Breaking In Barcelona

I spent last weekend in Lisboa, Portugal (you may know it as Lisbon) with the same three girl friends I went to San Sebastian with. Now, I know I've said this about pretty much every place I've been to, but I reallllllly loved Lisboa! I feel like it and San Sebastian epitomize the two different kinds of places I love. San Sebastian is clean, beautiful, friendly, safe, homey, green, charming, and cute. Lisboa is funky, vintage, fun, bursting with color and culture, and all of it really, really unique. I don't know how to define the culture of it in the context of Europe-- it's like a mix of all these different places, it seems: Paris, Spain, Italy, maybe some influence from the Netherlands, certainly something inspired by Asian countries... but at the same time it's something totally different from all of those and it stands completely on its own.
Overall, everything worked out really well for us--- our hostel was AMAZING, I would recommend anyone of any age to stay there, so check it out if you go to Portugal-- it's called Lisbon Lounge. All the food in we had in Lisboa was fantastic, the people were really kind, weather was awesome, a lot of people spoke English which was helpful and unlike experiences in Spain, the night life was laid-back but exciting at the same time, and there were festivals and concerts going on all over the place. At night everyone goes to the Barrio Alto (Neighborhood Above) where you go into a tiny bar where there's literally just a bar, get your yummy Portuguese drink, and then take it outside into the streets where everyone hangs out.

A view of Lisbon:

Placa Comerció main square/arc de triomf:

Graffiti:

In the Belem district of Lisboa are a lot of the big monuments, including Jerónimos Monastery built in 1450. Vasco de Gama spent a night of prayer here the night before leaving on the great expedition when he discovered India.

This is a statue called the Padraõdos Descobrimientos, dedicated to Vasco de Gama and other explorers. As I was walking around it, I heard a tour guide boasting about all the discoveries made and how Portugal was the first to colonize this and that, which I found pretty disturbing that he took pride in the imperialist part of it all. Nonetheless, I learned that there are over 100 words in the Japanese language that are directly derived from the Portugese language.... like "Arigato" which is "thank you" in Japanese, was created after learning "Obrigada," which is "thank you" in Portugese.

Also in Belem are these famous pastries, special to the district. We went to the most famous bakery where there were hundreds of people sitting down and having these flaky, egg cream-filled tarts. Needless to say, they were delicious. I've got to find the recipe.

As I said, there were festivals going on the weekend we were there. Mostly they celebrated the "mascaras Ibéricas" (Iberian masks) which are traditional costumes and masks in Portugal. They run around and dance to drums and throw flour in your hair and scare little children. It's really fun!

The Famous Tiles of Portugal (most of the buildings are lined with them on the walls)

Flea Market:

Random Buildings, etc:

Finally, my friends in our hostel and in a tunnel.

Adios, y un abrazo!