PORTUGAL!!!!!!

Hey Everyone!

So here is my Portugal update!

Day 1 - A whole lot of travel involved! I was in the train station by 11:30am but with all the time delays from the trains due to the 'severe' weather, I didn't end up getting a train out of Stirling until 12:45pm! While I was on the train and the bus to the airport, I met a guy from Rome and he was giving me a lot of pointers on how to see the city when I am there which was really nice! Made it to the airport in time to discover that my flight was delayed 2.5 hours. We finally boarded the plane at 6:50 (when we were supposed to depart) and then sat in there at the terminal for another 1.75 hours until we finally took off at 8:36! (Yes, I watched the time carefully!) At the airport, there were two guys waiting for me when there was only supposed to be one (long story short the other company is scummy) and my shuttle guy took me to the hotel only after he drove me around downtown to show me the train station. The woman at the reception desk was very sweet and I was able to access internet. My room was awesome! I had a very comfortable double bed with amazing pillows, a full bathroom, a neat TV and my own balcony that overlooked a portion of the city!

Day 2 - I started the morning off with continental breakfast from the hotel and I think I ate enough to feed a small army! I then went on a walk to explore the city of Faro and started off near the marina. The water looked beautiful and it was a very warm day. I strolled around the market plaza which had blue carpet lining all of the shopping streets so I didn't get lost! The town has a bit of poverty but all of the shops were very high end. There was a man playing the accordion in the street which was really neat! I had to purchase a pair of sunglasses because it was so bright thaqt I couldn't see. I hopped on the train at 1:20 to take the trip into Lisbon. The Portuguese country side isn't too fancy - I saw a lot of vegetation and a lot more poverty. Rolling hills and tiny streets are everywhere! I made it into Lisbon at 5:05pm and was so overwhelmed with how huge the Oriente station was that I decided to just take a taxi to the hostel. The driver got me there pretty quickly and safely so I was pleased! The person running the hostel (Guillereme, the French version of William) is very friendly and he gave me a tour and I met some of his friends and my roommate. I have an amazing balcony out of the room of this hostel so that was really nice to wake up to! I followed the map Guillerme gave me and went to a local little shop and had a delicious and cheap steak dinner! When I got back, Frederick, Guillerme and I sat around and chatted for a while. I went to bed early since I was pretty exhausted and wanted to do a lot today!

Day 3 - I woke up and had a filling breakfast in the hostel. After breakfast, I headed out with Frederick and we went to a cathedral. After seeing Notre Dame, this one was not impressive but it was still nice. After the cathedral, we continued down the hill and checked out some shops and ended up in one of the main plazas. This +articular plaza used to be called the kings palace because that used to be the site of the royal gardens but when the earthquake and the tsunami hit in 1755, it was destroyed so they rebuilt and renamed it. It started to rain a bit so we headed back to the hostel to grab another coat then went back downtown. We took a tram into the city and that was quite an experience! It was absolutely packed and the ride is the farthest thing from smooth possible but it was so much fun! A fight broke out so the driver made the guys get off but we carried on! Frederick and I stopped to have some food and coffee at one of the famous cafes in the city and then we went to meet for our guided tour organized by the hostel. This is where we met the group o 7 or so Spanish men that are staying here with us. The tour was given by a woman named Ana who is an archeologist and likes to do these kinds of things for fun. It lasted 3 hours long and was incredibly historic and took us to a lot of unknown sites throughout Lisbon. I tried to get to a computer fast enough to write down all she told us before I forgot but that didn't happen! Part of the tour covered the oldest monastery in Lisbon that they decided to build around after the tsunami/earthquake knocked it over. There is a very strong Muslim influence here in Lisbon and there was a wall all around that city that still exists in some parts.
After the tour was over, Ana took us to ti a shop to get a shot of gin
jinh. This is a very Portuguese liquor that is very strong and has been soaked in cherries for a very long time. It's sweet at first and then it hits you! After the tour, we went to a little restaurant where they have Fado. Fado is a very traditional Portuguese style of music with a Portuguese guitar, as well as normal ones, and a singer. Songs are usually about something that is lost (like love) or can be about the town and can be sad or hilarious. The style of Fado we went to was kind of like an open mic night and it was great! I have some videos that I will put up as soon as I get back to my laptop! Tonight, Ana made dinner for those of us in the hostel. We had some pork mixed with clams, salad, potatoes and onions. Yes, I tried the clam. No, I did not like it. But the point is, I tried! All the seafood I have had so far is just too seafoody...I don't like it. THe hostel got pretty full last night because the Spanish folk are all on holiday since next week they have Monday and Wednesday off. The people I had dinner with were Frederick, Ana,
Guillerme and 10 guys from Spain. They are hilarious though!! Definitely exhausting. Their English is comical and they wanted to tell us jokes but they needed to have the other Spanish people translate them first! On the way home to dinner tonight, I asked the lady for Portuguese sweet bread (in Portuguese) and I purchased some for 1 Euro...it was not Portuguese sweet bread. I haven't found it anywhere but I will keep looking!

Tonight, a bunch of us are going out to do a pub crawl. Tomorrow morning, I will have to take the metro to the HUGE train station then get a train into Porto. From there, I will check out the town and then head on another metro to the airport and get ready to fly to Barcelona! Can't wait!

I hope that everyone is having a great time back at home and you are all decorating for Christmas! I keep forgetting that is coming up because I don't have a tree =[ I will update you next when I am in España!!

Love you all tons and am sending you hugs and smiles from Portugal!!


***I will put up all the pictures and videos I have when I get back home!***