalls, people selling fresh baked breads, naan, mounds of spices, and bedouins come in from desert to sell stuff and everything else. Charming places to stay. We stayed in a Riad, which are lovely apartments facing outdoor garden courtyards. where you dine at night on tangine. You can camp out in the dessert and walk the sand dunes. We sat at night on top of sand dunes and watched the celestial show. Talk about feeling like peace on earth. Yes, I even road on a camel! We also drove thru the Atlas Mountains. Lovely and spectacular scenery. We went to Essouria on the ocean. Nice fishing village.
Portugal is lovely.  But we liked Morocco more. Is it touristy?  yes, very few places left on earth without tourists."

There was also a recent article in the Seattle Times about visiting Morocco titled Wandering through Morocco’s ancient and timeless medinas that features Marrakesh, Fes and Chefchaouen.

From a man ín our community who lived in Portugal for 3 years and speaks Portuguese (and has offered to translate for us at the Festival):

"The drive down the [Portugal] coast is best done leisurely over the course of a day. So many pretty sights and good food on the way. Especially in the Allentejo region - in particular the town of Vila Nova de Milfontes on the coast. I've never been to Morocco so I can't speak to it, but plan for a day drive each way just to get to the south of Portugal and back to Lisbon. Definitely fun stuff to do in Lisbon, and I highly recommend Sintra, which is worth a day or two excursion, and is minutes away from  Cascais (pronounced Kahs-KIESH, where the 'ie' sounds like a long I sound)." [Note: the new Temple is in Sintra, and the Festival is going to run tours there - MW.]

From two Sangha travelers who have been to Spain:

"We went for a total of 10 days and covered a lot of the country but staying south this was what we did:
Ronda is a beautiful small cliff side town. It is one of the oldest cities in Spain we stayed 2 nights in a hotel that looked over the cliff  and got to explore the city on foot. Very charming! Granada was very nice as well we didn't stay there over night we pretty much visited Alhambra had lunch and moved on but I am sure there is much to discover there as well.  Cordoba was another town we only did a day trip. The architecture here was like walking through history that reflects the different cultures that left their marks. Seville is nice, it is much bigger then the other towns. We saw a great flamenco show and I would recommend going to one. I like to get guided tours for any monuments or museums to get an accurate and full history of them." 

***

"I think overall it's a good idea to be somewhat focused in where you
want to go, Spain is actually really big.  Here are some of my
impressions.
Andalusia - the 3 "biggies" are Granada, Cordoba, and Sevilla. They all have wonderful aspects, if you want to focus on Andalusia, this could take up your 9 days.
Here is what we loved about these 3 places :
Granada - the Alhambra
Cordoba - La Mezquita, and Roman ruins
Sevilla - overall the most beautiful of the 3, there is a museum of
flamenco there with free performances.  My impression of Sevilla is that it is a very strong cultural experience of Andalusia, lots of tile murals around the city, best tapas and jerez (sherry) that we found.

There is a Kadampa Hotel [now a KMC with places Sangha can stay] in Alhaurin el Grande ....  It is in the hills outside of Malaga, we found it nice to get out of the busy cities for a while. One can make day trips from there, we went swimming on the coast one day in Fuengirola, and Alhaurin el Grande is charming and not over-touristy, Migas is a small, charming, but touristy town nearby. One can also make a day trip to Ronda, which we didn't do, but which I wish we had, it's supposed to be beautiful.  We also took a day trip to Cordoba to see la Mezquita (historic mosque turned Catholic cathedral), it's a 2-hour drive one way from the Kadampa [Centre].  ...

Spring and Fall are the best times to see Andalusia, as there are often festivals during these seasons which sound really fun (we were there in the summer - hot, hot, hot).  These festivals can be fabulous cultural experiences, if you are at all interested in this, you may want to check on the internet and see if there is one in one of the cities that you can schedule your time around. [See Rick Steves' list, which includes All Saints' Day all over Spain on Nov 1, 2012, which involves closures, and Virgen de la Almudena in Madrid on Nov 9, 2013, which is a major holiday].

Madrid, of course, is huge, there is tons to do there, its gorgeous, and it's a busy, busy city. We stayed in el Centro, went to El Prado to see works by Velazquez (of course), El Greco, Goya, etc. and El Museo de La Reina Sofia - home of Picasso's "Guernica."  We took side trips to Avila (mostly of interest if one is Catholic as it is the home of Teresa of Avila, though it has the 2nd biggest stone wall in the world next to the great wall of China - the medieval walls around the city). Also went to Segovia know for impressive Roman aqueduct and castle that was one of Isabel & Ferdinand's palaces.

When we drove south from Madrid through the Castilla/La Mancha region we visited Consuegra, a small town where one can see the traditional wind mills of Don Quixote fame.  We then stayed a couple days in Toledo. Toledo is fabulous, the main city is inside medieval walls, it's the home of El Greco so many of his fans visit there. Traditional arts of sword making and suit of armor making, ceramics, and marzipan are very much alive there.  It was also the place where the Inquisition started, so that's kind of yucky, but it's also an interesting place to see how the 3 Abrahamic faiths existed in one place. We enjoyed seeing the Sepphardic Museum and the Cathedral (Cristopher Columbus's tomb is in there). Toledo has lots of tourists, but it's off the beaten path for Americans.  However, that gets me to another point - [my husband]  speaks Spanish so we got around pretty well.  We did find that hardly anybody speaks English in Spain, and in smaller towns and places off the beaten path, the vast majority of people have never even met an American. So... unless you are quite bold, sticking to more touristy locales may be a good strategy, as people will at least be used to tourists.

Barcelona - again is a fabulous place to see, but one needs a chunk of time to really enjoy it. It's also really far away, we ended up flying there from Granada, the drive would have been about 6  hours (p.s. flights were cheaper and faster than trains). It's also a distinctly different cultural experience, the traditional Catalan language and culture is in the middle of a revival.  Which is cool, though there is definitely ethnic tension there with Spanish culture, and even if you do speak Spanish, many Catalans won't speak it with you. But if you love Gaudi architecture, Joan Miro, and Picasso, it's a place you want to see. It comes across as a very modern city, mixed with it's ancient heritage. But it seemed a bit more 'dangerous' in terms of pickpockets than even Madrid.

We also took a couple days and went on a ferry from Tarifa to Tangiers, Morocco. A fabulous side trip, but would take time out of your other stuff."

Note that Spain is having big economic problems that you can read about in the news, but a nurse I talked to whose boyfriend was there 3 months ago, said that it was fine for tourists, for what that's worth.
It's always good to check the U.S. Government's Travel Advisory website before going anywhere; none of these countries is currently on the list. There are also links to safety and health tips for traveling abroad. I also have separate blog posts about Safety Tips and Medical and Health Tips.

Recommendations from other sources:
Portugal
Rick Steves' Portugal
GoLisbon's Where to Go in Portugal
Lonely Planet's Portugal
Rough Guide's Where to Go in Portugal
TimeOut's Best of Portugal

Morocco
Rick Steves' Morocco: Plunge Deep
Lonely Planet's Morocco
Rough Guide's Morocco

Spain
Rick Steves' Spain
Rough Guide's Spain

Travel Insurance

You should check your medical insurance to see what kind of coverage, if any, you have abroad.
If you want, you can add travel insurance, which offers different options for medical treatment, evacuation, terrorist acts, trip cancellation, etc.

The company TravelGuard gets an A+ from the Better Business Bureau and is what AAA offers. I've never gotten travel insurance before, but there's a Sangha who has bough policies from them, which thankfully she has needed to use. Because of health issues, I will probably buy a policy from them.

Rick Steves' Do I Need Travel Insurance?

Medical & Health Issues when Traveling Abroad

General
U.S. State Department Health Issues - how the local consul can help if you are sick and other useful info

Portugal
U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) Health Info for Portugal - prevention, vaccinations, medications, what to pack, etc.

Travel Insurance
You may want to consider travel insurance; there's also a blog post here called Travel Insurance.

Valid Passport + 3 Months

Just wanted to make sure everyone saw on the Festival's General Info page that your passport needs to be "valid for at least 3 months after the end of your stay."

If you're from the U.S. or an EU country, you don't need a visa for Portugal, per this link about Entry Formalities on VisitPortugal from that page.

Prices in Cascais

Thanks to DavidB for this link:
Cost of Living in Cascais, Portugal
Scroll down to see prices for groceries, meals out, taxi, gas, etc.