What about Oeiras do you like besides the beach?

I've been in Lisbon about 5 days. The city is incredible with all of the culture and beauty.

I think living a normal life here without speaking Portuguese would be next to impossible. If you need something you can usually find someone to help you in English, but I underestimated how frustrating it would be to not understand the native language. I'm going to order some language software as soon as I can get an apartment. Hopefully I'm a quick learner.

Things I've observed in Lisbon so far:

-Um, they kind of like pastries here.

-The women are phenomenal.

-There are no street signs. If you don't have a GPS, good luck.

-People don't make eye contact when you pass them on the street. Ever. If you greet someone, they seem startled. (Maybe this is just a big city thing. Being from Alabama and having lived my adult life in Austin it feels really strange.)

-The tap water tastes fine. The Gatorade is horrible.

BTW, if anyone is looking for a hotel here I highly recommend the VIP Saldanha. $58 on Orbitz and really nice and modern with friendly staff who speak English pretty well. Right near the metro.

I'd love to hear suggestions on some great affordable restaurants are in Lisbon. Not so much fine dining, but under 12 euros a plate. I know they are everywhere, but what are your favorites?

Unfortunatelly I can't be of much help, since when I go to Lisbon it seems that I only eat fast food. I really should know the city much better. It has so many cool places to visit! I spend most of the time going to Benfica football (soccer) matches and sometimes to music (rock) shows.

Anyway, there's a guide published by TimeOut called "Guia de Restaurantes 2011" that should have a section for under 15 euros meals, like in the magazine. Which brings the suggestion: buy TimeOut Lisboa magazine every wednesday, it's in portuguese obviously, but the listings about what's going on in the city are useful.

The two best sites to look for apartments are http://casa.sapo.pt/ and http://clix.bpiexpressoimobiliario.pt/, but it's probably better to get some assistance from an agent. Search for Century21 or Remax.

To look your way around the city, besides google maps of course, there's a great site for public transportation whereabouts (http://www.transporlis.sapo.pt/) Good luck.

great choice and great location. are you liking it so far?

oh man, where to begin?

do you have a portuguese cell phone?

pm me, we can exchange numbers or add me on skype.

Yeah, I like it so far. I have an apartment in the Parque das Nacoes area, right next to the Vasco Da Gama bridge. It's a spectacular area, if a little far from the action. I was able to get everything I wanted in an apartment with a month-to-month lease, so I couldn't pass it up. Unfortunately, my lawyer is pessimistic about me getting a residence permit, so I may have to leave at the end of the year.

great area.
and nearby the casino de lisboa for degenerating.

why is he pessimistic?
can`t you say that you are like an online trader, like in the stock market or something, kind of running your own business online, investing as the next one?

Hey,

are poker winnings taxed in portugal ?
If I move there, open a bank account (this is easy for an europen citizen, right ?) and cashout my online winnings on it I won't have any problems ?

no, they are not.

no problems unless you cashout above 10K.
10K or above, most banks, ask where the money comes from.

Hey guys,

Any chance you could list some big IT/Telecom companies that have offices in Lisbon or in the other nice cities you mentioned? As far as I'm concerned I don't think I could live from the poker income at start . It's best to have an aces up the sleeve if the downswing hits you hard

Cheers.

Im from Coimbra myself

Nice city to live, lots of college students. Not sure about living cost though ...

As I currently work in the Saldanha area, I usually eat my luch at a place called "Olá Bom Dia" near Picoas Plaza. For 10 euros you can get a full meal (desert included) and the food is pretty nice.

Guys what can u tell about girls mentality?

Are the girls are open to foreigners and easily enter into relationships with them?

This is what I've observed in my limited experience in Lisbon: Portuguese women are open to foreigners. What they are not open to are strangers. If you meet a single Portuguese woman, she will usually be open to being courted just like any other woman. Being a foreigner won't hurt you too much. Knowing Portuguese will obviously help.

The problem is meeting them. It's very very difficult. The girls you meet will be the ones you work with, or friends of people you already know. For poker players like me, that doesn't help much. I am used to going up to girls I don't know and striking up a conversation. That is generally not done here. The Portuguese girls I have met here have been either bringing food to my table, or cutting my hair. If you go up to a Portuguese girl you don't know on the metro, or at a nice bar and try to strike up a conversation, there is a good chance it is going to be very awkward. She will likely be offended, and may completely ignore you. That kind of thing is just not part of the culture here, from what I can tell. Girls date people they know...friends and schoolmates, etc. It's very hard to get your foot in the door.

Disclaimer: I am not much of a club type of guy and that kind of environment may be totally different. Also, there are tons of expats here from all over the world and those girls are completely different. These are the people that will make up most of your social circle. It's sort of unavoidable.

One anecdote about dating life here: (This conversation took place in my circle of friends)

A Portuguese guy was talking about his friend's girlfriend and he says "he doesn't know this so don't say anything, but she wasn't a virgin when they started dating." This is a girl in her mid-twenties he was talking about. I'm sure that is extreme, but it's something you would never hear in the US, for instance.

There just doesn't seem to be much of a "hook up" culture here. (I'd love to be proven wrong on this.)

Also, I get the impression that there is an extremely high rate of single people in Lisbon. i don't mean they don't have boyfriends or girlfriends, but just that they aren't married. I think the dating obstacles contribute to this, but also I think people are hesitant to have a wedding because of the money. Deep or someone else maybe can comment on if that's true or not. I see a LOT of attractive older women walking around without rings on.

this one it`s the biggest one national, but you have another nationals and almost every international ones have a branch here.

Welcome to Portugal sly caveat

hahahah, he just spoted you man!

i knew he would!

tyty

Now if only I could remember what my ranges were in the hypers...

Today was a great day for me as I got approved for a residence permit. This is the second and final part of the imimigration process (the first part being the residence visa that is valid for 4 months.) The permit has to be renewed after a year, and then every two years after that. It sure is nice to live in a beautiful country and be an official resident of the EU and not have to worry about leaving every 90 days or anything like that. Hopefully poker regulation is a long way off.

welcome mate.

now, just crush the games.

what u said about woman here is pretty much spot on
(im portuguese)

Buraka Som Sistema, portuguese progressive kuduro band, latest work. enjoy.

Can you elaborate on the process of obtaining the permit and visa? How much income do you need to show to qualify, how long did the process take? etc.