Portugal

 Yes, I just hoped over to Portugal for the weekend. Its pretty crazy, I was excited to go to another country and see what it was like. Portugal was so much fun. It's definitely different from Spain, in good ways and in bad ways. The people were so nice and open, in Spain people mostly keep to themselves and can even be a little rude at times. I have grown accustomed to it not bothering me that no one will talk to us, but it was nice to go to a place where you feel welcome. At the same time though, no one would leave you alone. There were people who would sell either fake Armani sunglasses or drugs and once you made eye contact they would not give up. The men with the sunglasses would almost force them on your face saying how good they would look on you. We had to be a little firm to get them to finally go away. It is such a diverse place too, there was a ton of people from India and Africa. Way more diverse than Madrid. We actually ate really good Indian food at this authentic restaurant, we were on a streak of good food this trip, which usually never happens to us. We arrived at 3:30 to a nice sunny day. We explored the city, after checking into our hostel. Our hostel by the way was so nice, there were several lounges with big bean bags, computers with internet, clean showers and a big kitchen where everyone ate breakfast together in the morning. We met some really interesting people from all over the world. Some have been backpacking for months, I don't know how they do it. Walking around the city we found this elevator that you ride up above the skyline. The view was so pretty and we got some great pictures. The night we got some dinner and just played games in our room, it was nice to relax with everyone. The next day we got an a train to Sintra, a beautiful town where there are three famous castles. The train ride was so nice, we got to see so much of the country, its so green, we have not seen that many trees in a long time. Once there we took a bus up these huge hills and switchbacks until finally reaching Palace de Pena. This was not like all the other castles we have seen. It was amazing! It was so colorful and massive. It looked Arabian and we explored it for hours. The view from the top was so beautiful, pictures do not do it justice. The country really is gorgeous. We headed back to Lisbon and ate lunch at a little place where I had the best salad I have had in three months. Everything was so fresh and I was way more excited about it than anyone else would have been, but food for me that is good is hard to come by here. Everyone was legitimately happy that I enjoyed my food, everyone always feels so bad to eat pasta and bread while I watch. We sat by the water later that night by a bridge that was made after the Golden Gate bridge. We never did get to a beach but feeling the ocean air was nice enough. Our last day we tried to take a ferry out to a giant Christus statue on this island close to Lisbon, but somehow we got on the wrong boat, taking us past the statue to another city that was basically the ghetto. Extremely disappointed we got back on another ferry hoping it would take us back to where we came from. Being in Portugal made me appreciate what I know in Spanish. We literally understood nothing anyone was saying. I have never felt so out of it in my life. I know now that no matter how little Spanish I think I know, I know enough to make it through daily life and that is fine by me. Feeling like you can't even ask for directions is a stressful thing. Because of this we got into a lot of situations where we had to laugh to keep from being so angry that nothing was working out. We decided to go to a famous flea market about 20 minutes away, it was supposed to be really good. We had been waiting the whole weekend for this one flea market, hoping to find cool souvenirs to take home. This was a giant disappointment! Basically it was a huge garage sale, with the most random things possible being sold for barely anything. Old radios, keys, books, phones, silverware. Pretty much anything you could think of that you wouldn't want anymore. Some of it was interesting, but nothing worth buying. We did find one section that seemed to be new and not used, but what we though was going to be the most exciting thing to do ended up being just another funny memory. The trip was amazing, but it definitely had its moments that made me miss Spain. Over the past couple months I have grown used to the life here and seeing something else made me love it here that much more. Portugal was amazing, and I would love to have been able to explore more of the country. But just the fact that I got to go there and experience life there for a few days was unbelievable. Im so lucky that I get to be having all these adventures. I will be ready though in the next five weeks to go back home to the states and get into my old routine again. Traveling for this long is exhausting. At some point no matter how exciting any country is, you just realize that you love your home.  

                                                      Only new things at the flea market

                                             Bridge that was modeled after the Golden Gate

Lisbon coast

Mark and Jess feeding the birds

                                             The flea market

                                             Sintra
                                            The girls.... Lauren, Ali, Me and Jessie







                                                     Palace Pena
                                             The palace
                                                      The first big trees we have seen in months

                                             View of Lisbon

                                             Me, Mark, Jessie and Lauren the plaza


                                             The elevator that took us above the city
                                   The computer room in our hostel, really cool art everywhere
                                                       The Lisbon lounge