Steemfest, Lisbon, Here I Come!
I just finished booking my hotel for Steemfest2, and I couldn't be more excited. I really wanted to make it to last year, but @corinnestokes wasn't too into the idea. This year, with my witness server running, I convinced her it's a business trip! :)
I booked my flight, paid for my golden ticket, and secured my hotel. I'll be staying at the HF Fénix Lisboa, and it looks like I have two single beds in the room. If you're a dude coming to Steemfest and looking for a place crash, let me know.
So what should I expect? This is actually my first time traveling to Europe. I speak just a little bit of childish Spanish, but that probably won't do much good in Portugal. Do you have any tips for me? I haven't yet looked into cell phone plan adjustments, power voltage differences, or anything along those lines. I did figure out I don't need a visa and my U.S. passport (which we recently renewed, thankfully) is good enough. I wonder if my Visa bank debit card will work... I guess there's always crypto if I get desperate. :)
I'll be looking into all these details as we get closer to November.
Are you coming to Steemfest?
If you can't make it, but you have questions you want to ask some of the speakers, what are they? I'll try to get them answered for you.
Big thanks to @roelandp and the team putting this together. I'm really looking forward to it.
Congratulations on the plans for your first trip to Europe! I think Lisbon (Lisboa as they call it in Portugal) is a good intro. I visited for several days 3 years ago and enjoyed it immensely. It was February not November so I'm not sure what difference that will make in weather.
Here are a few tips I can give based on my travels in Portugal, Europe and beyond (currently in Denmark):
My Portuguese contacts tell me that they can understand Spanish easily but it doesn't work well the other way.
The AC power voltage is 230 V and they use a different socket but you can easily buy adapters on Amazon. These are the ones I've used since 2013: https://www.amazon.com/OREI-Europe-Adapter-Plug-Schuko/dp/B008JCVF0U. I like them because you can plug two items into them at once and they are useful in many countries. Just check your electronics to ensure any you take are okay with 230 VAC power before planning to use them with the adapters. All phone chargers and laptop chargers should be good to go but some electric razors or trimmers aren't.
I'm 99.9% sure your Visa bank debit card will work (without knowing the bank or type) however it will probably add a 3% foreign transaction fee to each purchase made in Euros. Not huge but using a debit card may also be less secure. I typically use my Barclay Arrival Plus card since it earns 2x points per dollar and has no foreign transaction fees. It has a nice sign up bonus worth $500 at the moment. Also Charles Schwab has a nice debit card that refunds ATM fees worldwide. This is the card I use to withdraw local currency from ATMs at good FX rates.
The Metro in Lisbon is very easy to navigate in my opinion. If you exit the airport on foot there is a short walk across the plaza to the airport metro stop and you can take it to the Marquês de Pombal stop right by your hotel (with 1 train line switch). It looks like the cost for that is only EUR 1.45. Super cheap! I had the Lisboa Card when I was there which included unlimited public transport but with trips that low in cost I doubt it's worth buying the Lisboa Card for transport only.
If you like grass-fed steak (seems like maybe so since I saw your post on ethics of eating meat) a restaurant I can't recommend enough is Cafe Buenos Aires. Maybe it was a one-off but the quality of the meal I enjoyed there and the novelty of the atmosphere compared to any US restaurants has made it stick in my mind as my favorite meal at any restaurant any where to date. Perhaps it was the port. It's about a 1 mile walk or short metro ride from the Hotel Fenix Lisboa. It's very small and intimate so reservations may be needed. I went at about 7PM with my wife and they were about to turn us away before they asked if we could be done by 10PM since the table was reserved. We didn't need more than 3 hrs for our meal so we jumped at the chance. So glad it worked out.
For extra activities -should you want to know any I would repeat or take a friend to- I would say: Take the roughly 1 hr train to Sintra and visit the remains of the Moorish Castle and Quinta da Regaleira. The latter is a unique "garden" with secret tunnels, underground towers and dark overtones.
For an ocean/beach/fishing village environment -not sure what it's like in November- visit Cascais (the "s" has a "sh" sound here) which is also a ~1hr train ride from Lisboa.
I'm sure there will be local Steemers at Steemfest Lisbon so maybe some of these ideas are superfluous but I wanted to share them anyway since I thought it was a great destination and hope to go back sometime myself. I'm new to SteemIt so I don't really know about the Steemfest(s) or if they are something I should look into participating in. I'm curious though.
Awesome, thank you! I'll be reviewing this in more detail for sure!
@lukestokes - It is great that you are going to attend Steemfest. I think experienced Steemians like you who have worked their way through Steemit over many months, who are very familiar with Steem stats and also with witness duties will add a lot of value to the discussion. Relative newcomers like me will not really add much value. Of course, it would help newcomers to go there for networking but I do not think I will be going this year. Perhaps next time when I have gained sufficient understanding.
If you have never been to Europe, I think you will find the experience quite charming. I always find European cities and architecture to be a bit more cozy, personal and quaint compared to US. The lifestyle also is a bit more unhurried and conducive to musing, romance and admiring the historic perspective , in most of European cities.
Lisbon is quite charming with it's blend of historic and new buildings. It is an interesting city with hilly areas and beaches in proximity. I am sure you will enjoy your stay (apart from attending the exciting Steemfest)
I see that @dvhaley has already answered most of your travel related questions. So I will not repeat.
About your question on what I would like to ask at Steemfest - I think my major question would be 'What do the founders think about how Steemit has evolved'. I would love to hear the vision behind Steemit in their own words and also get their perspective on whether Steemit is doing well in terms of evolving towards attaining that vision.
Hope to see you in next Steemfest. I wish you a very fruitful, engaging, exciting, comfortable and safe trip. Will look forward to the blogs about the trip.
Regards,
We can't wait to meet you Luke!
So glad you'll be there, Randy! :)
Sweet!
See you there 👍
You don't need a visa entering any country in the EU, if your passport is in-date you're good.
Pick up a power outlet converter, you'll need one.
Sort out some Euros before leaving, at your local bank, to use as a last resort (don't get financially abused by awful exchange rates at the airport or hotels); also verify there are no foreign transactions fees on your credit card(s).
If you drink alcohol (there will be LOTS if it's like last year in Amsterdam! 😛) buy some glutathione from a health food store to kick you back into the present the morning after so you'll be shiny and fresh for more learning and meeting with other brilliant futurists.
Jazzed to meet you mate!
Craig,
@scan0017 🤝
Very cool, Craig! Looking forward to it.
Wow will love to go as you are going......however no need for your little Spanish there hahahah its Portuguese Language. I would love to come and keep you entertained my bud @lukestokes however I have to take care of many issues with cash. However am still very interested and will look at the ticket prize from Germany . Is your hotel close to the seminar location? let me know if the room is still available
Yeah, I got a room in the main hotel. I haven't worked a deal out with anyone in the room yet. If cash is an issue for you, my suggestion would be to stay and work. For me, travel is a luxury and isn't always a good idea.
It depends on the benefit f the event...I think that I can work out the cash if I get good deals.. I dont underestimate the power of networking
@lukestokes have a nice trip :-)
I have been posting my trading diary daily (BTC/USD)... Can you suggest how it can be seen by more people ? Thanks !
Your comment doesn't have much to do with Lisbon, does it? ;)
There used to be an account that did daily charts and it got a lot of rewards. Some got frustrated and started flagging it. So now there may not be much demand for that. I don't know. As to getting followers, just consistently add value, like any other social media platform.
Thanks @lukestokes for your reply... Yes, of course nothing to do with Lisbon, although I have been there and its a very nice place and I am sure you are going to have a good time ;-)
But I don’t know how else to message (doesn’t seem to have direct messaging or private messaging), so just asked you for advise publicaly...
Ya looks like not many people want it ! Its gold... hehehe... anyway I will try and keep publishing and see how it goes... If by any chance you know how I can get a push (I read some curie etc. is there), it would be great... Thanks once again
You can always message me on steemit.chat
Thanks @lukestokes :-)
A business trip! Was this one of your motivations why you created a witness?? Haha! Just kidding! I'm happy you're able to make it this time. It's sad that you weren't able to bring the family to make it a trip, but I'm happy that you're going to be able to physically interact with other Steemians. Have a great time! :D
cool
Thank you for your guidance and support.
Very interisting, and good luck bro
Greating from Indonesia for you.