This weekend, about 20 API kids went to Lagos, Portugal, where we saw probably some of the most gorgeous landscapes in the world. I´m glad we went this weekend because it was starting to get chilly at night, and the tourist season is at its end. Everyone in Lagos spoke English, I didn´t speak Spanish or Portuguese once all weekend. We rented an 8 person apartment just a walk away from the ocean and only paid 16 € per person for two nights!! Anyway, so this weekend in Spain was a holiday, Fiesta Nacional, so a lot of people were traveling this weekend...which we weren´t aware of until Thursday night. We were planning to buy bus tickets at the station Friday morning for a bus Friday afternoon but after talking with our señora, we figured we´d better try to get on the first bus of the day to ensure that we got tickets. Well...the first bus was at 6 am!! So we got to the bus station Friday morning around 5 am to buy our tickets.
Once we got to Lagos, we checked into our hotel which was a pretty fast walk from the bus station, just across the marina. I wasn´t expecting anything grand for the cheap price but we walked in and were amazed! I felt like I was on the real world, it was a huge apartment with a fully stocked kitchen and an enormous balcony overlooking the city. Then we wandered around along the pier to explore the city a little bit. There were a bunch of vendors offering boat tours along the coast, so we ended up taking one guy up on it and we took a motorboat tour around the coast. The water was extremely choppy but the sights were breathtaking and our tour guide would even slow down and go inside some coves. At one point, he stopped the boat and let us jump off and go swimming. The water was freezing cold, but we weren´t going to pass up the opportunity to swim in the clear blue-green ocean. He explained some of the rock formations, most of which were named for what they looked like (i.e. one rock looked like an elephant so it´s called elephant rock). It was just the 8 of us on the boat with our tour guide, and one German woman traveling solo. She didn´t really speak any English but she seemed to have a great time and got a kick out of our college student antics.
After that, we went to the store because we decided to make an italian spaghetti dinner and take advantage of our kitchen. The dinner was delicious and soo cheap! Then, we did some hanging out at our apartment and then went out to the Lagos party scene. We went bar/club hopping and met people from all over the world. There were lots of British and Australian people. I met a Portugese guy from Lisbon who actually lives in England now and he offered to show me around Lisbon when I go there with my parents. On Saturday, we went to explore the cliffs and the beach...I didn´t go swimming because the water was freezing but the people who did got beaten up by the ocean. The waves were so rough!! I was completely content just sitting and appreciating the gorgeous landscapes.
Right now, I´m working on planning our trip to Ireland this weekend. We´re going to Galway for two nights and Dublin for the third. I was so excited to find out that my class Monday that I was going to be missing is cancelled. That´s the luck of the Irish for ya! And I just got a text from my cousin Mike who is studying in Madrid and he´s going to be in Dublin this weekend too so hopefully I´ll get to meet up with him.
Other than the weekend excursions, I went to the movies again on Tuesday with Vitali to see Rush Hour 3. And tonight, I might go to another flamenco show. Classes are going pretty well...I feel like I´m getting well-acquainted with Spanish culture and my listening comp skills are definitely improving. My senora happens to love Kyle XY, so we watched it on tv last night. She´s also a big fan of George Clooney and CSI. There is so much more I want to say but not enough time! I have my Spanish syntax class in a half hour. But more to come very soon!!
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