Wait, Spanish and Portuguese Are Different?

I arrived in Lisbon, Portugal's capital city, on Tuesday morning. After I landed at 9, I took a bus to the center of town and proceeded towards my hostel. I was able to find the building with little effort exerted, and was enthralled when I arrived. It was located on the street Rua Augusta, which is a main promenade in the middle of town. The street looks a little commercialized, yet doesn't seem all that touristy. The ground is made of white tile and is as pristine as Disneyland. Up and down the street are local restaurants and pastellerias (pastry shops). Along with stores such as La Coste and Sony, there are plenty of local stores offering a ton of products and services.


Towards the end of the promenade there is a huge arch, marking the entry point to Praca do Comercio, or "Commerce Square". This is an absolutely gorgeous spot. In the middle of the square is a statue of King Jose I (1775), which overlooks the Tejo River. The square is fairly reminiscent of Venice Beach in Los Angeles - along with plenty of tourists and locals lounging around and basking in the beautiful weather, there are numerous caricature artists and local painters. Off to the side of the square is a small soccer field always filled with Portuguese teenagers and local drug dealers. More on this later.


After taking a nap to freshen up for the day, I went to lunch at a local eatery recommended to me by my hostel. Located on Rua Augusta, it took roughly 45 seconds to walk there. There are holes in the wall, and then there are holes in the wall. This place was the latter. They didn't offer a tangible menu, instead providing all 5 lunch options on the back wall. The writing was in Portuguese so I didn't have the faintest idea what was what. I chose Option 1 based on two thoughts:

1) It was the most expensive option. (That one should have the most food, right?)

2) It had the word 'bica' in the description. I assumed that was some sort of beef, so I went with the safe bet (Later, I learned 'bica' means 'coffee'. I am a jackass.)


The restaurant had a counter inside and an outside patio area. I asked the waiter if I was allowed to eat outside and he told me I was, but doing so would incur an additional cost. The counter it was. The chef/waiter/busser/host/maitre'd informed me that my meal came with a drink and I said I wanted orange juice. (I feel like you need to know these things.)




At this point I think I should mention I was speaking Spanish the entire time. I know less than zero Portuguese and have retained my three years of Spanish tutelage fairly well. I knew that written Spanish and Portuguese were virtually identical, so I assumed the languages did not differ that much orally. I really enjoyed speaking Spanish with them, and on one of the very rare occasions in my life, I felt cultured. I was quite pleased with myself. Then I realized a couple things, none of which was good:


1) When you are able to articulate yourself in Spanish, people assume you can understand spoken Spanish as well. I cannot. This soon proved problematic.

2) Spanish and Portuguese are drastically different when spoken. As a result, I quickly reverted back to my ignorant, uninformed American ways.

3) According to a number of locals, Spain and Portugal are rivals. In 1580, Portugal lost its independence at the hands of its eastern neighbor (they regained independence in 1640). As a result, many Portuguese citizens are put off by tourists who think speaking Spanish is adequate. Oops.


Back to the food. I was served a fairly large tray consisting of salad, french fries and some sort of beef (I guess I just lucked out). The food was ridiculously good. The salad and french fries were fairly ordinary, but the beef was juicy and tender and was soaking in some sort of yummy meat juice. As I wolfed down the last bite, I began to clear away my setting. The all-in-one worker saw that I was preparing to exit and immediately stopped me. After a few seconds of him saying something, and me responding with a blank stare, he realized speech was of no use. He beckoned me down the counter to a dessert display case and proceeded to ask me which one I wanted. They all looked delicious, and I didn't have a clue what their names were, so I asked which one his favorite was (still in Spanish, of course). He opened up the case and handed me Leite Creme. A popular Portuguese dessert, it is basically an egg custard with burnt sugar on top. I'm not a huge dessert person, but I certainly appreciated this delicacy. Seeing that I was in the process of finishing off the last few mouthfuls of my low-cal confection, the guy behind the counter handed me a cup of espresso. As I sipped the best espresso of my life, I realized I was warming to Lisbon quite quickly. In case you were wondering (and I know you were), the entire meal cost 6 Euro. To put that in perspective I spent that same amount on a bagel sandwich in Dublin just 3 days earlier.






I spent the rest of the day taking in the city by exploring on my own. I took the local 28 Tram to Graca, a cute little town. As soon as I hopped on the tram, I became enamored with it. Imagine short, yellow trams that go everywhere in ridiculously narrow streets. These trams are not predominantly for tourists; because Lisbon streets are so small and narrow, the city is difficult to navigate behind a wheel. As a result, many of the locals make their way through the city using these trams. At this point, you're probably envisioning something along the lines of the cable car trolleys in San Francisco. In the words of Will Hunting when speaking with The Guy Who (may or may not) Likes Apples, "don't do that." These trams are far from modern. They are old and rickety, and creak up and down the steep roads. Oh, and the walls are littered with signs reading, "Beware of Pickpockets."

Once I got off the tram, I decided I was just going to walk around and get a feel for Lisbon. It was awesome. The weather was borderline perfect and the scenery was nothing short of fantabulous. I happened upon a number of cathedrals and castles and eventually found my way to an outdoor cafe overlooking the city. Tired from walking, I stopped for about an hour to enjoy another delicious espresso and read for a little while. As I took the whole scene in, I realized THIS is how I envisioned by 4 month vacation to unfold.

I eventually convinced myself it was time to go and headed back to my hostel. I didn't really know where I was, nor exactly where I was going, but I was determined to maneuver the streets on my own. I promised myself not to look at my city map nor ask any locals for assistance. I just focused on enjoying the walk and taking in the town. Unlike Dublin, Lisbon has an extremely warm feel to it. The streets are far from commercialized and materialistic. The number of restaurants, pastellerias and fruit stands are countless. Again, I'm not a dessert fan, but the sweets here are out of this world. After walking for quite some time, I happened to stumble upon Rua Augusta. Feeling satisfied with myself yet again, I didn't feel like going home just yet. I spent another half hour in the square watching kids play soccer as the sun set above the Tejo.



During my 30 second walk home, I was offered drugs 3 times. The promenade is very welcoming (some might even say VERY welcoming), but it has plenty of drug dealers. In the past three days, I have been offered drugs roughly 50 times. After countless, "Obligado, pero no"'s, I felt bad and eventually gave in to one who had a good sales pitch. One can only say no for so long, right? Har. Har. Har.

[Editor's Note: Given that this was my first week in Europe, I assumed that drug trafficking would be rampant throughout my travels. This proved untrue. I later learned I was accosted so many times in Lisbon because in an effort to curb drug use and violence, Portugal decriminalized virtually all drugs - everything from marijuana, to cocaine, to heroin - back in 2001. The results have been unequivocally positive: Nearly a decade ago Portugal suffered from some of the highest levels of drug use in Europe, but now the country's marijuana usage is the lowest in the EU and the number of HIV cases are down dramatically. According to every conceivable metric, the law has been a resounding success.]

Exhausted from my travels, I kept the rest of my night fairly tame. I went out to dinner with a number of people I met at the hostel and then had a few beers with everyone once I got back. Overall, it was a very mellow evening - a perfect way to conclude my first day in Portugal.