Someone activate the migs-signal!

December 13, 2005 8:03 AM

Chance to be assigned to flag duty in Lisbon, Portugal...

Command is located in Oeiras, approx. 10 miles west of the city. Advice, opinions, anecdotes, etc. are welcome (relevant to the city, of course).

posted by tetsuo to society & culture (12 comments total)

Err... Don't let the flag touch the ground?
posted by soiled cowboy at 8:09 AM on December 13, 2005

I'll let you have the one crack...flag duty means your working on a flag officer's (O-7 to O-10, that's the various forms of general or admiral) staff. I've got my duties covered, I'm asking about the city.
posted by tetsuo at 8:26 AM on December 13, 2005

Paging Miguel...
posted by bshort at 8:45 AM on December 13, 2005

What exactly do you want to know? I was in Lisbon last month. I have a friend who lives in Lisbon. And I have another friend who lives here in San Francisco but is from Lisbon.

Its a lot like any other Western European city - vibrant, cultural - but of course with its own twist. One thing that seemed to be mssing was other Americans - but Brits and Spaniards and other Europeans seem to have discovered what a great place it is.
posted by vacapinta at 8:57 AM on December 13, 2005

Compared to what? What are your other (likely) options if you don't go to Lisbon?
posted by WestCoaster at 9:40 AM on December 13, 2005

What exactly do you want to know?

I'm just interested in how people liked or didn't like their time/experiences there, just to get a general sense and anything that really struck them about the city.
posted by tetsuo at 9:42 AM on December 13, 2005

I'm sorry. My comment above was not only unhelpful, but even worse, unfunny. Apologies for the pollution. You asked for anecdotes so I'll give you one:

My only experience in Lisbon was a week in the city about ten years ago, visiting an American friend who was teaching there. I was staying in his apartment in a dingy working-class district atop one of the town's many steep hills. The day before I was scheduled to leave I was walking through a narrow street on my way to meet my friend for lunch when I saw a girl of about eight or nine happily watching the neighborhood goings-on from a small window on the ground floor.

The child looked like she was having so much fun that I thought we could share a laugh together. I quietly snuck up to her window, jumped up, and, fully expecting to receive at least a smile of gratitude for my troubles, shouted "BOO!" in her face.

The child screamed like I had stabbed her with a rusty blade. The pitch and volume of the screech that came from her throat terrified not only me outside but her older brothers indoors and they quickly came charging out to aprehend the rotten culprit and end his miserable life. Fortunately for me, I had made, just a brief moment earlier, the sound decision to run like hell. In the entire decade since that moment, I have never, ever run so fast or with so much fear. I managed to lose the two shouting Lisboan men after a noisy chase up and down several city blocks. I didn't return to the apartment until well after dark and left town the next day by a circuitous route.

So, in conclusion, I offer you this simple but important bit of advice: Do not frighten the small children of Lisbon.
posted by soiled cowboy at 10:04 AM on December 13, 2005

Don't scare the children...check. Thanks!
posted by tetsuo at 10:08 AM on December 13, 2005

I'm just interested in how people liked or didn't like their time/experiences there, just to get a general sense and anything that really struck them about the city.

Fair enough. I got the impression from people there that the city has changed a lot in the past 10 years or so. Enough that experiences, guidebooks etc from that era are not really relevant. I got a really strong sense of a city coming into its own.

To me it struck me as modern and alive. But then I spent most of my time in the Biarro Alto which is a district full of great, old bookshops by day (and funky clothing stores) and really takes off as a nightlife spot later in the evening: By 10 or 11pm the streets get crowded with people standing around in groups, chatting drinking, having a good time.

The modernity part comes from all the waterfront development I saw. Here's a picture of the skyline I took last month. There's also an aquarium nearby and at first my snobbish self thought: "Eh. I've been to Monterrey Aquarium. How good can this be?" but in fact it was probably the best aquarium I have ever been to! Incredible. Lots of new modern art museums too. And of course kind and beautiful people - at least in my experience.

In short: a great city for some reason unknown to Americans. An easy city to fall in love with.
posted by vacapinta at 10:20 AM on December 13, 2005

Thanks vacapinta, great flickr set!
posted by tetsuo at 10:23 AM on December 13, 2005

I spent a few days there a few years ago, and I loved it. Hands down, if I had the chance to move anywhere in Europe I'd chose Lisbon.
posted by footnote at 2:10 PM on December 13, 2005

I have never, ever run so fast or with so much fear. — soiled cowboy, above

Aren't username derivations fun?
posted by rob511 at 6:37 PM on December 13, 2005