Bom Dia!!!!
We arrived in Lisbon yesterday and it has been a trip. It was very cloudy yesterday when we got here and we decided to climb the mountain overlooking Lisbon where the castle is. I think we all thought it was kinda crappy cause it was very foggy outside. From the castle you are supposed to see the whole city, a very beautiful view. However we could not see more than a few hundred metres of the city from up there cause the fog was so thick. Despite that though, the fog gave our pictures a very mysterious castle look which I am sure you will all notice once we get them posted up here.
We are staying at a place called the Travelers Hostel. I would recommend it to anyone headed to Lisbon. It is the most intimate place we have stayed at so far, they take very good care of you. They put trust in you to treat the place well wthout babysitting you so it is a very nice feeling.
Portugal is similar in some ways to Spain but different in many others. The city itself building wise is not so different from Spain. Obviously there are differences but nothing that completely stands out. Culturally wise there is one major difference between the two countries. We have noticed that many more people here speak english. Even in the grocery store all you hear is American music. I asked one of the Portuguese girls working at the hostel here and she said that in Portugal all the movies and music is not translated or dubbed, whereas in Spain it is all changed to Spanish.
That is a common theme I have found here though. Not so much the language part but the influence of American culture, dubbed or not. It doesnt matter where you go it seems you cannot escape a McDonalds or KFC. I still remember talking to Steve last week in Marple about the pyramids in Egypt and how you can buy Pizza Hut and overlook them while eating it lol. Even talking to people, America is a topic that is of interest to almost everyone.
The people in Portugal have been very very friendly. I cannot say enough good things about how helpful the people have been here. Much nicer than in Spain. Not a knock against Spain, I very much like it, but I think in Madrid and Barcelona they are so bombarded with tourists that it may become offputting to some residents there.
So tomorrow we are headed to Sintra and the beach hopefully if the weather is nice. We are gonna rent scooters and drive there. It should be a really good time, everyone we talk to here thinks its a great idea. So I hope everyone is staying warm at home and taking care. We will get some more pics uploaded as soon as we can, but we hope everyone is doing really well.
Good night and good luck!