The Trouble with Portuguese...

...is that I cannot speak it.

Most who know me know that I am really good with languages. I pick up Swedish ok when I am there, and Italian, too. But not Portuguese. I am having an impossible time with it. I can say thank you, which I knew before I got here, but beyond that? Nada. Even when someone says
something to me, and pronounces it correctly for me, I can't get it. Oh well, I only have a few more hours here!

I started my day in true "katie" fashion - bright and early. It is a beautiful day, so I figured no chance of them cancelling my tour. I hopped on the first bus and headed out. Because I was so early, none of the momuments were open yet, so i decided to continue on the bus for the full circuit. It took about 1 hour, and ended at el corte ingles. Hooray!

If you find yourself in Lisbon with a web-enabled phone, you may want to head into el corte ingles. While I would never encourage sponging off of someone's unsecured wifi (ahem), you just might be able to find access there. Just sayin'. I stood around there for a bit and checked my email; I probably looked creepy as I wasn't even looking at any merchandise. As I walked out, it dawned on me that I probably could have gone to the cafe or something, instead of just standing there looking like an idiot.

I am now waiting around for my tour bus again, to take me back to the Belem area. The bus is supposed to come every half an hour, but their sense of time seems to be different than mine. While in Belem, I want to try the famous custard pie thing, and try to figure out a way to
cross the faux Golden Gate Bridge and go up the faux Christ the Redeemer statue. Apparently the views are awesome.

Whoa

I just ate dinner... About 25$ for salas, a huge steak with side, and wine. It feels like Argentina!!

Port!

I am currently at the Solar do Vinho do Porto Lisboa (turns out it wasn't closed), the main place in Lisbon to taste various ports. So far, I am on glass #2 (pictured above). To taste, it is as little as 1euro! And, the give you a full glass! The first one I tried I really liked, and they sell a bottle for about 10$. I am tempted to get some to share in sevilla!

Lisbon: Day 2

Looking out my window this morning, I had a hard time telling if I was still in Lisbon or if I had been magically transported back to SF. I saw the "Golden Gate Bridge," and it was covered by fog. It was almost surreal!

I had a rough time getting out of bed this morning, but once I did, it was off to take one of those hop-on, hop-off bus tours. I walked over to the starting point...only to find out it was cancelled today because of the weather. This makes absolutely no sense to me, as the weather is just a heavy fog, but, I guess this is cause enough for this company (I saw other open-top tours happening, so I wonder what the real deal is). This forced me to remap my entire day. Not a bad thing, I just wasn^t prepared for it!

So far I have walked around Baixa and Chiado, and up to the Alfama. Saw the Sé (cathedral), which was pretty boring looking from the outside, but inside had a beautiful nave and altar area. Then when up to Castelo Sao Jorge, which offered one of the most magnificent views of Lisbon. It was stunning, really. Now I have gotten myself lost on the way back from the Castelo; I am hoping to hop on the #28 tram that all the guidebooks/shows recommended. It looks pretty cool.

The weather canºt make up its mind...hot or cold, misty or dry. It is a bit of a hassle having to pull the sweater on and off, and on and off again. Oh well. Hopefully while I have been sitting here, it has cleared up a bit and I can work on my tan. (donºt worry, dad, I am wearing sunscreen!)

Arrived in Lisbon!

After a brief stop in Frankfurt (well, I guess not too brief... I had time to have a big german beer and all-beef sausage, even though it was 10am), I arrived in Lisbon.

The picture is the view from my hotel room. Look familiar? (if you can't see it well, it looks just like the Golden Gate Bridge).

It is about 5pm here now, so I won't be doing any extensive touring today, but I am going to go check things out a bit.