Sunday, April 18 Cyntia and I woke early to continue doing research. We were on the computer until we had to check out at 11:00am. We then found an internet cafe and continued searching. Could we rebook our flight for free? Could we take a train? Could we take a bus? We must have looked up every possible way to get from here to there, and we decided that the train would be our best bet. We went to the station, and it was PACKED with people. We took a number in the line, and since there were 75 people in front of us, we knew it would be a while...so we went and had lunch (do you have to ask what we had? Tapas!). So back in line, there were only 20 or so ... read more

Friday, April 16 We took the morning bus from Lagos to Lisbon (that's "Lisboa" in Bortugesh). It was still rainy with some stray droplets coming down. Within four hours we went from the very southern-most shore of Portugal to the central region (and capital!). We left our luggage at the train station and then set out to explore the city for the day! That night we were taking a train to Madrid, so we had about 10 hours to kill. We took the metro into what seemed to be a nice area. As we strolled, we got more and more into the historic core of Lisbon, which was so cute! The streets and narrow, winding, and cobbled. And there are yellow trams everywhere that run up and down the hilly roads. The houses were pained ... read more

Wednesday, April 14 We rose before the sun so that we would make our 7:30am bus to Lagos. We thought it was a six hour ride (from 7:30--1:30), but when we neared the Portuguese border our phones said there was a time change, so it was actually a seven hour ride. It was pleasant, though. It was rainy outside, and I watched as the landscape rolled past us, changing slowly. Gone were the dry, semi-arid hills of southern Spain. Portugal was green and wet, with yellow flowers everywhere. Portugal was also the first time in Europe that someone checked my passport. They stopped the bus and a man came around to all of us. Upon seeing Cyntia and I's French visas he was quiet for a very long time. He started speaking in Portuguese to ... read more

Monday, April 12 I slept a long time, but to my disappointment, my appetite still wasn't right. "I'm never drinking again..." I mumbled over and over whenever anyone asked me how I felt. The other Amigos de Vacanzia! went out to go shopping, but I stayed in and tried to sleep a little more. That afternoon, they went to the beach and Cyntia came with me to help me find something to eat (because, after all, I hadn't been able to eat anything substantial in about 36 hours). We found a bar that served tomato soup and I was so proud of myself when I knocked it all out! I immediately started feeling better. We had done laundry the night before, and we laid our things out in the sun to dry hoping it wouldn't ... read more

Saturday, April 10 Happy Birthday to Cyntia! Not only was it Cyntia's special day--it was also the Sardine Celebration in Murcia! So we all went downtown and walked around. We visited the cathedral--which interestingly enough, follows no traditional architectural plan (I think it's very Spanish of them...). We also visited a convent called Santa Clara la Real, which was a mixture of Christian and Muslim architecture--it was so beautiful! We wove through the crowds and found a tapas bar for all 13 of us. Tapas are a very traditional Spanish meal option where you order little appetizers and share them. We ordered a bunch of plates and passed them around. We also ordered sangrias and beers for everyone (very Spanish of us!). We had all kinds of tapas and they were all delicious! My favorite ... read more