WE MADE IT TO PORTUGAL!

So after having the best train trip I have ever taken in Europe we made it to Lisbon, safe and sound and ready to have the best time. We ended up finding the best little restaurant right by our hotel where we ate like kings and queens for a dime :) Green wine to go around to everyone! I had never heard of green wine but it is a delicacy in Portugal and is what most people drink like our Cabernet wines in the US. It is very affordable and most of the time just like in Spain it is cheaper to drink than a coke, which still amazes me to this day lol.

We had the best lunch and headed to town to look around and do a little bit of sigh seeing before the big night out we all had planned to go to a Fado Club. You can't go to Portugal without going out one night for Fado. Fado is a type of music and way of singing, that is a heritage of Portugal and especially of Lisbon where we were visiting. The songs are very famous in Brazil and my grandma and mom knew a bunch of them, it was so cute they were singing along with the singers. We got to the Club around 8pm ate a slow dinner that was delicious, and then enjoyed some dessert. My mom and I split a plate of Bacalao a famous fish dish from Portugal. We had the best dessert in the whole trip at the restaurant too it was pear induced with red wine, and some Flan with the best chocolate mousse on the side.. lets just say it wasn't on the plate for long between Geraldo and I.

I had never listened to Fado music before and am so glad I got to experience it :) The songs are beautiful but all really sad about love stories and heart breaks and are sang as if the singers were crying out the music, with so much emotion you could feel it! We got to listen to 4 singers sing about 4 songs each, and stayed until 1 am. We were so exhausted and couldn't stay for the second round where they each sang another round of songs and people stayed there until 3-4 in the morning. One of the best parts of Libon was the time we got to spend there together as a family we had the best time!

We also got to visit the Cathedral, which was kind of disappointing to me I have to be honest. Everything was falling apart and the outside was not restored or well taken care off. It was s very beautiful church just awful to see it in that state just like a lot of the older building in Lisbon that have been left behind and that could add to the culture and the sights of the city.

We stayed in Lisbon for 2 days and then went on to Sintra which was about 40 minutes away from Lisbon, where my favorite part of the whole trip happened! We saw the most beautiful castle :) But thats all for now, I will have those pictures for you next time!!!

The vacation only got better and better!

So we had an amazing first day, but since Geraldo was falling asleep on the kitchen table I let them go to bed kind of early lol. The second day rolled around and we all met up for breakfast at this cute little Cafeteria by my house. We had some Spanish Tortillas, crossants, and some french bread with the best appricot jam. Dad was the only one in the whole entire restaurant drinking a diet coke at 9 am, and when I ordered it they looked at me so weird and repeated what I said just to make sure that they understood me right... ¨Yes I would like a diet coke at 9am¨ haha too funny. Dad was happy as can be with his tortilla and diet coke so thats all that matters!

As soon as we were done eating we all hopped on the bus and went for a ride around the othe side of town to go visit my University. It was so cool to get to share that with my family and show them everything I always talk about, like OH we can´t move in the bus after 3 pm because it is soooo packed with students and where I have class every day. They loved the school and loved the old feeling of all of the buildings, it was defnetly different than WMU, thats for sure.

When we were getting ready to leave through the front entrance of the building we saw that there was an event going on. People were having wood cutting contests and wood carving contests, we were just watching and minding our own business when they looked at the crowd and asked if any of us would like to join in. WELL of course I was the first one to say I DO I DO, and dragged my poor mom with me! With our huge mustles we cut all the way through the wood, it was hilarious and but such a good time.

We then headed to go meet my Spanish family for a nice lunch. My parents really wanted to taek them out to eat to thank them for everything they have done for me here, and for how well they have treated me by going above and beyond when I was sick and needed something extra etc. So we had them pick a restaurant and they decided to take us to an ASADOR which is what Burgos is really famous for. They make all of these meats in the fire pit and bring enough food for double the people that are actually going to eat it. We had so much food, and it was delicious. It was so much fun for me to see my family coming here and not even worrying about the language barrier. My dad had no problem since he had worked in Mexico for over 8 months and had a lot of Spanish background but for my grandma and mom they jumped right in and tryed to communicate as best as they could, with some Portuenol, and some Spanglish in there they made it happen :) We all had as awesome time at lunch and the food was something that I had never eaten here either, so it was a brand new experience for me as well.

My Spanish family then wanted to take us out for a coffee at one of the parks called ¨Fuentes Blancas¨, which is right outside of Burgos. We sat and talked there for hours and had some Gelado, coffee and little sweets while my dad and Luis my madres boyfriend shared all kinds of pictures and were having a good time in their own little world. It was great!

Then we headed back into town to go meet my Brazilian friends for a drink. They were so excited to meet my parents, and we sat and had Calimochos for a while at Cafe Espana. My mom had never had a Calimocho and I told her she had to try one before she left, I think Coke and Red wine is one of her favorites now. She couldn´t believe how good it was. The night did not end there. By now it was already almost midnight and we were still out ad about in Burgos. Our train for Portugal left the Burgos train station at 2:30 am so we headed home grabbed our bags and after hanging out for a little while at the house took a taxi to the station.

I was so excited to get to Portugal, I couldn´t believe that the trip was finally here, and that my parents were here with me still. My grandma and I had a great time while waiting for the train to get there, we had a HUGE cake, some cheese, olives, crackers and drinks galore to keep us entertained for that last hour of waiting. She was cracking jokes all night and I was having the best time with her.

I was used to traveling with the girls from WMU in Spain, and we always went the cheapest route possible. We always took the overnight bus to get to our destinations in the morning to not pay for a hotel etc. WELL this time traveling with the parents was a different story :) we had our own cabin with 4 beds, so I closed my eyes and the next thing I new I was in Lisbon! Best trip yet for sure, and so comfortable too. We were all so tired after everything we did the second day that they were here but we all wanted to enjoy every second that we could in Burgos, so they had a chance to see everyone and everything. 2nd day was a SUCCESS!!