Lately

Okay I just wrote two huge paragraphs and they got deleted. Ahhh but okay here goes... The weather has been so beautiful here the past week it's making me not want to leave Portugal at all. On sunday I ran the Lisbon Mini Marathon, 7k, and it was a blast. So invigorating, the people cheering and music... running on vinte e cinco de abril bridge (the one that looks like san fran's golden gate). Luckily chelsea and I were running at the same pace so we ran together the whole time, didn't stop running once it was amazing. We finished in an hour, taking into consideration the huge crowd of people walking in the beginning. The Portuguese don't run marathons any better than they walk the streets. (huge pet peve: they take up the entire sidewalk and do NOT move out of your way when you're behind them, forcing you to go into the street. plus they walk slow and don't know the fast and slow lane aspect of the sidewalk. sooooo annoying!) On friday we went to the tile museum in lisbon it's supposed to be the "only tile museum in the world".. but I feel like that's not true? but it was really cool, tiles are a huge part of portuguese culture. The tour guide compared tiles to balcahau (cod fish)... because they're everywhere, in every class status in every part of portugal. we got to make our own tiles too it was fun :) haven't seen the finish product yet though..

But anyway, on saturday we went to Cascais and laid on the beach all day it was wonderful. Cascais is definitely one of my favorite spots in Portugal... we ate the bessstt food too! what else is new? :) That night we went to this fancy chic bar that Charity found out about, it was really nice, Brennan and I ordered some longislandiceteas... yum :)

After the marathon on sunday, a few of us went to eat by the castle that I c.a.n.n.o.t believe I hadn't been to yet. So beautiful going back ASAP, we had the cutest dinner and found many new shops and bars. Exploring that area on wednesday again :) Basically loving Lisbon and don't want to go to the US in a month!!! good thing there is no return flight booked ;)

video of cascais i edited :)

Carnaval weekend*

Just got back to Lisbon! I've been traveling through Lagos in the Algarve and Nazare, where Marisa's family has an apartment. Both beautiful beach scenes - would have been a little better if it was sunnier + warmer but not complaining :) When we got to Lagos it was basically deserted though, because it's totally based on tourism which starts in the summer. Still, it was beautiful and lots of fun. Then we got to Nazare, after about 8 hours on a bus -- got to Marisas apartment with those most incredible view of the village. For Carnaval, it's almost like Halloween except people dress up like old portuguese / spanish and have parades and it's a whole weekend festival. It was defiintely fun to seee on the streets. The whole group went to Pingo Doce (grocery store in portugal that is supperrr cheap, kind of reminds me of trader joes) and cooked dinner each night .. fun bonding time ;) Oddly enough, being away for Lisbon for a few days REALLY made me miss it! I can't believe there's only 2 months left here, I'm starting to get adjusted and really loving it more and more each day. Will have to make the most of it ;) And I'm looking into wwoofing for the summer. (world wide opportunities on organic farms). A friend here, Grace, did it in Ireland last summer and loved it... seems like a great way to spend your time somewhere and really relax & immerse yourself. I'm thinking france, australia, new zealand, hawaii, maybe stay in portugal?!! :)

some shots of the weekend..

p.s. I know that whole paragraph up there is super scattered and poorly written... hah, my internet is down and I'm in starbucks using wifi to try and update everything due to my lack of internet the past week 4 shots of espresso deep. sorry !