Bem-vindo a Lisboa

In the spirit of trying to see as many places as I can while I am in Europe, I decided to take a trip to Lisbon when I had a long weekend in mid October. This allowed me three days in one of the most unique capitals that I have ever visited. It is very difficult to really encompass the true charm and character of this city, but hopefully through these stories and photos, you'll have an idea of how my trip went to Lisboa.

This trip started like all other ones I have taken to date, getting on a bus making my way towards my destination. Although, this time it was a little different because this bus trip would take 6 hours to reach the final destination. My anticipation, I must say, made the ride feel no longer than 3 hours in duration. Nevertheless, after leaving at 3pm from Seville, I arrived to downtown Lisbon at 9:30 pm. 

After finding a quick bite to eat and settling into my charming hostel I decided to get a good night sleep in order to be up and ready for the walking tour the next morning. With every new city that I have been visiting so far, I have found great success in networking and making new friends through taking the free walking tour offered by the hostel, and this time was no different. Right away I clicked with a wonderful woman from India who owned her own clothing company, and was visiting Lisbon on vacation. We toured around some of the main sights in Lisbon and wandered through Bario Alto and the old city core.

The most expensive chapel in the world.
Everything you see is solid gold!

The arc at the end of the main avenue downtown.
Made of solid marble

One of my favourite places in Lisbon. The first Ginja bar (cherry dessert liquor). 1euro a shot!!

We then decided to take the next day and try to catch some waves. This proved to be a fairly fruitless endeavour as we really only got in the ocean for 15 minutes until the instructor called off the surfing because of the storm that was starting. The waves were nice and big, but unfortunately the massive winds were carrying the waves down the beach, and not towards it (a very dangerous combination apparently). However, this didn't dampen my spirit because I was the only person in my group of 8 who was able to properly catch a wave (I think I have my years of snow and wakeboard experience to thank for that). 

Full body wetsuits really aren't as fun as they look!

Unfortunately, after the storm that came in to ruin my surfing, it decided to stay for the rest of my weekend. Even with this unwanted development I was convinced to not let this news disappoint me. I did whatever a good tourist would do if it is to wet to be outside, and that is EAT! I must say that being in Lisbon for four days really has converted me towards the joys and diverse tastes of good fresh seafood. I started out easy with some fired squid and then worked my way through clams, cod, and then to my favourite meal of all, BBQ octopus! The way it is prepared in Lisbon is to die for. I am not sure if it is because of the freshness, or the way it is cooked, but either way I could eat it three meals a day!

One of the true highlights of my entire trip to Lisbon had to be the dinner and Fado club I had on my last night in town. Shefali, and I decided to invite another friend from the hostel to the best Fado club in Lisbon for dinner and a Fado show. Now Fado is the traditional Portuguese music style that is very simple but elegant. It is comparable to the blues in New Orleans. It is a very sad genre that was ment to outline the hardships of the totalitarian state that rules Portugal for so many years. In a nutshell, the emotion and talent that went into this music made it a feast to the ears. The steak and braised octopus, paired with a fabulous portuguese red made it also a feast for the taste buds. After the fabulous show we were informed that the artists singing at the club that night were professional singers in Portugal and actually quite famous. Therefore, on our way back to the hostel we decided to get  picture with the singer and the band. What a treat! If you press the play button on the image above, you will be able to listen and watch to one of my favourite songs that Rodrigo Costa Felix sang at Club de Fado that night. 

The gang posing with the band outside the club.

Shefali, Tom, and I waiting for our meals over some fine wine.

Overall, Lisbon was truly a city to remember. If I could, I would stay for a whole week or more to really immerse myself in the laid back an beautiful culture present in the Portuguese capital. From the UNESCO world heritage site to the food, and music I felt that I had really visited one of the best cities in Europe. Although, all good things must come to an end, and rather quickly I must add. Now back to Seville to continue the teaching, studying, and the planning for my next great trip.

Hasta Luego amigos!

The beautiful Lisbon skyline (to bad it was such a grey weekend). 

The best way to get around the city! The yellow tram cars that Lisbon
is famous for. 

A panoramic of the beach in Caiscais, where I tried surfing for the first time. (caiscais is 20 minutes from downtown Lisbon).

Your truly at the UNESCO world heritage site of the Jeronimos Monastery, 

Corrida de Toros

So I really have to stop putting this post off because my mother will have my head if I don't give an in depth description of her visit to Seville and my visit to Fuengirola for the weekend. To put it into context, my mother's visit took place at the beginning of the month, and it has taken me this long to post about it. This is not due to the lack of memories, or stories, unfortunately it's purely due to my pervasive procrastination with these types of things.

Taking things from the top then. So for a vacation my mother had planned to fly into Barcelona and then drive down to a resort that she, and a very close family friend had reserved for a week in the town of Fuengirola, just outside of Malaga. In this case I decided that I would go and meet her, spend some time in the coastal city and then make my way back in order to show my new home city around. Once I sat through the two different buses to get to the resort, I finally arrived and boy was it nice to be able to lounge around until my family showed up. Since my mother and Rose were flying in and had to drive from Barcelona, they were forced to endure a gruelling 9 hour drive down the Spanish coast. Now in actuality there are worse places to be stuck in a car, but 9 hours anywhere doesn't sound like an ideal situation to me.

Fuengirola was a very quant little city. Just like most other Andalusian cities I have visited thus far, it was full of its own little character, and possessed its own charm that would make me want to stay just a little longer if I had the time. Even though the weather didn't cooperate in the typical blistering heat and omnipotent sun, I can't tell you how relieving it was to spend time with family. Even though I had only been overseas for a month, I couldn't help but feel a little homesick and having the opportunity to spend some quality time with family kind of brings a piece of home to me.

Why I both love and hate having family come visit is summed up perfectly in this picture. 

 After Fuengirola, Rose, Mom, and I packed up the compact rental car (probably spacious in European terms) and made our way towards Seville. There must be something about driving in a car rather than a bus that really shows you how beautiful the Spanish countryside is. The terrain was never constant although, the only constant were the infinite olive plantations. Everywhere I looked I was able to see a massive expanse of olive trees that just had my mouth in a permanent state of salivation.

A small snapshot of the countryside with the olive fields everywhere.

Once in Seville, it was actually quite nice to be both at home, and feel like a tourist again while showing Mom and Rose around. We went and visited some of the main sights while enjoying excellent company together. Although, our first real experience together in Seville is one I will not soon forget. In Seville it is a way of life, and tradition that is steeped in culture. The Bull Fight was a veritable spectacle, but one I only need to see once to truly understand.

At this bull fight, everyone was dressed in the typical Andalusian attire, a light coloured dress shirt with pale khakis with brown shoes, and an unnecessary amount of leather bracelets and hair gel. I'll have to try this look out at some point, probably when my spanish gets better so that I feel that I will be able to back up the attire. Once seated the carnage began to ensue. One by one there were six different matadors who proceeded to display their prowess and tight glutes while slowly killing a bull. I guess the description I just gave really doesn't give the sport justice, but at no point did I ever feel that there was a possibility that the bull might turn things around and win. The whole process of it, I have to admit was quite fascinating, but it is something that truly shows man's power over animals. All critique aside, it was another opportunity to spend some quality time with Mom, and Rose because the next morning it was back to school for me and off to Malaga for Mom and Rose. 

I think a matador interview consists of seeing how long he can clinch his butt.  

Goodbye is always tough, and sometimes it feels nice that I will have my own space again, but there will always be a part of me that will miss having the comforts of home and the warm presence of my close family around. No matter what people say, family is truly where the heart is.    

El fin de semana con mi tía Catalina (Catherine)

Salut tout le monde!

Désole pour le temps entre les posts de blog mais cette fois ci je vous écris en Français parce que j'ai passé une fin de semaine incroyable avec ma tante Catherine. C'était vraiment une drôle d'histoire parce que je savais même pas si c'était possible de me rendre a Chichlana la Fronterra pour visiter Catherine. Mais, finalement j'ai décidé que je prendrais mes chances et j'ai embarqué sur un autobus pour Chichlana et je trouverais l'hotel des que je me rends là.

J'ai débarqué l'autobus après un trajet de deux heures et j'avais aucune idée ou j'étais! Mais quelle chance quand j'étais assis sur un banc j'ai entendu un accent Québecois a côté de mois. Quelle chance! J'ai demandé la couple si ils savaient l'hotel Iberostar et des que j'ai mentinner ce nom ils m'ont dits, "t'est le neveu de Catherine!" Et après ca j'ai donner une bonne surprise a ma tante.

Le reste du week-end était remplis par le soleil, la plage, et la bonne compagnie avec ma tante. Nous avons marché toute la plage de Chiclana et malgré la crème solaire que j'ai mis j'étais complément brulé. Le regret que j'ai, c'est que j'étais seulement capable de passer deux jours de profiter de la plage, et la compagnie de ma tante!

Mais juste comme ça c'étais dimanche soir. Retour a Seville pour une autre semaine de classes avec les élèves Espagnole!

À la prochaine. adiós!

Une spectacle de Flamenco à l'hotel

La plage à Chichlana la Fronterra