Bem-Vindo Lisboa!!!!!!!

Today was Lisbon, Portugal. Nicco, Robert, Maude and I caught the train right off the pier to head into the center of the city. Our plan was to exchange money, and then see as much as possible. I wanted to explore a castle that sat on top of one of the many hills, and Robert wanted a picture of a statue we had seen pulling into Lisbon.

We met a nice man with his wife at the station, and once we were all onboard the busy train, we witnessed how fast pick-pocketers successfully took the money from his pocket. We hadn’t even left yet! These old men just come on, bump past people snatching what’s available, and then get off. It was crazy! Luckily, they only got 20 euro and not his wallet, but the poor man was shaking. :(


When we reached the center, we walked through the streets lined with shops and asked a policeman where we could exchange our money. The rate was the best we will probably get for the rest of Europe, and no charge for exchanging so we had definitively gotten lucky.

We journeyed on down the street and hopped on another tour bus, in order to see the most we could in the time we had, and learn the history of it all. The bus took us all over, through the hustle and bustle of the main city to the outskirts of the pier.
My favorite building within the main city was the theater, a gorgeous structure that sat in the lush gardens and overlooked a spouting fountain.

Robert’s statue was also one of the stops. It touched into the water, a tilted wall with people crawling to reach the end. It was built across from a gorgeous mansion, where the current President resides. After the tour was finished, we made our way back into the square and ate at a tiny local restaurant, warming our cold hands with hot chocolate.

The bitter wind that we felt on the first bus swept away when the sun came out. We hopped on another bus that would take us to the top of the hill, where the castle was. We ran around the fortress, taking tons of pictures and listening to the music of the guitarist that sat in the middle of the garden. After grabbing a few souvenirs, we headed down to the city to catch our final bus back to the city.

We got a little nervous when our bus stopped with still a ways back to the ship, and we were cutting it close on time. Apparently, a lady had parked her van over the line, and we could get around her because she was on our track. Thankfully, she was just in one of the surrounding stores and quickly ran out to move it when she saw she was obstructing our path.

It was another amazing day in Europe. I saw a lot of the city; rich in historical significance and beauty, ate some great food, and gained unforgettable memories with good friends. Tomorrow we are back in Spain, so stay tuned for more updates! :)