Portugal

Hey y'all. So its been a hectic weekend, but I'm finally getting the time to update now that I'm back in Spain. I was lucky enough to get to spend the weekend in Lagos, Portugal! That's something that never ceases to amaze me here. In the U.S. you can drive 3 hours and you will still be in the exact same state. If you're lucky, you may end up in a new state, but that's usually only if you're near a border or in a smaller state. In Europe, if you drive for 3 hours you end up in a whole new country. This is fortunate for me because it means I got to just casually hop on a bus and go to Portugal for the weekend (No biggie). Now, let me just start by telling you this is by far one of the coolest places I have ever been. It is indescribably beautiful. We spent most of Friday and Saturday on the beach. Let me emphasize something to those of you reading this. This was no tiny lake beach like this land-locked Wisconsinite is used to. This was full on Atlantic Ocean coastline. I'm surprised the group I went with talked me into coming home because after being there I've decided that being a beach bum could have some perks. Other than the time we spent on the beach, we got to wander around the Lagos streets at night and get dinner wherever we wanted. Everything was super close to our cabanas we stayed in and was, just like Spain, connected by narrow, winding roads. There were a lot of tourists there, which wasn't surprising, but was good for us because almost everyone spoke English. For those of you now thinking: 'Ashley went to Spain to learn a new language and is actually only speaking English,' let me clarify. The people in Portugal speak Portuguese, which, when written out looks very similar to Spanish. However, if you speak any form of Spanish, and listened the Portuguese television like I did last night you would quickly realize that these languages sound very different. So no I cannot understand Portuguese, this is why I'm glad they spoke English. Also, I did experience Portugal fully for the amount of time I had there, I only watched the television because the Real Madrid vs. Juventus soccer Champions League Final was on last night. This is similar to the superbowl for soccer (Yes USA, there are sports more popular than football outside of our country. Try not to be too shocked.), and Cristiano Ronaldo, a very well known Portuguese player, plays for Real Madrid. Needless to say, the locals were very excited for this game and it was on in almost every bar and restaurant. For anyone curious, Real Madrid won the game. Sadly, we had to leave Portugal early this morning so thus ends my recap of the best place on Earth. 

    
 

Hasta luego!