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Hi all!

I was planning to visit "Duestos da Sé" restaurant this Saturday, but I was advised to stay away from the Lisbon center because there were +120.000 spanish tourists that invaded the city and all the main bars and restaurants. It was impossible to use the regular transport facilities and the traffic was chaotic... It's great to have a final UEFA match in Lisbon, but...........

Therefore, our meeting to discuss the last details was postponed to another day. But, do not stress because everything is booked, and I'm sure we'll have a great time. I look forward to meeting you all in person!

Meanwhile, here it is another website about Lisbon. For those who doesn't want to stay all the afternoon with the pianists (family or friends), check for the Alfama neighborhood because it's perfect for a short walk, and "Duetos da Sé" it's inside Alfama.

LisbonLux: http://www.lisbonlux.com/

Alfama: http://www.lisbonlux.com/lisbon/alfama.html
Duetos da Sé: http://www.lisbonlux.com/lisbon-cafes/duetos-da-se.html


As usual, if you have any update or question regarding with Lisbon or EPP, please ask me.

I just forgot to mention this option to travel inside Lisbon. It also includes free admission to top local attractions.

"Explore Lisbon with ease and sightsee at leisure with the Lisbon City Card, offering discounts across the city with your choice of a 24-, 48- or 72-hour pass(...)"

Check it out:
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/8946/tours/Lisbon/Lisbon-City-Card/d0-3688LISBONCARD?SUBPUID=

Woohoo, I just booked my flight.

Chris that's great! Now you are set! Yippee!

Carlos that's great information.
For those who aren't sure what they want to see and how much it costs here is a comparison page:
http://www.thelisbonlife.com/saving-money-with-discount-tour-cards-in-lisbon/

I'm trying to find time to make a suggested itinerary, with the costs to evaluate if , for what we are interested in , the Lisbon card is worth getting.

Carlos - is there still the option to get the 7 collinas card for 3 days at a cost of 10.50? I couldn't find confirmation for that. It seems to me that now they have a day pass for 6 euros.

http://www.carris.pt/en/base-fees/

That website of LisbonLux is great, Carlos. Nice overview of all museums. What a heritage Lisbon has. Didn't know there was so much to see.

Chris, that's great! And yes, Lisbon is a lovely city and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Now, we only have to wait for Ganddalf and Nikolas. And for Wouter D'hoye, too.

About the tickets:
In the Carris site I found this information (in english): http://www.carris.pt/en/support-cards/
and this PDF - "Find the right ticket":
http://www.carris.pt/fotos/editor2/desdobravel_ocasionais_uk_fev_2014.pdf

But, as the information is not too clear - at least for me... - I will call Carris services to get some support regarding with the best option for you.

During your researches/plans keep in mind that:
- CARRIS is the BUS and TRAM company (www.carris.pt): to travel inside Lisbon (including hills zone)
- METRO is the SUBWAY company (www.metro.pt): to travel inside Lisbon (excluding hills zone)
- CP is the TRAIN company (www.cp.pt): to travel to Cascais, Sintra (suburbane lines), or to other regions in Portugal (north, Algarve, ...)
- TRANSTEJO is the BOAT company. (www.transtejo.pt): to cross the Tejo River; access to beaches.

I recommend this site (transpolis) where you can get an idea of the transportation inside Lisbon, and do some route calculations:
http://www.transporlis.sapo.pt/Default.aspx?tabid=36&language=en-GB


And now, here is the updated list of participants.



Wow, I'm becoming a real expert about Lisbon! LOL
CarlosCC

Hi EPP members!
I'm doing an update to the list, because my friend HBejinha, won't come to our Piano Party... He tried to organize his vacations to be in Lisbon on day 5 July, but this will not be possible.

So, we have 10 pianists, and 8 guests.

As you know the minimum number of persons to rent the restaurant is 20. Don't worry, I'm figuring out what to do...
Nikolas and Ganddalf: have you booked your flight?
Wouter D'hoye: are you with us?




And what about our program? Any update????


As usual, if you need any help about your trip to Lisbon, just ask me!
Regards,
Carlos

uh oh what happens if you don't manage 20?

LOL good question!:)
You will see, and understand, the typical way how Portuguese people solve "problems". Have you ever heard the word: "Desenrascanço"?
link: Portuguese word: Desenrascanço

Don't worry

And, why not? Once you're going to visit my country, here is a link about Portuguese people (Wikipedia).
Enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_people

Hahahaha, good luck

I'm reading a big book now, but next in the list a have Saramago's "Viagem a Portugal", of course translated into Italian.
Just to enter in the right mindset...

Saramago won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998. His writing is not very easy to understand, but I recognize that he is very imaginative and unique. Good choice!

Well, I asked Nikolas about the EPP, and he replayed me saying that he won't come to our party this year. He's very sorry and he expect to be present next year.

So, here it is the updated list.


About the number "20":
I have some friends that may want to join us. They are/were amateur pianists too, so I'm sure they are within the spirit of our EPP. That means, I'm going to start doing some contacts soon, so we can reach the number of 20 (or more) persons. I'm not saying that we'll have more "pianists" with us - unless my friends want to play, which I doubt -, but, at least, we'll have some guests that can appreciate our show - I believe they still know the meaning of a "broken chord" -.

I've read several of his works in the past, not an easy reading but really worthwhile!

2 months to go! Carlos, I'm sure it is all going to work out just fine - thanks for going the extra mile to get the numbers up to help keep us in the "budget"

I have to get back to practicing my Portuguese!!!

Sorry to hear of Nikolas of course. Sounds fun inviting friends, Carlos. Everything will be fine.

Actually it is just a little over 1 month to go, casinitaly. I just bought a new suitcase today ... I'm pumped.

We will have in fact a bit more time between us each and a have a very nice number amongst us now. I was wondering about the format. But, maybe preliminary (I can wait) until working out more pressing matters.

Greener, you're right... I don't know where my brain was last night!

Carlos, if you have friends who are keen to share a piano event with us, that would be lovely!

As for the program, I don't know if anyone has a specific plan in mind...apart from the fact that we'll have lunch, then play piano.
...hey, who knows, maybe some will play piano DURING lunch.

(actually I was thiking that maybe over the lunchtime could be a good time to "test" the piano and get a feel for it - and maybe to practice playing the duets together in person.....)

When we had the party in Brussels, the bravest person played first : that was SwissMS who played before we went to lunch.

After lunch we played one piece each, in no specific order, except that the most experienced player ..by a LONG stretch! (PatH) waited until all of us had played before he sat down to play.

After that we played randomly and spontaneously.... a bit of improvisation (very little ) and even some singing in rounds.
We were at Saranoya's apartment and at the time she had no neighbours around so we played pretty much non-stop from about 2pm to 7pm.

Before hand, none of us had said which pieces we were going to play. The inclusion of a list of planned pieces in this thread is new, and certainly not written in stone.

Everyone brought a certain amount of music (those travelling by train brought a lot of books!) -- I suspect there will be less of that this time around as most of us are flying in and baggage weight restrictions are pretty tight.

Apart from planned pieces, I'll bring a book of simple jazz/blues duets and some others that I've had around for a while, and probably one of my books of classic pieces, maybe a few smaller ones.

So I'm not saying that what we did in Brussels makes the program written in stone, but what seemed to be important to everyone was that a) the order wasn't written down, you could play when your gut and emotions said you were ready and b) the more experienced folks played after the less experienced.

I wish I could come people! It would've been great to meet you all in person, but alas... some times life gives us lemonade and... well... we can't make lemons out of it really! Wish it was the other way around!

Since the Tchaikovsky Impromptu, I have not learned new solo piano pieces. So I'm planning to polish it a bit and perform it in Lisbon. But it's a physically demanding piece, and I've already noticed that not playing it for a few weeks has considerably worsened my rendition of it. So right now I'd say: The odds are 80% that I will play the Tchaikovsky Impromptu op.1/2 in Lisbon.

Whether I play other pieces will depend on how much music everybody is going to play.