There aren't many rainbow flags waving around Lisbon's seven hills, and you must ring a bell to enter most late-night gay bars due to their quiet residential neighborhood location. While this picture may take you back into the so-last-century days of the closet, you should not be fooled by that -- Lisbon is very gay.

Yes, Lisbon is the capital of a country with a strong Catholic culture that lived under a homophobic dictatorship for decades, but the city has become more open, colorful, and quite gay in the last decade. Many gay Portuguese men are still married-with-children, straight men seem way too obsessed with affirming their masculinity with macho speech and attitudes, while others maintain ambiguous Batman-and-Robin relationships, but let's just come out and say it -- Lisbon is one of Europe's most attractive gay destinations.