I'm Here!

Well, I made it! My flights went very smoothly and I was lucky enough to have 2 seats to myself on the leg from Newark to Portugal. I was able to sleep a decent amount (I slept through breakfast!) and I was pretty groggy when I got in. My bag was there waiting for me (yay!) and I found the bus into the city without a problem. First thing that I learned about Lisbon is that it is very hilly! Apparently it's known as the city of seven hills...who would have known. My hostel is very nice. I was able to leave my bag here this morning since I arrived too early to check in. They even let me have some breakfast and freshen up before I headed off again.

I was able to pretty much accomplish my goal of touring Lisbon in one day, which is good because that's all I have. I was well prepared to conquer this adventure with lots of pages copied out of guide books and a few good maps and advice from friends. First, I explored the shopping district which has one main pedestrian street which leads down to a big square by the water. I endulged for a bit and tried an ever so talked about pastry, which was very good. Next, I took a hike up to the cathedral (12th century) and then up even farther to a castle that was begun in the 11th century. There were great views of the river and the entire city from such a high hieght. Thank goodness there was a waterfountain at the bottom of this hill, because I guzzled the contents of my water bottle on the way up.



Next, I was off to a kind of suburb (15 min on the tram) called Belem which has a huge monestary. It was gorgeous and very intricate on the outside. Then I and some French people I found figured out how to cross the highway to make it to the monuments on the waterfront. This was my favorite part of the whole day. So Portugal, and especially Lisbon as far as I can tell is very obsessed/proud of their exploratory ancestors. There is a very cool monument celebrating the 400th year of some exploration (probably Vasco de Gama, but I'm not sure). It is an enormous statue of a wave with people on the side that look like they're on the front of a boat. From the back it looks like a sword in a cross. I don't think I'm describing how huge it is well enough. Well, I'll show you pictures later I guess. There was also an old tower that is just on the water that I climbed and had some good views as well. Lastly after some lunch, I went out to the other side of town and saw a basillica from 1789 and a beautiful gardin from about the same time. That was a nice way to slow down my day. Now I'm back at the hostel, where they serve home made Portguese dinner for 5 euros every night, which I'll be participating in.

Hopefully I'll get a great night's sleep tonight and then it's off to Sevilla tomorrow!

Miss you all!
Steph