Weekend in Lisbon

This weekend in Portugal was an absolute blast. We left via bus Thursday, and got back early last night. Some highlights/thoughts about the trip:

• Fado - Fado is the national music of Portugal. If you had to compare it to something, it's somewhat like flamenco, although there is no dancing involved, only music. I was fortunate enough to see fado twice in my time in Lisbon. The first time seeing it was a very spur-of-the-moment thing, where a couple of my friends and I went into a small, dark restaurant with about 20 other locals and witnessed some fado music worthy of numerous smiles and goosebumps. Fado is obviously very popular, so everyone else at the restaurant was singing along and clapping (and I may have been goofy and pretended to know the songs a few times, too). The "band" consisted of one rhythm guitarist, one Portuguese guitarist, and one singer. The singers varied from a man and woman who seemed to be professionals and also the owner and an old man who came to the bar late but was seemingly a local legend. See the photos and videos below. According to the guitarist on the left, E=mc²..

• The tour - Friday, we went on a bus tour all around Lisbon and the surrounding area. We were guided by a Portuguese woman who spoke 6 languages and had a strong resemblance to Edna Mode from The Incredibles. There's some pretty funny stories with her, but it'd have to be explained in person or over the phone. We saw many of the sights of Portugal, including their famous Torre de Belen and Santa Maria de Belem parish, shown below. After touring Lisbon, we headed to the outskirts to a couple of other towns called Cascais and Sintra. In Cascais, we had a great view of the ocean and the beach, ate lunch, and had the best gelato I've ever tasted (I'm not going to tell you how many cones I had, but let's just say it rhymes with "schmoo"). Sintra looked like a town straight out of a fairy tale, and I tried the famous ginjinha - a cherry liquor served in an edible chocolate cup.

Torre de Belem.

Santa Maria de Belem parish.

Cascais.

Sintra.

Ginjinha.

• Portuguese is not Spanish - Going to Portugal, I figured that I would at least be able to semi-recognize and understand the Portuguese people and language, but realized later that I couldn't be more wrong. Luckily, Lisbon is a large enough city (around 2.5 million people) that I was able to speak English and get around that way pretty easily.
• Chaco weather - This weekend was the first time in months that I pulled out my trusty Chaco shoes. Although it was still only around 70 degrees and I felt a little chilly at times, I loved being able to wear them again. Not only did wearing my Chaco's make the cobblestone streets seem non-existent, they made me think of working at Kanakuk and how excited I am to be back there again for my third summer.
• Rock Chalk Jayhawk - I watched the KU - Mizzou game in a Lisbon McDonald's, and couldn't have been more obnoxious to everyone else there. More on that later...
• Some love for Abby! - I really like my cousin Abby a lot, and feel like she would especially enjoy this random picture of a door. Here you go, Abber. Also, if you're not already, follow Abby's blog, it's totally worth it.

Alright, that's it for now. I just got my bike pass in the mail, so I'm free to run, free to fly...

Brad.