The line forming around us: 
We arrived safely in Lisbon to find blue skies and warmer weather than we had left in Madrid. We decided to take a city bus to the city center, and as we bought our tickets, we didn’t know how to communicate our thanks in Portuguese. One of my friends, Zach, settled for saying, “gracias”. Mistake. The bus driver responded in English, “Spain is 100 kilometers away”. Apparently the Portuguese are very touchy about people thinking that they’re a part of Spain. Go figure. In case you’re curious, “thank you” in Portuguese is “abrigado”. The first thing we did was take pictures in the main square (Largo do Carmo?). Then, we climbed one of Lisbon’s many hills to the Castle of Saint George. Can you spot the castle? 
The castle was absolutely amazing. It had an breathtaking view of the city and the river, and we were able to wander all over it. Here are a few pictures and videos from the experience, although they hardly do it justice. Risking their lives to get a good picture from the top of a random, unsecured wall. :) 
The city and the river. 
The statue of Jesus created in thanks that Portugal did not get drawn in to WWII.
Videos from the castle:Afterwards, we went back to the hostel and crashed. The hostel was called “Kitch”… and appropriately named such. The bright colors of the walls and random magazine cutouts made for quite the funky atmosphere. My favorite experience of the night was when we were getting ready for bed and found that we were sharing a room with three Japanese girls and one German girl, Anna. Anna didn’t want to speak English, and I don’t speak German, so we talked in Spanish for about two hours. It was crazy how similar we are, but it was great to use my Spanish as it was meant to be used: purely for communication and enjoyment. I mean, this is why I’ve worked to learn it all these years; not to do grammar exercises, not to read books, but to speak with PEOPLE.
The next day, we had breakfast in the hostel. There, I met a guy from Poland and his Brazilian friend. The friend spoke neither English nor Spanish, but he spoke Italian and I spoke Spanish and we were able to understand one another! SO COOL!!!! After breakfast, we went to the Monasterio Jeronimos (see below) which is where Vasco da Gama is buried. Are you smarter than a fifth grader…. Do you remember who Vasco da Gama was? He was the Portuguese sailor who found an ocean route to India! He’s right up there in the annuls of history with Magellan and Bartholomew Diaz; it was surreal seeing the tomb and effigy of someone I studied so much in grade school.
After the monastery, we bought Pasteis de Belem, which can ONLY be bought at a small store nearby. They were delicious little confections that tasted like a warm pastry bowl filled with custard. Topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon, they were divine.
Later on, we checked out the monument to the Portuguese explorers. What with the Spanish discovery of the New World, I think a lot of people forget the contribution that the Portuguese made to marine navigation. I mean, they circumnavigated Africa, found India by water, and established trade all along the way! Quite the adventurers.
That was also the day we tried to get to Sintra, a small town about 30 minutes outside of Lisbon. We thought that it was on the coast, but apparently we were wrong! Still, we spent a few hours hiking the paths toward some old castles. Sintra was a true small Portuguese town nestled on the side of a mountain. When we walked through the town at about 7pm, it was completely silent, but warm light shone out of all the houses. It was adorable. We were so tired after climbing the slopes of Sintra that we spent a night in the hostel just playing games and talking. I can’t wait to go on a trip with everyone again!
On Sunday we went to Fatima, where the Virgin Mary made a series of appearances to three shepherd children in 1917. When I was little, I was obsessed with this story, and I used to watch the video about it from the parish library at least once a month. I never expected that I’d be able to visit, but suddenly I was there! Due to the fact that it’s now an international pilgrimage destination, it’s much more developed and touristy than I imagined. At first, I struggled with this. Later on, I sat in the basilica (picture below) and was able to reflect a bit, so it turned into a very positive experience. The POPE is going to be there this May… I kind of want to go back.
That night, we went to a nice restaurant and saw traditional Portuguese Fado music. Fado is deep and soulful; the singers usually have guitars or strings to back them up. (YouTube it!!) Eating paella and watching Fado was the perfect Portuguese ending to the weekend.
We had to leave for the airport at 5am on Monday, but that was ok because we all made it back in time for our Monday classes. Monday night was also the night that I started teaching my ESL class! I’m teaching Advanced, so I don’t anticipate too many difficulties. Basically, my students are at the point in their English education that I’m at in my Spanish education, so I hope that this will give me perspective when I teach. My co-teacher seems awesome, and the students are enthusiastic. I can’t wait until tomorrow’s class!
I'm going to try to get the Toledo story on this blog sometime tomorrow. Toledo was lovely, and I would go back in a heartbeat. If I don't get around to posting another blog until next week, please forgive me. On Thursday I leave for PARIS, so there's a lot of preparation to do!
All my love,
Colleen
I love this post! I want to travel....can you find us a small, quiet village to walk in at sunset when we are there?
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