i promise i'm still in europe!!

so this is a little harder to keep up to date than i thought...but now i have plenty to say!

Last weekend I took a trip to Portugal! We had a bus at 6 am, so naturally we made sure we had zero sleep and were able to make it through the 7 hour bus trip without climbing the walls. As soon as we arrived in Portugal the scenery was beautiful. One of the first sightseeing trips we took was to a Cathedral (of course). The architecture had multiple influences, and it was, as most everything in Europe is, very picturesque.

We went to a famous bakery after the cathedral and ate pasteis. This is a pastry that is like fried dough with cream in the middle, a little chocolate on top, and cinnamon and sugar. Now I'm not one for pastries but WOW. It was SO good (and necessary, as this was my 6 pm breakfast). We were left to our own devices to get through Lisbon and find our way to our next meeting spot..

We somehow managed to get on a bus to the plaza (fare? what fare?); and there were a bunch of statues and it was right on the water. Right when you arrive in Lisbon there is a huge statue of the cross, and we were told there is an even larger one in Brazil. Anyways, it can be seen from very far away and looked majestic when lit up across the water.

For dinner I was determined to branch out and try new things. I ate green beans fried in egg, and potato soup. And it was good! It's a start anyways..There was also some live entertainment, which was awesome.

I have to admit it was a little frustrating at times. I'm at a point where I can understand (most) of what is being said to me, but I understand zero Portuguese. I felt like I was right back where I started on the first day of spanish class 6 years ago. This only proved to be a minor inconvenience though.

The second day in Lisbon we visited Cabo da Roca, the most western point in all of Europe. The coast was dazzling and looked like a postcard. I was definitely thinking of everyone at home at this spot, because I was the closest I will  be to everyone until May!!

We went to another city, Sintra, and (after some very steep hills) got on a bus to go visit a Castle. Now, the words I use to describe this bus ride will not do it justice. We were winding up a hill in the woods with HAIRPIN turns on a full sized bus! It took some serious maneuvering, skill, and luck to get up to the top; but once we did it was an unexpected scene. The castle we were looking at looked like it came out of a cartoon..literally! Apparently the creator (a King) hired a jewelry designer to help him build it. With an endless budget and apparently fully functional creative center, they went to work on this castle. There was every single type of architecture you can imagine. Gothic? Yep. Roman? Yep. Arabic? Yep. Neo-Classico-Moderno-something or other? You got it. I toured the inside and went through all the rooms of all the family, but nothing compared to the outside.

Funny story...while perusing some gift shops we bumped into a guy who spoke perfect English. Now when I say perfect, I mean there was nooo accent. He spoke it better than we did! We asked where he was born, raised, went to school, etc., and he said Portugal for all of the above. So how did he learn his English? By watching movies and playing video games. Now, none of us believe that Black Ops is now an educational tool, but it remains to be seen how this one person in a tiny little shop in Sintra somehow managed to speak with such an americanized tongue.

There were a few places to go at night, and Lisbon seems to be an earlier city than Madrid. Most of the bars were located in a spot called Barrio Alto, which was closed by 2 or 3 more or less. The clubs were along the water at a spot called Dockish (which I'm SURE I'm spelling wrong, but that is the phonetic spelling). At the beginning of this mini boardwalk there was a huge pool in the shape of Portugal, it was really funky.

On our final day we traveled to another sightseeing castle (which was definitely more about the sights than the castle). From the top you could see all of Lisbon. In the area there were also tons of peacocks, which was very random.

Everyone was very reluctant to get on a bus and go back to Madrid. We love Portugal!! The bus ride home was a little shaky, felt something like a three hour tour (except it was more like 9, serenity now).

So this weekend I have a friend from Springfield who is studying outside of Madrid staying with me. We're going to tour the city and whatnot. It is definitely nice to see a familiar face.

Next weekend is AMSTERDAM! Stay tuned =)