My trip to Lisbon has made its way to the top of my list of favorite places that I have had the opportunity to visit. From the people to the city itself, Lisbon is definitely one of the hidden treasures of Europe.

Thursday afternoon, the group of ten of us made our way towards Portugal via bus. We stopped in Badajoz and from there switched buses to take a three and half hour trip to Lisbon. It was so nice to be able to go somewhere so different from Spain that is also so close! We all really appreciated the fact that we only had to take one bus and one metro to get to our final destination-a nice change from metros to airplanes to more busses and more metros.

We got into Lisbon around 8:00 and went to find our hostel. The hostel we stayed at was in a really cool part of the city; very eclectic and artsy. It had been one of the three neighborhoods that survived the massive earthquake in the 1700's that claimed over 2/3 of the cities population. Our rooms were situated together nicely and we were lucky enough to have two computers with free Internet access right outside of our doors. Hostels are always a little hit or miss and each have their own pros and cons, but this hostel had the basics that we always check for: clean beds, clean bathrooms, and no creepy people sleeping in the bunks around you. After getting all settled into our rooms, we decided to venture out around the city to see what was all around us. There was a cool plaza nearby and an elevator that we believe was made to take cars up to the top of the city to connect to some of the bridges that are built above the buildings. After walking around for a while, we stopped by a pastry shop to get a dessert that had been recommended to us and is known for being a Portuguese dessert. It was a simple pastry cup with a heavy cream/gelatin in the middle. Although it was nothing fancy, it was quite tasty and a nice beginning to our samplings of traditional foods in Portugal. We spent the rest of the night planning for our weekend ahead and getting a good nights sleep.

Friday morning we all got up fairly early and began to get ready for the day. We had all decided the night before that we would venture towards the beach so we could take advantage of the great weather Lisbon was having. We took a 20-minute train down the coast a ways to a small city with a great stretch of beach. Although Lisbon is very close to the water, the Atlantic Ocean doesn't really start to have good beaches until you get a little ways outside of the city. It was an easy ride and the train drops you off footsteps from the sand. The beach was a lot better than I was expecting. The sand was super soft and the water was beautiful. There was also an old castle on the side of the beach that overlooked the coastline. The water was too cold for me to swim in, but a few of our friends went in for a dip. I was surprised to see how large the waves were as well. After laying out and taking lots of pictures, we wandered down the beach to find a restaurant to enjoy a nice seafood lunch. Portugal is known for having some great seafood so we all decided it was necessary that we give it a try. We found a nice little place that was right off the beach and was outside so we could enjoy our meal while overlooking the water. I got a seafood salad that had fresh crab and shrimp. The food was wonderful and the addition of lots of sunshine and good company made the day even better. After finishing up, we headed back to Lisbon to do a little sightseeing. We got all changed back at the hostel and went out to look for one of the old cathedrals that was the oldest building in Lisbon. We hiked across town and finally found the Sé Cathedral after hunting down many alleys. The cathedral was really beautiful on the inside but is very well hidden amongst all of the buildings in the city. After the cathedral, we went to go look for the castle that also survived parts of the earthquake. The Castle of San Jorge is at the top of one of the mountains over looking the city and has a great view of both the city and the water. We spent a lot of time taking pictures at one of the outlooks as well as seeing the old parts of the castle. It was nice to be able to get a look over the city to see how unique it really is. When looking over the city, you have a great view of one of the largest bridges in Lisbon. It is made by the same man who made the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and is very similar in its style. This is part of the reason that I think Lisbon is almost like Europe's own San Francisco. Not only is there a bridge almost identical to the bridge in California, but there are also old street trolleys that run through the streets of the city just like in San Francisco. Lisbon is definitely one of the most unique cities that I have visited.

After the castle, we went as a group to get some dinner. We had been looking for a place to get some good pasta, and were pointed in the direction of a place by a man on the street. We made our way to one of the side alleys that has endless outdoor/indoor restaurants. It was probably the best decision we made as far as restaurants go. The place had such a huge selection of pastas, pizzas and other Italian specialties that we all had a hard time choosing one single item. Not only was the food good, but cheap as well. Danielle and I split two pastas so we could try as much as we could, and we both wanted more as soon as we were done. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time at the restaurant enjoying some good food and some well needed time off our feet. We didn't get back to the hostel until late, so after we got back home we all decided to take it easy and get some sleep for Saturday.

Saturday morning we grabbed some breakfast at the hostel and headed out to do some more sightseeing in the city. We wanted to check out another part of Lisbon called Belem, which was about a 15-minute tram ride. We all hopped onto the crowded Tram and got off at a stop right by the water. Our first stop was one of the Lisbon's first towers that over looks the water. We got a little confused between one tower and the actual Belem tower, but we got to check out both so that was cool. The first tower was one that was built fairly recently, while the other was from hundreds of years ago. Both towers overlook the Tajo River which connects up to the Atlantic River right outside of Lisbon. The Belem tower is the tower that all the men who sailed from Lisbon saw as soon as they got to Lisbon and was the last thing they saw as they departed from the port. Both towers were cool and had nice views overlooking the water. After the towers, we stopped by a contemporary art museum that was nearby. The museum was enormous and had a lot of cool things inside; not everything was what I would consider art, but they were neat to look at nonetheless. After the museum we made our way to the Monastery. This monastery was built to commemorate one of the journeys of the sailors who sailed around Africa and back to Portugal. The site that the monastery is built is the place that the group of sailors prayed at before they left for sea. It was a neat monastery from the outside, and although the inside wasn't as impressive as I would've hoped, it was a cool site to see. From the monastery, we made our way to the coche museum. This museum holds all of the carriages that the queen of Portugal retired throughout her time of reign. Lets just say she had a light of rides, since the museum holds upwards of 2 gymnasiums full of carriages. It was cool to see the details and actual carts that they used back in the day. After walking around for the majority of the day, we were all pretty exhausted and decided to head back to the hostel…after just a little shopping on the way. We made our way back after about an hour at H&M and Ginny and I got ready for our haircuts. We had previously found a place down the street from our hostel that had a guy from Brazil who not only cut hair, but also spoke English. We decided to make appointments and met up to get our haircut at 7 that night. Ginny and I were both a little nervous, but wanted to do something new with our hair. He cut bangs for us both and also added in some more layers. Although he definitely styled my hair a little more European than I am used to, I was really happy with the end result. All that I cared above was that he didn't cut all of my hair off since I have been growing it out, and he made sure to be sensitive to that. After our haircuts we met back up with the group to get some dinner. We went to a place near our hostel that had traditional Fado music. Fado music is a type of music that is played with usually either one man or woman that sings and a few other people either playing the guitar or the accordion. We were able to really experience the music in the restaurant that we ended up at since the people who played sat right next to our table. The music was amazing, and although the food was lacking, the atmosphere made up for it. We even got to listen to a little boy sing Fado, which was quite impressive since Fado music is quite deep and emotional. After dinner we went out for a little bit before getting back to our hostel to go to bed.

Sunday morning we made our way to bus station at 10:00 to catch our bus home. The ride went by fast, and before we knew it we were back in Caceres. I waited with Danielle for an hour before her bus left to get her back to Madrid and then head home. It was so great to have Danielle with me to be able to experience Lisbon as well as the week we got to spend together in Palma Mallorca and Caceres.

I have been so lucky to be able to have so many visitors while I have been here. And although it has been sad to see them go, its nice to get back to my routine here in Caceres. I have less than two more weeks until spring break with my parents so these next 10 days will be a nice break to have to myself.

Happy to be back in Spain after yet another great weekend of exploring!