Last weekend a group of 15 of us went to Lisbon (Lisboa), Portugal. This city wasn't high on my list of places I want to see while I'm in Europe, but I loved it! The city was one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. There were so many different types of architecture. There was a castle, churches from the 1400s, some buildings had tile siding and others were painted different colors. There was so much to see; 3 days was not enough time!

Our hostel was really nice. It was called Yes!. It was very clean and they provided a free breakfast which made it easy to meet the other travelers. We talked to people from all over the world who were just chilling in Lisbon for the week (who does that?). Leaving the city was kind of sad, but saying that we were going home to Spain (not Iowa) made it ok.

Our hostel took us on a walking tour of the city the morning we got there. This way we got to learn about the history of the city and what things we could do that weekend. We did a lot in those 3 days. We went to a flee market, ate natas (a Portugese pastry that has a flaky crust and a custard-like filling) at two famous cafes, watched the sunset from the top of an apartment building, saw the ocean, went to a Portugese mass, toured a castle and other monuments and celebrated the birthdays of two girls in our group among other things.

In the middle of the city is a monastery. The roof fell off in an earthquake in the 1400s, but they left the building and turned it into a museum so the people there would always remember what happened. The city is shaped like a bowl (making basically everything uphill from everything else) so we could see that building most of the time no matter where we were. This made me appreciate how much history the city has.

I still can't believe this is my life. I have been here a few weeks already, but I still feel like at any moment my vacation will be over and I'm going to have to pack up my bags and leave.