Well my time down in the Algarve region of Portugal started out very tired. My last night in Lisboa, a group of 13 of us went out and did not return until 4:30 that morning. It was a long night, but ssssoooooo much fun! I crawled in bed around 5, just enough time to grab 2 hours of sleep before heading off to the train station to catch my train down to the Southern coast. After arriving in the very touristy town of Lagos, I stayed there for a night and hungout out with a guy I met at the bus station. We walked around and grabbed a great fish dinner. I have been eating lots of fresh fish lately and it has been really yummy!
The next day, I got up and hoped on a bus for the little town of Salema. Thanks to one of my guidebooks (thanks again Tina!) I found it. On the way there I met this woman named Franchesca and we started chatting, her in Portuguese and me in Spanish. Luckily the 2 languages are similar enough that we can communicate just fine. Her and her husband rent out rooms in their house so I went with her and rented one for 2 nights. They were great! She totally reminds me of my mom in Costa Rica. They are a very nice couple in their 60´s and have 2 rooms above their house with a seperate entrance that they rent out to travelers. My first day there, she wanted to send me with an umbrella to the beach cause she was afraid I would get burned. Then she sent me out the front door when I politely declined the umbrella with a kiss on both cheeks, a hug, and a "Be careful and have fun." It was so cute!
I spent 2 amazing days just laying on the beautiful beach tanning and reading. The water is crystal clear. It fades from the shore out from clear, to torquise, to a deep blue. The waves are not huge, just enough that there is a nice lapping sound on the shore of them breaking. The shore and water are scattered with smlaa fishing boats since this is mainly a fishing town with just the right mixture of tourists and locals. There can´t be more than maybe 5,000 people who live there. When you swim in the water, there are fish swimming right along with you too. I got nice and tan.
The people here are so friendly. The people I stayed with were great and by the end of my first day there, they had another young couple in the room next door. We were chatting and they agreed that Franchesca and her husband were very sweet. There is a corner where a lot of the older fishermen sit discussing whatever it is everynight. Each time I walked by them, I would greet them with a "Bom Dia" and they would give me big smiles and do the same. While browsing in one of the shops, I started chatting with the woman who runs it. I found out, between her Portuguese and my Spanish, that she was born in this small town, moved around, and has now settled back here. She has 2 sons who live in town and work at local restaurants. One son has a little boy so she is a grandma.
This is the part I like most about traveling on my own, the way you can just start chatting with people and get to talk to them. So far, Portugal has been my favorite part of the travels. I am trying to figure out why we do not come here more as Americans. It is definately right up my alley!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Bom Dia
That means hello in Portuguese. Well for those of you following me along out there, I have spent an amazing last 3 days in the capital of Portugal, Lisboa. I am absolutely loving this country and not sure why more people from the states do not come here.
I arrived after a very long overnight train ride from Madrid. At the station, I met 2 guys who were staying at the same hostel I was and another guy and girl who did not have a hostel so they decided to come with us and see if there was any room available. It was nice to be lost and confused with people in a group. We found our hostel ,which is probably the nicest one that any of us have stayed in. It has only been open for about a month and a half so everything is new, and it is small so that is always nice. There are noly 22 beds there and only 4-5 people per room.
My first day there, the group I came with headed down to the beach while I decided to check out the town after we all had lunch together. I walked around town all day and saw what it looks like and browsed in and out of some shops. I then wandered up to the old gothic quarter that has cobblestone streets that are very hilly and winding with yellow cable cars like the ones you see in San Francisco. I went up to the Castle of San Jorge set way above the city and saw some amazing views of the city. You could see everything from up there, including city, sea, and this huge bridge.
That night I got back and met some girls at my hostel who were going to a bull fight, so I went with them. Luckily in Portuguese bull fights, they do not kill the bull, but it was definately an experience to see. It was quite differnt than I expected and we could see the whole thing great!
The following day, I went to this little town about 45 minutes away called Sintra with one of the guys I had met at my hostel. We took the train there and checked out the town. It was gorgeous, set among a ton of lush green trees and the town only has about 20,000 people who live there. There is an old Moorish Castle set way up above the town that used to be for protection, so we hiked up there (an hour all uphill!). The view was totally worth it though! Coming down, we figured out that there was a much shorter way to get up, but of course we didn´t know that until after. We grabbed dinner before we headed back to our hostel in Sintra. It is was this little tiny hole in the wall place where we met a man who started talking to us and telling us about how olives were very good for our stomachs and digestion (we had a plate of olives sitting on the table) and a ton of other things that we couldn´t hear all of. He was quite a character! Diner, was very cheap, but proabably one of the best meals I have had here of fresh fish. So good!
Today, I walked around town a bit more with 2 guys from my hostel. We went and checked out a tower here in town, a huge bridge that looks like Golden Gate Bridge, and this smaller distrit called Belem. Before we headed back tonight and just finished making a dinner of "toasties" (apparently that´s what you call a grilled chesse sandwich in Australia), fruit and soup.
This country has been amazing and is so full of culture and beautiful tile work all over the city in buildings and floors. There are also many tiles on the street which I have almost fallen on more than once cause they are insanely slippery. The town also has lots of personality and old buildings that you can tell have been here for a while.
My next stop in Portugal is going down to Algarve in the southern part to hangout on the nice sandy beach for a few days. I´ll let everyone know how that goes.
I arrived after a very long overnight train ride from Madrid. At the station, I met 2 guys who were staying at the same hostel I was and another guy and girl who did not have a hostel so they decided to come with us and see if there was any room available. It was nice to be lost and confused with people in a group. We found our hostel ,which is probably the nicest one that any of us have stayed in. It has only been open for about a month and a half so everything is new, and it is small so that is always nice. There are noly 22 beds there and only 4-5 people per room.
My first day there, the group I came with headed down to the beach while I decided to check out the town after we all had lunch together. I walked around town all day and saw what it looks like and browsed in and out of some shops. I then wandered up to the old gothic quarter that has cobblestone streets that are very hilly and winding with yellow cable cars like the ones you see in San Francisco. I went up to the Castle of San Jorge set way above the city and saw some amazing views of the city. You could see everything from up there, including city, sea, and this huge bridge.
That night I got back and met some girls at my hostel who were going to a bull fight, so I went with them. Luckily in Portuguese bull fights, they do not kill the bull, but it was definately an experience to see. It was quite differnt than I expected and we could see the whole thing great!
The following day, I went to this little town about 45 minutes away called Sintra with one of the guys I had met at my hostel. We took the train there and checked out the town. It was gorgeous, set among a ton of lush green trees and the town only has about 20,000 people who live there. There is an old Moorish Castle set way up above the town that used to be for protection, so we hiked up there (an hour all uphill!). The view was totally worth it though! Coming down, we figured out that there was a much shorter way to get up, but of course we didn´t know that until after. We grabbed dinner before we headed back to our hostel in Sintra. It is was this little tiny hole in the wall place where we met a man who started talking to us and telling us about how olives were very good for our stomachs and digestion (we had a plate of olives sitting on the table) and a ton of other things that we couldn´t hear all of. He was quite a character! Diner, was very cheap, but proabably one of the best meals I have had here of fresh fish. So good!
Today, I walked around town a bit more with 2 guys from my hostel. We went and checked out a tower here in town, a huge bridge that looks like Golden Gate Bridge, and this smaller distrit called Belem. Before we headed back tonight and just finished making a dinner of "toasties" (apparently that´s what you call a grilled chesse sandwich in Australia), fruit and soup.
This country has been amazing and is so full of culture and beautiful tile work all over the city in buildings and floors. There are also many tiles on the street which I have almost fallen on more than once cause they are insanely slippery. The town also has lots of personality and old buildings that you can tell have been here for a while.
My next stop in Portugal is going down to Algarve in the southern part to hangout on the nice sandy beach for a few days. I´ll let everyone know how that goes.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Salamanca, Ledesma, and a bit of Madrid
Well, I have spent the last week or so in Spain. Can I say how nice it is to be in a country where I can actually speak the language? It´s good to be using my Spanish except that they talk with a lisp here so that throw´s me off a bit.
I arrived here on the night train from Paris and immediately jumped on a train up to Salamanca, a smaller town about 2 1/2 hours away. I decided to spend the night there before I went on to Ledesma. I really liked the town. It was small and quiet and such a great place to people watch. I stayed at this awesome family run Pension that was pretty cheap. The family rents out rooms on the 2nd floor and they live on the 3rd floor. There were kids running around when I asked if they had a room and then the morning that I was trying to pack my backpack, the little baby who is probably about 1 came walking into my room cause the door was opened and was not happy with her dad who made her leave. The night I was there, I walked around town, grabbed an ice cream, and did some great people watching in Plaza Mayor where it seemed like everyone in town was.
I headed for Ledesma the next day. It´s about 30 minutes outside of Salamanca, but such a small town that there are only 2 buses that go there daily, 1 on Saturday, and none on Sunday. Since, I went on a Saturday, I was there until Monday, which was fine by me. There are 1800 people who live there and that´s where my last name originated from. I loved it! The place is just dripping with history by the way it looks and it seems like if the walls and streets could talk, they would have a lot to say. It litterally looks straight out of the 1700 or 1800 hundreds with the exception of a few cars and some light posts. Other than that, I doubt anything has changed. I walked all around town, went to Mass on Sunday at church, and just had a great time relaxing and talking with people. My last day there, I met a guy in the park from Paris who was playing with his little boy. He lives in the town now and I ended up having lunch with him, his wife, and their baby before I left. The twon was beautiful, set up on a hill next to the Rio Tormes and you have to cross a bridge to get into the town. There was always a nice breeze blowing and it is extremely quiet there.
Today was Madrid and I went to the Prado Museum, walked around town checking out the varius parks and some of the other sights. I saw the Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, and a couple Catedrals. Mardid is a great city. Lots of people and so many different types as well. Tomorrow is going to just be a relaxing day before I catch the night train into Portugal.
That´s all for now folks. To be continued soon....
I arrived here on the night train from Paris and immediately jumped on a train up to Salamanca, a smaller town about 2 1/2 hours away. I decided to spend the night there before I went on to Ledesma. I really liked the town. It was small and quiet and such a great place to people watch. I stayed at this awesome family run Pension that was pretty cheap. The family rents out rooms on the 2nd floor and they live on the 3rd floor. There were kids running around when I asked if they had a room and then the morning that I was trying to pack my backpack, the little baby who is probably about 1 came walking into my room cause the door was opened and was not happy with her dad who made her leave. The night I was there, I walked around town, grabbed an ice cream, and did some great people watching in Plaza Mayor where it seemed like everyone in town was.
I headed for Ledesma the next day. It´s about 30 minutes outside of Salamanca, but such a small town that there are only 2 buses that go there daily, 1 on Saturday, and none on Sunday. Since, I went on a Saturday, I was there until Monday, which was fine by me. There are 1800 people who live there and that´s where my last name originated from. I loved it! The place is just dripping with history by the way it looks and it seems like if the walls and streets could talk, they would have a lot to say. It litterally looks straight out of the 1700 or 1800 hundreds with the exception of a few cars and some light posts. Other than that, I doubt anything has changed. I walked all around town, went to Mass on Sunday at church, and just had a great time relaxing and talking with people. My last day there, I met a guy in the park from Paris who was playing with his little boy. He lives in the town now and I ended up having lunch with him, his wife, and their baby before I left. The twon was beautiful, set up on a hill next to the Rio Tormes and you have to cross a bridge to get into the town. There was always a nice breeze blowing and it is extremely quiet there.
Today was Madrid and I went to the Prado Museum, walked around town checking out the varius parks and some of the other sights. I saw the Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, and a couple Catedrals. Mardid is a great city. Lots of people and so many different types as well. Tomorrow is going to just be a relaxing day before I catch the night train into Portugal.
That´s all for now folks. To be continued soon....
Friday, August 17, 2007
Ahhh Paris...
Well hello to all out there following me along. I spent the last 3 days in Paris and saw tons of stuff! I got to go up the Eiffel Tower, which I did by taking the stairs because they were cheaper. I went up to the 2nd floor and then supposedly you were supposed to be able to catch a lift up to the top from there, but apparently the one I got on went down instead of up so I ended up back at the bottom and out the door. That was a bit of a bummer, but what can ya do?
I also got to see Notre Dame, The Arc de Triompe, the Musee de O´rsay, the Musee de Picasso, the Conciergerie, the Pantheon, the Hotel des Invalides, the Chateau of Versailes (which is actually a palace and not even close to a cheteau), and of course, the Musee du Lourve. So much art and history are packed into all of those places that my brain and eyes were on over load from the past 3 days. There were so many great works of art by Monet, Picasso, Da Vinci, Matissee, Renior, Raphael, and so many more. I got to see Monet´s Waterlillies and Da Vinci´s Mona Lisa. I did not stay very long at the Lourve. I probably litterally could have spent all day there because it was so huge, but there were so many people in there, it it one of thefew times in my life (othere than when I have gotten blood drawn) that I felt like I was going to pass out because it was so warm and there were so many people crammed inside.
I found this awesome street that had tons of little food shops on it that kept me busy one day for dinner. Thanks Tina for the book that had that in there! I went to a fruit store and got some grapes, headed over to the bread store and got some bread. She asked me a question and I just looked at her dumbstruck so between her sherades and mine I was able to communicate that yes I would like the small baguette and cut. Next, I headed over to the dairy store that carries not only eggs and butter, but every type of cheese you cold imagine under the sun, most of which I could not read the labels so I decided on Brie since I could actually understand it. I made a cutting motion with my hand and the woman nodded at me so I preceded to pick up the knife and cut it. Little did I know that I was doing it wrond. She made a noise at me like "No, no" and shook her head. Then she came over and took the knife and smiled as she showed me how to do it. By the end, it was a good experience and I had a great picnic in a park watching some little kids playing.
I met tons of people in Paris from numerous countries. Autralia, Germany, Oregon, Brazil, and others. Those were just ones who happended to be sharing rooms with me.
Last night, I took the overnight train to Madrid from Paris, arriving here about 9:30 this morning. I immediately caught another train around 11 and headed for Salamanca, also in Spain. I am staying here for the night before I head onto the town of Ledesma. Salamanca is a great small town and it is so good to be out of a big city for a while. I will write again soon as the travels continue...
I also got to see Notre Dame, The Arc de Triompe, the Musee de O´rsay, the Musee de Picasso, the Conciergerie, the Pantheon, the Hotel des Invalides, the Chateau of Versailes (which is actually a palace and not even close to a cheteau), and of course, the Musee du Lourve. So much art and history are packed into all of those places that my brain and eyes were on over load from the past 3 days. There were so many great works of art by Monet, Picasso, Da Vinci, Matissee, Renior, Raphael, and so many more. I got to see Monet´s Waterlillies and Da Vinci´s Mona Lisa. I did not stay very long at the Lourve. I probably litterally could have spent all day there because it was so huge, but there were so many people in there, it it one of thefew times in my life (othere than when I have gotten blood drawn) that I felt like I was going to pass out because it was so warm and there were so many people crammed inside.
I found this awesome street that had tons of little food shops on it that kept me busy one day for dinner. Thanks Tina for the book that had that in there! I went to a fruit store and got some grapes, headed over to the bread store and got some bread. She asked me a question and I just looked at her dumbstruck so between her sherades and mine I was able to communicate that yes I would like the small baguette and cut. Next, I headed over to the dairy store that carries not only eggs and butter, but every type of cheese you cold imagine under the sun, most of which I could not read the labels so I decided on Brie since I could actually understand it. I made a cutting motion with my hand and the woman nodded at me so I preceded to pick up the knife and cut it. Little did I know that I was doing it wrond. She made a noise at me like "No, no" and shook her head. Then she came over and took the knife and smiled as she showed me how to do it. By the end, it was a good experience and I had a great picnic in a park watching some little kids playing.
I met tons of people in Paris from numerous countries. Autralia, Germany, Oregon, Brazil, and others. Those were just ones who happended to be sharing rooms with me.
Last night, I took the overnight train to Madrid from Paris, arriving here about 9:30 this morning. I immediately caught another train around 11 and headed for Salamanca, also in Spain. I am staying here for the night before I head onto the town of Ledesma. Salamanca is a great small town and it is so good to be out of a big city for a while. I will write again soon as the travels continue...
Saturday, August 11, 2007
London Baby!!!!!!!
Well for those of you wondering out there...I have arrived safely in London. My trip began as it usually does by getting asked at the airport during check-in if I was an unaccompanied minor and then again at security if I was over 18. I have to laugh at this!
I got here safely around 6:30 am on Thursday morning and found my hostel very easily. It was about a 45 minute subway ride from the airport. I got there around 9 in the morning but we can't check until 2 so I stored my bags in a locker there and headed off exploring for the day. I saw the British Library, which for those of you who know how much I love books was amazing! It also has some great historical documents there like the Magna Carta, some extremly early copies of the Bible from the 3rd and 4th centuries, a part of one of the Dead Sea Scrolls and so much more. Then I went to check out the British Museum. This has tons of old and great artifacts and luckily both of these are free, great for those of us on a budget!
I have also seen Buckingham Palace, The National Gallery (housing paintings by Monet, Renior, Leonardo do Vinchi, Rapheal, and many more), Hyde Park (where I took a nice nap!), Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, The House of Parliament, I could go on, but I'll stop now.
Last night I saw a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theater which performs plays as Shakepeare would have done. It is a cylinder shap with 4 levels. Tickets are the most expensive up high and get cheaper the closer to the ground you get. On the ground floor they are the cheapest because you have to stand the whole time, but you are right there and it is an open air theater so it is great! I am off tonight to see Les Miserables. There are so many plays here and musicals with surprisingly cheap tickets if you are willing to sacrifice a bit of the view of the stage. Tomorrow, I am off to Paris for a few days.....
For those of you worried about me traveling by myself, let me reassure you that out of the 14 of us in my room at the hostel, 5 of us are single 20 something women traveling on our own. The shortest one for only a month and the longest for 6 months, most of us from different countries. I met 3 guys in my room traveling on their own and the rest of the room is either friends or boyfriends/girlfriends traveling together so ... I really am not the only one who does this. I've met some interesting people, one in a park who I told I only spoke Spanish cause I was too tired to chat and he left me alone right away. Sometimes the 2 languages come in handy.
Well that's all for now from over here.
I got here safely around 6:30 am on Thursday morning and found my hostel very easily. It was about a 45 minute subway ride from the airport. I got there around 9 in the morning but we can't check until 2 so I stored my bags in a locker there and headed off exploring for the day. I saw the British Library, which for those of you who know how much I love books was amazing! It also has some great historical documents there like the Magna Carta, some extremly early copies of the Bible from the 3rd and 4th centuries, a part of one of the Dead Sea Scrolls and so much more. Then I went to check out the British Museum. This has tons of old and great artifacts and luckily both of these are free, great for those of us on a budget!
I have also seen Buckingham Palace, The National Gallery (housing paintings by Monet, Renior, Leonardo do Vinchi, Rapheal, and many more), Hyde Park (where I took a nice nap!), Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, The House of Parliament, I could go on, but I'll stop now.
Last night I saw a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theater which performs plays as Shakepeare would have done. It is a cylinder shap with 4 levels. Tickets are the most expensive up high and get cheaper the closer to the ground you get. On the ground floor they are the cheapest because you have to stand the whole time, but you are right there and it is an open air theater so it is great! I am off tonight to see Les Miserables. There are so many plays here and musicals with surprisingly cheap tickets if you are willing to sacrifice a bit of the view of the stage. Tomorrow, I am off to Paris for a few days.....
For those of you worried about me traveling by myself, let me reassure you that out of the 14 of us in my room at the hostel, 5 of us are single 20 something women traveling on our own. The shortest one for only a month and the longest for 6 months, most of us from different countries. I met 3 guys in my room traveling on their own and the rest of the room is either friends or boyfriends/girlfriends traveling together so ... I really am not the only one who does this. I've met some interesting people, one in a park who I told I only spoke Spanish cause I was too tired to chat and he left me alone right away. Sometimes the 2 languages come in handy.
Well that's all for now from over here.
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