Portugal Part 1: Lisbon and Cascais

Hey everyone! So here we are in Portugal. I have to say, when I was thinking ahead to the trip I was most excited about Portugal. It seems to be a place less frequently visited but everyone who goes seems to be captivated by it, and it has definitely lived up to my expectations! Lisbon is a big but beautiful city with red tile roofs, bright colorful houses, large sunlit squares and cool narrow alleys. It's right on the River Tejo (which is actually the ocean) and our first few days were spent just walking around, drinking beer in the Praço do Commerçio and trying to explore all the cobblestone alleyways in the historical Alfama district. At night we listened to traditional fado music- historically they are melancholy songs descended from African slave ballads. People come and sing off the street and they are given a cup of wine for their efforts. We sat next to a Portugese couple and ate amazing cheese and pão (bread). We also visited the amazing Castillo do São Jorge; a hilltop castle with amazing views of Lisbon and the ocean with beautiful trees and we got to climb up the castle tower! Still don't know who/what São Jorge is... Portuguese is very difficult and dissimilar to most other languages where I might have some hope of communication. It's almost Germanic or even Slavic sounding, with some Spanish and French and Italian words thrown in. Needless to say, we're happy to say most people speak a little English and/or French! Our hostel is also beautiful, right by the ocean and super clean. We met a cool dude from Ecuador who's studying at la Sorbonne and luckily speaks French, English and Spanish very well. We became best friends over a couple (several) glasses of duty-free rum (only $16!!!) and coke.

Travelled to Cascais (cash-kay) yesterday by train along the coast. It's a super adorable town on the ocean with a beautiful white sand beach and a Harbourfront full of fishing boats. Our hostel is right in the main part of town and is full of restaurants and bars. We ate a plate full of sardines for dinner and drank cerveja (beer). We have the entire hostel to ourselves since it just opened, including a huge patio! So awesome! Breakfast was also made for us this morning when we got up. So far Portigal is so beautiful and amazing! Tomorrow were traveling to Evora, the Porto.

Miss everyone! Thinking of you while we're relaxing on the beach :P