Portugalll

Needless to say.. I finally made it! I jumped on the first bus the next morning.. which wasnt until 9:30.. and of course it didtn leave til 9:45.. so i couldve been late for that one.. but i was there 8 am waiting for that stinkin bus.. and they charged me €6 to change my departure date... whatever. i was going to portugal! the bus ride was longgg.. 8 hours.. the whole day. the occasional rest stops were an experience in themselves.. defnitely anything but english is spoken out in teh countryside of spain... its all rolling hills and golden dead grass with teh occasional green tree.. kinda like cali in late august.. or even september. since it is september. when did that happen?! so the rest stops.. my favorite included a greeting from a huge ass turkey with its blue gobbler face starring at me as i tried to walk in.. you order your food at the bar.. all the food i could only translate half of anything so i wnet with the tortilla espanola.. i think its likes potatoes in a loaf form.. cut up and stuck in some bread. dry, but good. everyone eats standing up at the bar. and sips their teeny tiny little cafès.. not even a sips worth a swear. why even botehr putting anything in the cup? on my way out.. i walked around with the peacock, geese, and chickens....not forgetting to say goodbye to the huge turkey before i peaced..
and once i arrived in Lisbon (lisboa to the locals) i was really mad i missed my bus. and even more upset i didnt have my camera to take pictures of the awesome city.. all the sidewalks are mosaic-ed with stones.. pretty patterns in the squares that pop up every couple of blocks.. every other building still has reminense of the patterend tiles that covered the building..and the alternate ones are painted in warm bright pastel colors. its really cool. almost third world, but defnitely not.. and its the first capital city that didtn blend in with the rest of them.. because i got there so late.. i didnt see the bridge.. i went over it to get there but i wanted to admire it.. the bridge is built by the same architect who designed the golden gate..and from pictures i wouldve told u it is the mini golden gate.. theres also little yellow cable cars running all over the city and up the "steep" hills.. theyre definitely hills.. but not quite like the ones at home.. theres a castle up on a hill..and at night its lit up so nicely.. i finally sat for dinner on dad.. it was in teh old section of town.. sitting in a little alleyway with lights hanging from above..and the local who lived next door took his dog out to pee next to my table.. that was connected to teh next table wehre a couple were googling all over each other.. but it was still nice. haha. no more than 2 tables could fit side by side in order for people adn teh occasional taxi to fit through. i had some fried sole..forgot fried meant fried in batter like fish and chips.. o well.. other than the extreme amount of salt.. it was good and teh tomato rice was AMAZING! i think its a local thing.. saw it on lots of tables.. delicious. i strolled on home.. only feeling uncomfortable when i ended up in the african neighborhood which was not the best end of town.. the main streets were booming.. and the little pasteries in teh windows all looked so different and delicious.. and i headed back to my super nice hostel.. what makes a nice hostel..here you go dad: the nice ones have space in the room.. some are tiny and crammed.. otehrs have janky metal frames that squeek when you try to crawl up the bunks.. the solid wood frames are the best and hard to come by.. the three story bunk beds are also a joke in the really low end hostels.. the best ones have free internet.. thats really rare.. and free breakfast.. this hostel gave us pancakes! wow.. usually its cereal with warm milk if your lucky.. otherwise some toast and jam.. maybe nutella on a good day too. juice is often a plus as well.. hot water adn water pressure make for a nice enjoyable stay..and not having to share a room with a snoring old man is always great as well.. having places to hang out and meet people and colors and info on the walls to stimulate your brain and give you ideas on what to do all make a hostel better! so this hostel had it all.. location, not quite as muhc but it wasnt bad. this hostel im in now is slacking on the posted free breakfast...and the toilets are kinda gross.. the toilet paper goes in the bin..remember were half third world here. but im getting ahead!

the next morning i woke up early as always.. feeling better rested..but could really use another 2 days sleep.. i indulged on teh free breaky... pancakes! yes. wish i could go back for some more right now.. then i strolled through town to find the vodofone.. what a journey! portugese and spanish are not as close as everyone makes tehm out to be.. i got my phone so that my parents could get my new iphone upgrade at home! so if you want to call me in portugal.. well ask for my number! then after i get it.. i get all my messages from dad saying dont buy a phone.. well too late.. so if anyone ever goes to portugal.. ive got a phone! then i stopped in a pasteleria for a scrumtious little treat.. my breakfast digested too fast.. i ordered what the little kid next to me was eating..this tall chocolate cone with a cherry on top. he picked a good one.. so i enjoyed my pastry at the counter like everyone else.. it was kinda like cake almost inside.. with a vanilla extract almost flavor. but it wasnt cakey.. it was good. id eat it again.. id eat it righhht now even. then i packed up and headed to the bus station to get to lagos! yes... its never a straightforward process.. but i made it on the bus right at 12:30.. and accepted teh fact that the weather would completely shift when i headed to beach. it started raining..even pouring on the bus... apparently its like the only day of rain ever here.. of course. at least it cleared when we finally arrived 4 hrs later.. and the guy who owns the hostel (he advertised himself as I look like jesus) met me halfway to walk me to the place.. since apparently the advertised free bus station pickup was about as accuarate as the breakfast. o portugal. was tehre even gonna be a bed? haha. lagos is soo cute. a tourist town for sure.. the main streets run by old ppl vacationers.. and cool ceramic blue and yellow tiles and trinkets.. the back streets are all bars and backpackers.. run by australians and young travelers. tehre are more aussies than portugese here. i set down my things in the monkey house.. pet the hostel cat ... and then strolled to the beach hidden among the cliffs.. theres all these tiny beaches connected to eachother by crawling thruogh these little caves. how awesome. the was going down...so i decided to wonder back.. it couldnt be too hard.. i came across 5 aussie boys and a tent in the middle of hte road.. so i joined their party for an hour and they told me how to get back to my hostel.. everyone konws everything in this little town.. kinda cool. hung out on teh roof with some more crazy aussies.. a diverse group really.. and we went out for our free drink.. the best free drink ever. it was a full on cocktail.. but me and stephanie werent really feeling the lame monday night scene with the wasted aussies.. so we tagged along to a few more places before turning in for the night.. now its just an overcast morning.. youd think i was in the central coast.. but the air is still so clean and fresh and it feels good.. hopefully the sun pushes out soon. i could really use a tan these days :) maybe ill go find a churro for breaky or somehting first :)