Lisboa

Buenos,

Just got back from Lisbon last night. I was very happy to return to Spanish after almost being able to understand everyone in Portuguese, but not quite. I'm going to narrate these pictures which should give you the gist of Lisbon.

1. The statue of Discovery. Monument to all of the explorer's that came were commissioned by Portugal. This monument is in an area of town called Belem which is right on the water and a little ways out of the center of the city. There's also a Giant monastery with the remains of Vasco de Gama (Portuguese explorer) inside, and also ....

2. Pastéis de Belem. Amazing "custard pastries" that are apparently a Portuguese specialty. They taste kind of like popovers (if anyone has ever been to Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park) but a little bit sweeter.

3. Oceanario. After Belem we went to the Aquarium of Lisbon (which is also outside of the city center), and apparently the biggest in Europe This picture is of the skyline around it, significantly more modern looking than the rest of the city. The aquarium was exciting, but noticeably smaller than most American aquariums. They did have a sunfish though, which is a prehistoric type fish, which was very oddly shaped and fascinated us.

4. Sintra. The next day we went to a very picturesque town outside of Lisbon called Sintra and walked around a little then took a bus up to the ...

5. Moorish Castle. Cool ruins up at the top of the surrounding hills.

6. Lisboa. This picture is of nighttime in Lisbon, when we finally got to explore the main city. We were here right after we walked into a free classic organ performance of pieces by Handel.

7. Dia de Corzonada. Back in Madrid, the last scheduled event to try to receive the Olympics in 2016. Everyone stood in the Plaza de Cibeles and held up pieces of colored paper, which from the air looked like the Madrid symbol for the olympics. http://blogs.lainformacion.com/megafotos is a website where you can try to find me in the crowd. I'm in the yellow section.

Hasta

Brent