Así es la vida

Hola Todos!!
Ok, now is the perfect time for you to go ahead and let out a sigh of relief (because I know you've been holding your breath in anticipation for my next blog).

Alas, I am still alive, breathing, eating, and SMILING because it is FINALLY sunny outside! (No more googling the sun to make sure it still exists.)

Moving on...I just read the end of my last blog in which I promised to write a "full account of day two in Lisbon soon," but my 20-day tardiness in providing you with that full account is actually a good thing. You've all heard the saying "Do as the Romans do," and that is exactly what I have been doing. If there's one thing I've learned from the Sevillanas, it's that THEY ARE NEVER ON TIME.

For example: My first day in Isa's house I remember her going through her list of rules, schedules, etc. This is when she specified the following meal times:

Breakfast: when you feel like it
Lunch: 3:00 p.m.
Dinner: 10:00 p.m.

Although I was never given a specified time to eat breakfast, it has become my most regimented meal. Kristen and I seldom eat lunch at 3:00, and I cannot remember a time when we ate dinner before 10:30 p.m. But I'm not complaining, así es la vida.

So now that your head is swirling with all of this useless information, you now have the reason for why I believe my delay in blogging is simply my way of integrating into the Spanish society...right?

Picking up from where we left off in Lisbon...

The next morning (after my crazy raw meat experience) we went to the Cristo Rei which is inspired by the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This HUGE monument (approx. 600 ft tall) stands with open arms, welcoming all of Lisbon's visitors. Here are a couple of pictures:





I was also able to get a better view of the April 25th bridge:



Our next stop after Cristo Rei was the Lisbon Oceanarium. Ok, go ahead and laugh. Yes, I spent at least half a day in Portugal looking at fish, but believe me, it was well worth it. I'm not afraid to admit that I spent just as much time staring at the penguins and the Ocean Sunfish as all of the excited 12-year-olds did.





Here's the best part of the whole blog...A VIDEO OF AN OCTOPUS! If you're not as excited about this video as I am, please feel free to show the nearest five year old!



Well, sorry to cut things off so quickly, but siesta time is in full-swing, and the usual sleepiness of the afternoon is starting to set in. I plan on finishing my update on Lisbon/filling you in on my trip to Madrid before the end of this week. Hasta luego! : )

Lisbon Day 1

Last week, we took a four day trip to Lisbon, Portugal, and I knew the moment we crossed the April 25th Bridge, which looks very similar to the Golden Gate bridge, I was going to love this place. The city looks completely different from Sevilla and all the other cities in Spain I've visited, and although I've come to love my new "hometown," a change of scenery was definitely refreshing.

Here is a picture of the bridge as we entered the city.



The first place we visited in Lisbon was the Torre de Belém which was built around 1517 directly on the Tagus River. The tower was built to defend the Jeronimite Monastery (our next stop) from possible attackers. The Torre de Belém was also used as a dungeon.
It took forever to climb five flights of winding stairs, but the view once we finally reached the top of the tower made the climb worthwhile. We were able to see ocean as well as get a spectacular view of the city from the top of the Torre de Belém. Unfortunately, it was drizzling the day we visited (story of my life) so my pictures are not a good representation of our view.







A view looking down into the dungeons.






Our next stop was the Jeronimite Monastery built during the early 1500s. This and the Torre de Belém are the only two monuments which were left standing following a devastating earthquake in 1755, so I was grateful to have the opportunity to see these "indestructible" edifices. The monastery was built in the Maneuline, or Portuguese late-Gothic, style. The monastery was built to commemorate and glorify the great discoveries of explorers such as Vasco da Gama. Here are some more pictures from this incredible place!









Here are a couple of pictures of the tomb of Vasco da Gama, commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India.





The monastery was much larger than the others I have seen. Here is a picture of the courtyard, followed by a few more of the interior.









After leaving the monastery we spent the next several hours touring the city and taking in the sites of Lisbon. Among the things we visited were the cathedral*, a bakery (surprised?), and a great lookout point from which you could get a great view of Portugal.

*I hate to say this, but the more cathedrals I visit, the more they begin to look the same. Don't get me wrong, I still get the same awestruck feeling every time I consider the amount of effort it took to build one of these amazing structures. But the way I look at it, beauty is beauty, even if you don't have an eye for detail.

Nevertheless, I wasn't able to get any good pictures of the interior of the cathedral, but you can see from the exterior, it's much smaller than some of the other ones I've visited.



It was beginning to get dark when we finally made it to the lookout point. My pictures don't come close to capturing the beauty and tranquility of this place.





As you might have noticed, many of my blogs deal with the food abroad and/or the lack thereof. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard we would be dining at a Brazilian restaurant Thursday night. What exactly is a Brazilian restaurant? Well, the best way I can describe this type of dining experience is a mixture between a feast for a caveman/ a carnivore's dream-come-true. All they serve is meat, LOTS of meat. And I must admit, some of this stuff was pretty gamey!

Before...



Me, experiencing my first caveman moment...



After...



As I said before, GAMEY!!! ha!



Well, that about wraps up my first day in Lisbon. Hey, I'm only a week late in getting this posted. I've decided to blog about each day separately, so you can expect a full account of day two soon! Until then, hasta luego! : )