Seeing the wonders of Lisbon :)

What was really the most awesome part of traveling in Portugal is that we understood everyone and everyone understood us. Even though they do have a complete different accent then we do and sometimes use completely different words and we have to ask them to repeat etc, it was the first time I have traveled anywhere where the people spoke Portuguese, so it was different getting that at home feeling and not being in Brazil! We had been having a great week and did so much more sight seeing as the week went on.

After the Fado Club we had a really early morning and started the day visiting the city including the castle, the tower/elevator in the main part of town, and other smaller neighborhoods. The castle was amazing and almost standing in its entirety, I was expecting something smaller and not as well preserved because of the previous experience I had in Burgos with our castle. The castle in Burgos only had a few remains and so the tour was basically made through the tunnels and ins and outs of the castle, which was an awesome experience but in Portugal we got to see everything. We went up on the huge towers and saw the entire town, we saw all of the little rooms where the soldiers would sleep, and all of the main walls were intact. It was ENORMOUS and the walls were so thick it was unbelievable to think that in that time people could build something like this without any of the modern tools that we now have available to us. I have been in Europe for over 2.5 months and it still continues to amaze me how they built the beautiful things they did like the castles, cathedrals, and monasteries and is one of the things I LOVE about just walking around town and wondering.

While we were walking through town we saw so many students getting hazed in front of everyone in the main plazas and parks. They would be wearing ridiculous clothes or doing really funny things and the older people yelling at them to be louder and to keep going. We saw groups and groups of these people, hundreds through out the whole day and we later found out that they were law students that were about to start the University in Lisbon and it was tradition to start the year off right lol! It was great to see and we really felt like we got to take part in that culture as well.

In Burgos we have Mc'Ds and KFC and I am pretty sure Burger King, but those are all things that I do not miss and do not need to eat. BUT I have an addiction to Starbucks and have been missing my coffee sooo much. The coffee here is so great and I love it, but sometimes you just miss something you are used to as silly as it may be. In Portugal I finally got one!!! and now that I am traveling to the larger cities they are in every corner, it is unbelievable!

Later that day we had an awesome dinner at a family owned restaurant again, because that is honestly the best way to go if you want to eat the best food around. The hole in the wall places are where it is at! We got up the next day and traveled to Sintra which was only 40 minutes by train from Lisbon, where I got to see the Castle of my dreams! It literally looked like it was painted into the scenery and not for real, and it was one of the best parts of the entire trip! I will have all of the stories and pictures for you next time!