Travelling to Lisbon

Travelling to Lisbon How Can You Travel to or Move to the Portuguese Capital? Here’s How! ChaptersWhen Is the Ideal Time to Visit Lisbon?How Long Should You Go to Lisbon For?Where Should You Stay in Lisbon?The Best Neighbourhoods in Lisbon“We travel to change not of place, but ideas.” - Hippolyte TaineHave you always dreamt of travelling to Portugal?If you’ve already got your tickets, you can move onto the next steps: planning your time in Lisbon, holiday rentals, hiring a car, budgeting for accommodation, and where to stay in Lisbon.Portugal is one of the most popular European holiday destinations. Even though tourism only accounts for 7% of GDP, it’s responsible for 25% of the jobs created in 2016, which has been helping Portugal get back on its feet since the recession.  11.7 million tourists, up 12.7% on 2015, visited Portugal in 2016.Are you going to visit Lisbon?Here’s our mini guide on visiting the Portuguese capital. IrineuPortuguese Teacher £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors GabrielaPortuguese Teacher 5.00 (2) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JoanaPortuguese Teacher 5.00 (1) £12/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LouisePortuguese Teacher 5.00 (2) £27/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RodrigoPortuguese Teacher £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors BlancaPortuguese Teacher £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors CarolinaPortuguese Teacher 5.00 (5) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamPortuguese Teacher 5.00 (6) £11/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsWhen Is the Ideal Time to Visit Lisbon?Most guides are pretty unanimous that the best time to visit Portugal is in the summer when it’s hot and dry, with average temperatures of 21.4 in May, 24.8 in June, and 27.5 in July and August.You can visit Lisbon in winter when there are fewer tourists. (Source: Free-Photos)Summer is also the most touristy time and the prices peak around the summer solstice.Between May and September, there are only between 3 and 40 millimetres of rainfall. This means it’s great for vi siting the old neighbourhoods of Alfama, Belem, Bairro Alto.So when should you visit Lisbon?The weather in Lisbon is pretty good throughout the whole year.There’s more rainfall in winter, with between 92 and 106mm per month between November and February, but the temperature remains nice thanks to a Mediterranean climate that’s tempered by the Atlantic Ocean.And if it rains, you can always visit the museums. There’s the National Museum of the Azulejo, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, the Chiado Museum, the Museum of Fado, the Jerónimos Monastery, etc.With a good amount of sunshine throughout the year, you should consider taking a stroll around the historic city centre and trying the pasteis de nata pastries.You can enjoy Lisbon throughout the whole year and we recommend going in winter if you’re on a tight budget.Get a Lisboa Card, a pass that’s valid for 24, 48, or 72 hours, for €20, €34, or €42. This will allow you to visit a number of museums, use public transport, and generally get the most out of your trip to Lisbon without waiting in lines for tourist attractions or buying plenty of bus, metro, or tram tickets.Lisbon is home to a number of large hills and some great views. There are 16 viewpoints, or “miradouros”, in the city and they’ll offer you a fantastic view of the Tage estuary and the 25 de Abril Bridge.Some of the most popular include: the Miradouro Santa Luzia, the Miradouro da Graça, the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, and the Miradouro do Parque Eduardo VII.Are you looking for a cheap flight to Lisbon?Check out cheap flights on Skyscanner!  Keep an eye out for the cultural events going on in Lisbon. In April, the city welcomes the Estoril Open, which causes an increase in the price of accommodation.The Festivities of Lisbon (June), the popular saints days, Saint Anthony of Padua (13 June), the Lisbon Tango Festival (end of May/start of June), the Feast of São Jõao (23 June) will all see the price of accommodation in the city rise.How Long Should You Go to Lisbon For?Lisbon is mainland Europe’s most western capitals and you can get there in just over a couple of hours from the UK.The Baixa neighbourhood is definitely worth a visit! (Source: larahcv)Generally, your work schedule will probably dictate how long you can go for.  Typical workers in the UK are entitled to 28 days of paid annual leave per year.  Students, job seekers, freelancers, or retirees can obviously go for longer.There are plenty of trips you can take around Portugal, too! With Porto, the Douro Valley, Alentejo, and the Algarve all worth a visit, you’ll need to think about what you want to do, where you want to go, and what your budget and holiday allowance will allow you to do.So how long should you visit Lisbon for?Five days would be enough to visit the essentials:Castelo São JorgeThe Alfama, Baixa, Bairro Alto, Chiado, Belem, and Ajuda neighbourhoodsThe streets of the Line 28 tram (Lisbon’s famous yellow trams)Praà §a do Comércio (Commerce Square)Lisbon CathedralRua Augusta ArchConvento da Ordem do Carmo (Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel)MuseumsParc Eduardo VIIAmoreiras 360 ° Panoramic ViewLisbon Botanic GardensThe Tower of BelémPadrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument of the Discoveries)The Santa Justa LiftAnd this list is far from exhaustive!If you want to visit other attractions in Portugal, get out of the city, and explore the surrounding areas, you might want to consider staying longer in Portugal, perhaps between 15 and 20 days.Are you looking for work in the UK? Why not use this time to go to Lisbon to learn how to speak Portuguese?Where Should You Stay in Lisbon?Here we are! The obvious question. When it comes to accommodation, you need to think about the best neighbourhoods, hotels on a budget, renting a holiday flat, etc.The Bairro Alto can be noisy at night, but if you want to party, this is the place to be. (Source: 2109DSGN)While the cost of living in Lisbon is quite low, accommo dation can be quite expensive.  So even though you can get cheap return flights to and from Lisbon, accommodation might take a big chunk out of your budget.So where should you stay in Lisbon?For short stays, you can probably look to Airbnb, Booking.com, Hotels.com, etc. If you’re staying for longer, you might want to consider renting an apartment in the city centre. However, prices can reach up to €1,500 per month! Check out sites like Sapo, OLX, and Idealista.You need to remember that landlords will make the most of tourists renting and adjust their prices accordingly. You can’t avoid supply and demand.Airbnb is often a great way to get holiday accommodation like flats and houses in great locations in the city.Lisbon city centre is arguably the best place to stay in. The Alfama, Baixa, Chiado, Bairro Alto neighbourhoods are all good but will be more expensive.Just make sure you don’t book at the last minute.  On Airbnb, you can find more luxurious options for a little more. Use the map features on these websites to browse where you can stay. You could even go to Lisbon for a stag-do or a road-trip, for example!You could pay anywhere between €50 and €150 per night depending on the season.  On Booking.com, you’ll find the best hotels all cost over €100 per night in the historic city centre.If you’re on a budget, there are always youth hostels. You can get a bed in a dormitory for around €25 for two.The Best Neighbourhoods in LisbonWhich are the best neighbourhoods in Lisbon?There are four neighbourhoods in the city centre and two on the periphery that we should mention: Baixa, Chiado, Bairro Alto, Alfama, Belém, and Ajuda.The Alfama is one of the oldest and prettiest neighbourhoods in Lisbon. (Source: Skitterphoto)The Alfama neighbourhood is one of the most picturesque with its coloured buildings, narrow streets, bars and restaurants serving traditional dishes, and its small-town vibe.Between 50,000 and 70,000 people died in an earthquake in Alfama in 1755. Despite this, the Castelo de São Jorge, one of the neighbourhoods most popular attractions, remained standing. This has left the area with a mix of modern and historic Moorish architecture.Do you think that some of the buildings in Alfama look a bit dilapidated?This is part of the area’s history. Under the Moorish rule in Portugal, the interiors of buildings were far more important than their exteriors as it would be considered superficial.You can also visit the Baixa neighbourhood, the city’s beating commercial and touristy heart.  Here you’ll find the Praça do Comércio and the Rua Augusta Arch. Accommodation might be quite dear here.If you take the stairs or the funicular railway, you’ll arrive at Bairro Alto and Chiado, two complementary areas.  The first is famous for its nightlife (it’s calm during the day) and the other for being busy during the day. Full of bars and shops and a young population, the beer and wine flow readily here.Not a fan of be ing in the city centre?Head along to Belém, with the Tower of Belém, the Jerónimos Monastery, and the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument of Discoveries).A 90-minute walk from the city centre, Belém offers another experience of Lisbon with its popular residential areas, particularly on the Ajuda side, and a fantastic view of the 25 de Abril Bridge!

How to Calculate your Metabolic Rate

How to Calculate your Metabolic Rate A Personal Trainer Talks about Daily Calorific Intake and Base Rate of Metabolism ChaptersWhat is Base Metabolic Rate, Anyway?Causes of Slow Metabolic RateWhat to do About a Slow MetabolismVariations on BMR CalculationsBuilding a Health and Fitness PlanCalories and Special PopulationsThe human body is a sophisticated organism that, even today, with all modern diagnostic and imaging capability that permits real-time viewing of functional organs, still holds us enthralled.Imagine how the physiologists of yesteryear would feel if resurrected for just one day, to view human anatomy through modern technology?In their day, a body at rest was considered the same way as a body at work.No one considered the energy expenditures of the body supine: indeed, the most learned of physicians may well have proclaimed that no calories were being burned at all.That is, if they knew about calories, let alone how the body uses them.Even at rest, our bodies need energy to keep fundamental systems going.In fact, this inconspicuous calorie consumption comprises up to 70% of our daily ene rgy use.By contrast, physical activity lays claim to only 20% of our energy stores, with the remaining 10% attributed to our digestive system.Knowing one's base metabolic rate â€" or BMR is indispensable: it permits a more or less exact calculation of how many calories our bodies need just to survive.For athletes who wish to lose weight, or by contrast: want to gain muscle mass, knowing one's BMR is vital.Let us now learn more about our bodies, our metabolism, and what we can do to become the best and fittest version of ourselves.balanced meal versus empty calories, is crucial.Keeping one's body mass stable and eating as much of anything you want must be most everyone's gustatory dream!Confess: do your workmates talk about juicing and detoxing while looking over selections on the light menu at lunch?Aren't they the very same ones that you know brunch expansively after a pious Sunday morning, in the pews or at the pool.And there you are, feeling like you are packing on the pounds, no matter how skinny your meal selections are.Maintaining your current weight, and even losing any pounds, is not commensurate with how many desserts and sweets you turn away from.In fact,  food fads  and Draconian deprivation diets will go further to undermine your weight loss efforts than to facilitate them.Likewise: cutting out meals will have the undesired effect of putting your body into starvation mode, effectively slowing  down your metabolism.A slow metabolism = fewer calories burned = more body fatSkipping meals will virtually guarantee that you will not lose the weight you want in the time frame that you target.Could a health fitness professional set you on the right track, metabolically speaking?We can assure you that eating right, coupled with any sports program will indeed help boost your energy levels and assist in your weight loss efforts, but why take our word for it?If you would calculate your own BMR, you could track your success by yourself!There is quite possibly a medical reason why you are feeling like a lump on a log Source: Pixabay Credit: Chado NihiCauses of Slow Metabolic RateYou eat right, take the stairs to get to your office and take the dog on long walks at night.You snack sensibly, avoid fizzy drinks and birthdays are so great because that is the only time you ever eat cake.In short, you are a nutrition and fitness specialist's gold standard.You don't feel ideal, though. You feel tired and heavy, and stepping on the scale reveals that you are in fact gaining, rather than maintaining your weight.After taking variables such as age and gender into consideration, you would almost have to conclude that you are the victim of a slow metabolism.This condition can be brought on by any of these factors, or a combination  of them:too much cortisol, brought on by chronic stressCushing's Disease can also overstimulate adrenal glands, producing excess cortisol.Too much insulinhere too, stress can play a role in producing undesired levelsa thyro id imbalancelow estrogen / testosteronepoor body compositiona high ratio of fat to musclenatural agingAnd, of course, the aforementioned starvation diets â€" the only factor contributing to your metabolic rate that you truly have control over.online BMR calculator.Once you know your specific BMR, things get really simple...Building a Health and Fitness PlanLet's see where you are in your fitness career:been to see the doctoreliminated any serious health concerns (or are under treatment for them)taken a physical assessment testCalculated your base metabolic rateNow what?The next step really depends on what your fitness goals are.Weight Maintenance and Muscle Toning1. To keep your current weight and tone your body overall, a fitness business expert would recommend resistance training.Using bands, weights â€" dumbbells, barbells or kettlebells; assorted gym equipment and gravity, your fitness instructor would prescribe a routine that would help build muscular endurance while reinforcin g connective tissues and joints.2. If you want  to become a bodybuilder, strength training is the regimen for you.Rowers, ellipticals and pull up bars â€" you will find it easy to bulk up with this type of regimen.Your training program could include isometrics,  interval training or crossfit.3. Proper nutrition â€" fuel is important at any phase of sports conditioning.  and should be targeted to your desired results.To that end, consulting with a registered dietitian or fitness nutrition specialist is always advisable.Your personal  trainer most likely works with such an expert â€" or has undergone certification programs himself, so that s/he is qualified to counsel you on food choices.Don't reward yourself with food after a workout! Source: Pixabay Credit: Ryan McGuireCalories and Special PopulationsOne third of all UK  children, and a quarter of the overall population are obese.Nationally,  a whopping three-quarters of Britons are overweight!Of those, we find that seniors, the eco nomically disadvantaged and the disabled are the most likely to struggle with obesity.In spite of programs targeted to senior fitness and even sports events exclusively for disabled athletes, Britons of every stripe  continue live in the shadow of this health threat.And if our children continue on this path, we can only expect that shadow to grow.Youth fitness programs and group exercise classes might not be the only solution.Of course, personal fitness training is paramount, but perhaps we should instruct our young on practical skills with regard to diet and nutrition.Food gardening is an excellent way to get kids involved in nutrition: planting and caring for food stocks can forge a mind body connextion that could revolutionise they way they think about eating.And it is a great way to get them up and moving: off the sofa and away from the gaming console, too!As long as they are out of doors, how about squeezing some functional training in?This type of physical exercise program  pr ovides an individualized focus on meaningful tasks, such as walking, climbing stairs and carrying (book bags, groceries and the like).Functional training builds the muscles that support the body's core, otherwise known as the torso.Motivating your child (or parent) to get moving can be difficult, but you should never offer food as an incentive to working out!The goal of functional training is to build strength and flexibility, and to move on to the next level of health and wellness.Don't defeat all of that hard work by rewarding the least bit of effort with a treat!Once your little trainer (or senior trainer!) is motivated and ready to take the next step, place accountability for his caloric intake back on him.It is at that point that you should share knowledge of how poor food choices affect one's body and well-being.A fitness and nutrition education will serve your child, parent and you better than any amount of exercise science or interval training  ever could.As long as you know about calories, how they are used and how many you need, you could help others get fit.We're talking about the work mates who drizzle dressing on their salads at lunch, naturally.