Recently in Europe Category

Well, this is the end of my trip. An exciting journey must come to an end somehow.  I can't wait to be home on my own bed and on my own house.  No more packing and moving.  I am sitting here right now at London Heathrow T5 gazing at this marvelous, architecturally beautiful terminal.  It is so spacious. Pretty soon, I will be boarding my flight back home.  See you guys soon.

Did I say it enough that I LOVED the city of Lisbon?  Well, I will say it again.  I LOVED IT and can't get enough of it.  The people are so nice here.  People greet you Bom Dia or Boa Tarde when you meet them on the street especially the old folks. It's still looks like the old Europe. They are very helpful especially when you ask for direction and they will actually take you to your destination if you were still confused.  

I'm so getting used to their Subways now.  I don't even look at the map anymore.  They are so easy navigate and don't really mind the language difficulties.  As long as I know my destination, I'm OK. When people tells you the direction, the sound of the place doesn't sound like how it spells. But the that city is built on North, South, West and East is not confusing at all.  All I have to remeber is Norte, Sur, Oeste, and Leste and Esquerdo and direito  for my left and right. Then when you buy, all you have to say is quanto é for how much is it?

Lisbon, a beautiful city that has a lot of characters, old colourful buildings and the people are very friendly and hospitable.  This city is so pretty.  Lots of hiking ( I mean up those hills) and they have those Cable cars from San Francisco and Trams (Muni).  The Cable cars and Muni are actually from San Francisco.  The photo above is called Ponte 25 de Abril and it's their version of the Golden Gate and the age is somewhat the same.  The food here are so cheap and very delicious.  They are very fond of seafood especially fish.  I had one tonight and it was to die for.  It reminds me of my childhood in the Philippines when we just cook the new caught fish and cook it right off the beach.  

The language here is Portuguese (duh). It sounds beautiful and kinda similar to Spanish but not really.  I had to learn new language again.  When I was in Spain, I was really doing great Speaking Spanish and can go by with it as long as they will not ask me any long questions.  But here, they say Bom Dia for good morning, Obrigado/a for thank you o for male and a for female.  Denada (you are welcome) is the same as in Spanish.  Some pronunciation here is so different in Spanish and I have to make sure I say it right.  The people here are called Lisboetas (Lish - bo - e - tas) and they are proud of their heritage.  They are very friendly and they speak good English.  I have so many friends here now and they even suggest on where I should go.  Well, tomorrow is another day of adventure again.  I will post some photos soon.  

Today is just my second day here in the city and my experience so far is excellent except for some setbacks.  This afternoon, I went to Madrid Barajas Airport to pick my cousin Boots and my friend Emily from London.  When we were heading home, a guy pick my wallet when I was getting into the metro.  OK, before you say anything, I am very careful about my money and my wallet.  I don't carry a lot of cash with me except my Chase card, AZ ID and some few changes and my metro card.  All of those were on my wallet and I don't put my wallet on the back pocket.  I put it in front.  The guy must be that good.  Luckily, my iPhone which was on the same pocket and it was spared.  Well, a lot of people on the metro saw it and were telling me in Spanish.  I thought I hit a guy with my backpack but I guess they were telling me about what happened and what the guy looks like.  They told me he was on on the other Metro.  When the Metro stopped, I got off the car and tried to look for him but it was no used.  Well, what can I do.  I called Chase Bank right away and cancelled my card.  I am so glad that the Chase people were so helpful.  They also advised me that I can withdraw money by using my Passport and just go to any Spanish bank and they can help me get some money.  The person that I talked to wished me that she hoped this experience will not ruin my trip.  Honestly, it did for a couple of hours but I got over it.  I need to look pass this experience and learn from it.  This is also a good story to tell someday or now.  

Another thing, I lost my umbrella in Luxembourg on one of those tour buses and I fell and slipped in Luxembourg also.  It was raining there the whole time I was there and I was going down the hill when I stepped on a bunch of dead leaves and I slipped.  I had a huge scratch on my left knee.  Good thing I brought some antibiotics and bandaids with me and it's all healed now.  Hopefully, I get a lot from all this experience.  

Tomorrow is another day of adventure.  

This trip is going to be a 13 hour trip via Elipsos Tren Otel. The train is a sleeper train and I bunk with 3 other people.  This is going to be a long ride.